Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad

The Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad proposed in 1905 to build a beeline-straight electric railroad 743 miles long between Chicago and New York.

The trip over the completed line was projected to take ten hours. (For comparison, the 20th Century Limited when inaugurated in 1902 took twenty hours to make the trip over an 800 mile route, and 15.5 hours in later years; while as of 2005 the highway trip takes 12.1 hours over a 787 mile route.)

The project was trumpeted nationally, stock sold with great rapidity, sections of track and immense cuts-and-fills were built in the vicinity of Gary, Indiana and operated as interurban transit, and investors were taken out to view these portions of the line in operation. The depression of 1907-1908, the immense expenses occasioned by the incredibly stringent engineering specifications, and some claimed (but never prosecuted or substantiated) accounting irregularities and other fraud, led to the failure of the main line to expand beyond several dozen miles through the Indiana countryside. The largest completed was a 19.2 mile segment between LaPorte and Goodrum, Indiana. The completed portions became the foundation of Gary Railways, a successful interurban street railway system.

Sections of the right-of-way and some of the colossal concrete bridge supports are still visible to this day.

Trivia

In 1943, Commander Edwin J. Quinby wrote a lengthy history of the CNYEALRR for the publication "Electric Railroads" and closed the report with the following:

"And as time goes on, electric railroad enthusiasts will visit the right-of-way over which the original construction work was done -- and some of the more imaginative individuals will hear the deep-throated whistle of a big palatial interurban as its spirit still streaks along this romantic pike, and they will catch a glimpse of the golden inscription CHICAGO on one end of the car as it flashes by, and NEW YORK on the other end -- hurrying, hurrying -- for 36 years have passed since it started on its swift way and it hasn't reached either place."

External links

* [http://www.marymaclane.com/airline/ Archives of the Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad]
* [http://www.monon.monon.org/bygone/westville.html Westville, Indiana and Vicinity...Then and Now] (photos toward bottom)
* [http://www.cera-chicago.org/b-137.Faster%20Than%20The%20Limiteds.htm Book: "Faster than the Limiteds"]
* [http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/AirLineRR CNYEALRR discussion group and photo archives]