Southern Pacific Engines in Chicagoland

John David Larson posted

John's comment:

This 1992 photograph shows a Southern Pacific train near the iconic Joliet Union Station outside Chicago.

This is a Southern Pacific train, an unusual sight here. That old railroad was more associated with California and the desert Southwest. In the late 1980's it finally made it to Chicago with the purchase of the old Illinois Central line from St Louis. Even this era was brief as the SP was merged into the vast Union Pacific system a few years after this photo.

Actually, if it was bought in the late 1980s, it was bought from the ICG. It was the GM&O part of ICG. ICG was formed in 1972 and went back to the IC name in 1990. (r2parks)

Southern Pacific Railroad modern era posted

John David Larson posted

John's comment:

The Southern Pacific Railroad was an iconic line most often associated with places like California and the Sierra Nevada range. For eons, it was the only major Western carrier without direct access to the nation's railroad capitol: Chicago. That changed in 1990 when trackage rights were granted allowing service to Chicago via Kansas City using the tracks of the Burlington Northern Railroad. That is what we see here, in the village of Lisle outside the Windy City, the somewhat unusual sight of an SP train on BN rails.

More notable is this 1995 view could be the maiden run of these locomotives, judging by the date and the fact that they look so new, as if they just rolled off the assembly line. The SP was a cash strapped railroad with a locomotive fleet that was often a bit ratty, covered in grime, the dark gray livery looking worn and dreadful. But in 1994 - 1995 they purchased new power and this shot of two General Electric AC4400 engines really shows off the colors of this railroad. The fresh paint and angle of the setting sun are so perfectly aligned this looks like it was posed by the publicity department.

In 1996, Southern Pacific began to disappear as it was absorbed in the the vast Union Pacific system.

Using a former CB&Q route to get from Kansas City to Chicago was not only more direct, it avoided the historic monopoly that the TRAA had because they owned all of the railroad bridges across the Mississippi.

Dan Tracy posted

Dan's comment: "I've been scanning my SP slides the last few days and found this little gem. Southbound at Matteson IL in September of 81."

I could understand SP on the GM&O part of Illinois Central Gulf, but Matteson is on the IC part of ICG. Were they paying each other for locomotive use in 1981 and an SP engine that arrived in Chicago on the GM&O got put in the ICG power pool rather than being returned to SP?

Update:

John Poshepny posted
Westbound SPCSL train in the mid-90's (I THINK 94) rolling thru Downers Grove. Taken by my Dad and shared with permission.
Lawrence Owen That's an interesting lash up even for the BN era on the triple track.
A Cotton Belt, Rio Grande, Conrail, and maybe a Southern Pacific.
Dennis DeBruler I assume UP has trackage rights on the Racetrack because SP had them. In what city did the SP run-throughs enter CB&Q territory?
John Poshepny KC. It was a KC-Brookfield-West Quincy-Galesburg-Aurora-Cicero.

Cotton Belt was the nickname for the "SSW" (St. Loius Southwestern) route on the above map. Later Denvier & Rio Grande bought the SP but retained the SP name instead of their own.