ELGIN, JOLIET & EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY
(Nickname - COBL - Chicago Outer Belt Line)
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Snapshot History: * On January 1, 1889 the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway came into being with the merger of the EJ&E of Indiana and the EJ&E of Illinois came together as one company. Each had been building the planned joint line in their respective states. The inital main line was 130 miles in length. * The EJ&E reported in 1916 that they had grown to 800 miles in total trackage including the 304 mile Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway. The company was a wholey:10342 owned subsidiary of the Unites States Steel Corp. and its subsidiaries. By this time the EJ&E was informerly operating under the name of the Chicago Outer Belt Line. It also reported operating 269 locomotives, 11,400 freight cars, and only three passenger cars. * In 1940 the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Reported 390 miles of main line, and total trackage operated, including yard tracks, spurs and sidings, of 1,376 miles of track. Motive power and equipment about the same. * In 1960 the company reported operating 1,096 miles of track with the same main lines, Waukegan, Illinois through Chicago to Porter, Indiana(130 mi.), eight other branch main lines(68 mi.), and eight mile of trackage rights. They also reported 144 active diesel locomotives and 11,500 freight cars. * Largest belt Line railroad in United States * From 1961 to today many mergers of connecting railroads, the abandonment of many others, the scaling back of many local industries, and the reduction of total trackage operated the EJ&E is somewhat smaller, but still a very active railroad. * September, 2007 - CNJ potential buyer. * Current fleet (6) SD38's among others - great for heavy tractive effort at slow speeds.
EJE 0-6-0 #15 Image, Chicago Outer Belt Line (EJ&E) 0-6-0 #15 Order No. COBL15I In this 1930's view the photographer has captured the Chicago Outer Belt Line 0-6-0 locomotive #15 at rest. -------------------- EJE 0-8-0 #331 Photo, Elgin, Joliet & Eastern 0-8-0 #331 Order No. EJE331P Photographer: Fred C. Stoes Elgin, Joliet & Eastern's 0-8-0 switcher #331 is seen with a long string of coal hoppers passing the Englewood Water Works, Englewood, Illinois, 1948. -------------------- Diesels -------------------- EJE SW1 diesel #243 Photo, Elgin Joliet & E. SW1 diesel switcher #243 1964 Order No. EJE243P A strong SW1 diesel switcher #243 pauses at Waukegan, IL, September 5, 1964. Built October - 1941. -------------------- EJE SW1200 diesel #318 Image, Elgin Joliet & E. SW1200 diesel switcher #318 Order No. EJE318I A Elgin, Joliet & Eastern EMD SW1200 diesel switcher #318 sits at the ready for its next move. -------------------- EJE SW1000 diesel #459 Image, Elgin Joliet & E. SW1000 diesel switcher #459 Photographer: Mark R. Lynn Gary, Indiana, September 17, 1995: Elgin, Joliet & Eastern EMD SW1000 diesel switcher #459 sits under a broken cloud cover. Nice! -------------------- EJE SD38 diesels #656 & #655 Photo, Elgin Joliet & Eastern SD38-2's #656 & #655 Order No. EJE656X2P Eola, IL., January 10, 1976: Two Elgin Joliet & Eastern SD38-2 EMD diesel locomotives pause on freight. -------------------- EJE DT6-6-2000 diesel #909 Photo, Elgin Joliet & Eastern DT6-6-2000 diesel #909 A unique dual 6 six cylinder diesel built by Baldwin in the 1946 to 1950 period to EJ&E specifications. The prototype demonstrator was #100, during a later EJ&E acquisition it became #126. It was originally a dual eight cylinder unit but all the production units were dual six cylinder turbocharged units. the Company also ordered #101 to #125. Some were rebuilt in later years with EMD 12 cylinder engines. #909, shown here at Waukegan, Illinois on October 1, 1966, was typical of these units and all had the familiar Baldwin slow RPM lug and lumber to them. --------------------
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