Kankakee Belt Route

Kankakee Belt Route

The Kankakee Belt Route is the nickname for the Illinois Division of the New York Central Railroad, which extended from South Bend, Indiana, through Kankakee, Illinois, and westward to Zearing, Illinois. This line was sometimes referred to as the "3 I Line", in reference to the line serving as an Iowa, Illinois and Indiana connector.That portion of the line west of Kankakee to Moronts. Illinois, roughly parallels the Illinois River in Northern Illinois and was used, in large part, to transport corn toward eastern markets.

History

In the mid-1930's, waterway improvements were made on the Illinois River to improve barge movement (for example, new wider and deeper locks at Lockport). These improvements enabled the Illinois River to handle larger barges as well as movement of Tank Landing Ships (LST) constructed by Chicago Bridge and Iron at Seneca, IL during World War II to New Orleans. After these improvements, significant grain traffic (primariliy corn) was drawn away from the railroads to the river barges. Corn was now being moved to Chicago by barge, transferred to rail car at Great Lakes facilities and then shipped to Eastern US destinations by rail.

Prior to 1957, barge rates from ports along the Illinois River to Chicago and then via rail from Chicago to eastern destinations had a total shipping cost of 53.625 cents for corn and 54.125 cents for corn products. At the same time, the rates for shipping corn via all-rail routes from origins on the Kankakee Belt Line to eastern markets averaged 72 cents for corn and 72.5 cents for corn products.

What took place from 1956 to the Supreme Court decision in 1964 [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=376&invol=375 MECHLING BARGE LINES v. U.S., 376 U.S. 375 (1964)] is another episode in the long and continued competition struggle between the railroads and waterway barge lines.

Today

Today, the Norfolk Southern operates the Kankakee Belt Route (ex-Conrail, ex-NYC, Kankakee Belt Line).The Kankakee Belt Route sees around eight to ten trains daily, from the BNSF (old AT&SF main line) at Streator, Illinois to Norfolk Southern Railway interchanges and facilities in Indiana. It still serves as a Chicago bypass.

The west end of this Norfolk Southern Line is now at the former Illinois River bridge at DePue. The bridge at DePue has been removed (latest satellite photo confirms), and much of the track north to Ladd has been removed. Illinois Railway still uses a small portion of the track between Depue and Ladd to serve industry in Ladd and as storage. The track between Ladd and Zearing is still exists as a branch line operated by Illinois Railway between Zearing and La Salle.

NYC Kankakee Belt Line - Illinois section (1964)

List of Illinois cities and interchange railroads (east to west) as of 1964
*Delmar, Illinois - Milwaukee Road
*Momence, Illinois - Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
*Kankakee, Illinois - Illinois Central Railroad and New York Central Railroad
*Reddick, Illinois - Wabash Railroad
*Dwight, Illinois - Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, old Alton Railroad
*Streator, Illinois - Santa Fe Railroad, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
*Lostant, Illinois - Illinois Central Railroad
*Illinois River bridge (removed) at 41°18′50.87″N, 89°16′43.02″W
*Du Pue, Illinois - Rock Island Railroad
*Ladd, Illinois - Milwaukee Road, Chicago and North Western Railway, and LaSalle and Bureau County Railroad Company (LS&BC), also known as "The Bee"
*Zearing, Illinois - Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

References

External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/lsbc/ The Bee]
* [http://rlhs.org/rlhsnmnk.htmail Kankakee Belt]
* [http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/outlying.html Chicago Rail Junctions]
* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=376&invol=375 MECHLING BARGE LINES v. U.S., 376 U.S. 375 (1964)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Norfolk Southern — Railway Création 1982 Dates clés 1982, fusion de N W et de Southern Railway …   Wikipédia en Français

  • New York Central Railroad — New York Central system as of 1918 Reporting mark NYC …   Wikipedia

  • Norfolk Southern Railway — For other uses, see Norfolk Southern (disambiguation). Norfolk Southern Railway System map (trackage rights in purple) …   Wikipedia

  • North America — North American. the northern continent of the Western Hemisphere, extending from Central America to the Arctic Ocean. Highest point, Mt. McKinley, 20,300 ft. (6187 m); lowest, Death Valley, 276 ft. (84 m) below sea level. 400,000,000 including… …   Universalium

  • List of defunct United States railroads — Commuter railroads ndash; See alsoSee for historic railway companies that have operated in Canada.A*Abbeville and Waycross Railroad *Abilene, Solomon Valley and Denver Railway *Abilene, Sterling and Southwestern Railway *Akron, Canton and… …   Wikipedia

  • Indiana — This article is about the U.S. state of Indiana. For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). Hoosier State redirects here. For the passenger train, see Hoosier State (train). State of Indiana …   Wikipedia

  • Illinois — This article is about the U.S. state of Illinois. For other uses, see Illinois (disambiguation). State of Illinois …   Wikipedia

  • Midwestern United States — Midwest redirects here. For other uses, see Midwest (disambiguation). Midwest as defined by U.S. Census Bureau The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an… …   Wikipedia

  • Metro East —   Region of Illinois   Belleville …   Wikipedia

  • Cook County, Illinois —   County   Flag …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”