Freeport Subdivision

Freeport Subdivision

The Freeport Subdivision crosses over the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in Broadview, Illinois. The subdivision narrows from two tracks to one west of Broadview.
Overview
Type Freight rail
Locale Illinois
Termini Chicago
Freeport
Operation
Opened 1891 (1891)
Owner Canadian National Railway
Technical
Line length 113.5 mi (182.7 km)
No. of tracks 1-2
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed 50 miles per hour (80 km/h)
Route map

Legend
 Chicago Subdivision
Rock Island District
St. Charles Air Line
Orange Line
to the Chicago Loop
 Amtrak
 Halsted
 Bridgeport Yard
 Chicago River
 Ashland
Orange Line
to Midway
Joliet Subdivision
to Joliet
 Chicago District
 Blue Island Subdivision
 Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
 Crawford Yard
 Belt Railway of Chicago
 Hawthorne Yard
 BSNF Chicago Subdivision
 Hawthorne Industry Lead
 Des Plaines River
 Scheck Lumber
 Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
Union Pacific / West Line
to Chicago
Salt Creek
Union Pacific / West Line
to Elburn
 Major Prime Plastics
 Leithton Subdivision
Belvidere Subdivision
to West Chicago
Belvidere Subdivision
to Rockford
 Fox River
 Genoa
Canadian Pacific Railway
to Chicago
Canadian Pacific Railway
to Savanna
 Kishwaukee River
Belvidere Subdivision
to South Elgin
Illinois Railway Rockford Branch
 Rock River
 Rockford
Belvidere Subdivision
 Freeport
Dubuque Subdivision
to Dubuque

The Freeport Subdivision is a railroad line in Illinois which runs from 16th Street in downtown Chicago to Freeport, Illinois. It is owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway (CN). As of 2016 the line is almost exclusively freight-only, with only a small segment within Chicago, between 21st Street in Chinatown and Ashland Avenue in Bridgeport, hosting Amtrak and Metra passenger trains.

The line is 113.5 miles (182.7 km) long. At its east end it joins with the St. Charles Air Line and the Chicago Subdivision in Chicago's South Loop. From there to the interchange with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in Broadview, Illinois it is double-tracked and CTC-controlled. From Broadview to Freeport, Illinois it is single-tracked and track warrants are used. The maximum speed over the line is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).[1] The section between 16th Street and 21st Street mostly handles traffic between CN's Chicago yards; Amtrak trains such as the City of New Orleans also use it when the St. Charles Air Line is out of service.[2]

The Illinois Central Railroad opened its line between Chicago and Freeport in 1891, giving it a direct route between Chicago and Iowa. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, successor to the Illinois Central, sold the line between Hawthorne Yard in Cicero, Illinois and Freeport (and on to Iowa) in 1985 to the Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad. CN, which had acquired the Illinois Central Gulf in the interim, reacquired the route in 1996.[3]

The Illinois Central operated passenger trains on the subdivision until the startup of Amtrak on May 1, 1971; Amtrak did not retain the Chicago–Sioux City, Iowa Hawkeye.[4] Passenger service returned on February 14, 1974, with the introduction of the Black Hawk between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa.[5] This service ended on September 30, 1981.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Illinois State Rail Plan 2012" (PDF). Illinois Department of Transportation. 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Chicago–Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program: Tier 1 DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). September 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Downey 2007, p. 91
  4. ↑ Sanders 2006, pp. 241–242
  5. ↑ Sanders 2006, p. 245
  6. ↑ Sanders 2006, p. 249

References

External links


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