Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad

Not to be confused with Chicago Terminal Railroad.

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Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad

Overview
Headquarters| Chicago, Illinois
Reporting mark| BOCT
Locale| Chicago area
Dates of operation| 1910-
Technical
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (reporting mark BOCT) is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those railroads for freight transfers, and is now controlled by CSX Corporation,[1] the successor to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

## History

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By 1886, the Wisconsin Central Railroad had formed a new railway company, called the Chicago and Great Western Railroad (C&GW, not to be confused with the Chicago Great Western Railway) to build a new line from a connection with the WC at Forest Park into the city, and to construct the Grand Central Station, which opened in December 1890.

In June 1887, a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad called the Chicago & Calumet Terminal Railway (C&CT) consolidated several terminal railroads in the Chicago area with lines running between the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at McCook, Illinois to the south and south-east to Hammond, Indiana and a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O).

In March 1890, another subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad bought the C&GW along with several other WC lines in the Chicago area, consolidated them all as the Chicago & Northern Pacific Railroad (C&NP). The next month, the WC had itself leased to the Northern Pacific. As they were both controlled by the same railroad, the C&NP and the C&CT were linked together with new construction and trackage rights. The lease arrangement between the Wisconsin Central and the Northern Pacific worked until the Panic of 1893, when the WC was freed from the lease, and the C&NP was again placed under the control of the WC. Weakened by the prolonged economic downturn, the C&NP was bankrupt by October 1893.

Preferred share of the Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad Company, issued 16 July 1902.

In July 1897, a new company called the Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad (CTT) bought the C&NP from the Wisconsin Central. While the WC (and successor Soo Line Railroad) no longer had its own direct connection to the city, it continued to use the line to access Grand Central Station until 1899, and between 1912 and 1965. In May 1897, the Chicago Terminal Transfer merged the Chicago & Calumet Terminal. The B&O began using Grand Central Station in 1892, when a connection was made between the CTT and the B&O at South Chicago. When the Pere Marquette Railroad was completed to Porter, Indiana in 1903, it also used the CTT into Grand Central Station.

On January 6, 1910, the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad was created to purchase the CTT at foreclosure, giving B&O control of both the terminal railway system, as well as Grand Central Station.

The railroad reached a peak size in the 1920s of 78 route-miles and 365 track-miles.

## Operations

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B&OCTRR map including locations of stations in addition to Grand Central Station. Trains from Indiana took a circuitous approach from the southeast to the downtown, veering west to Brighton Park, then east to toward Grand Central Station.

The railroad was strategically located in Chicago; connections made at Forest Park and trackage rights allowed the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway ("Soo Line") (which had leased the Wisconsin Central in 1909) and the Chicago Great Western Railway access to Grand Central Station.

### Satellite stations

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The Baltimore and Ohio had two long distance train stations on the line, on the periphery of Chicago, as passing into the city border en route to Grand Central Station. The B&O's grand Capitol Limited and its other Chicago-bound trains stopped at the stations.

The B&O's South Chicago Station was located approximately at 94th Street and Commercial Avenue, slightly to the southwest of the Calumet River's opening to Lake Michigan. Additionally, the Pere Marquette Railway's Night Express to Muskegon and Grand Rapids, Michigan and its Resort Special to Bay View, Michigan, also used the B&OCT lines through the city, as well as the two stations on the approach to Grand Central Station. The B&O's 63rd Street Station, in the South Lynne section of the city was the company's other station within Chicago en route to Grand Central Station.[2][3][4]

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway absorbed the Pere Marquette in 1947 and continued its trains to southwest Michigan. These were the last trains to run through the two stations when passenger service passed over to Amtrak in 1971. The B&O trains stopped serving the South Chicago station between 1968 and 1970.

## References

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1. ^ "Class I Railroad Annual Report: CSX Transportation, Inc. To The Surface Transportation Board For the Year Ending December 28, 2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2008.
2. ^ "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Tables 1, 13". Official Guide of the Railways. 74 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1941.
3. ^ "Pere Marquette Railway, Tables 1, 6". Official Guide of the Railways. 74 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1941.
4. ^ "Index of Railroad Stations, 1313, 1488". Official Guide of the Railways. 74 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1941.

## External links

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* Railways portal

* Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. IL-1016, "Grand Central Station"
* Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IL-67, "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chicago Terminal Railroad, South Branch of the Chicago River Bridge"
* PRR Chronology Archived September 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
* Railroad History of Central Wisconsin – Chicago Terminal
* Railroad History Database

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Major inter-city railroad terminals of Chicago

Active terminals|

* LaSalle Street Station
* Millennium Station
* Ogilvie Transportation Center
* Union Station

Former terminals|

* Central Station
* Dearborn Station
* Grand Central Station
* Great Central Station
* Nickel Plate Depot
* Wells Street Station
* World's Columbian Exposition

* v
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Railroads of Illinois

Common carriers|

* A&R Terminal Railroad
* Ag Valley Railroad
* Alton and Southern Railway
* Belt Railway of Chicago
* Bloomer Shippers Connecting Railroad
* BNSF Railway
* Burlington Junction Railway
* Canadian National Railway
* Grand Trunk Western Railroad
* Illinois Central Railroad
* Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad
* Wisconsin Central
* Central Illinois Railroad
* Chicago–Chemung Railroad
* Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad
* Chicago Port Railroad
* Chicago Rail Link
* Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad
* City of Rochelle Railroad
* Coffeen and Western Railroad
* Canadian Pacific Kansas City
* Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad
* Kansas City Southern Railway
* Soo Line Railroad
* Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway
* CSX Transportation
* Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad
* Decatur Central Railroad
* Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad
* Decatur Junction Railway
* Eastern Illinois Railroad
* Effingham Railroad
* Evansville Western Railway
* Gateway Eastern Railway
* Illinois and Midland Railroad
* Illinois Railway
* Illinois Western Railroad
* Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
* Indiana Rail Road
* Iowa Interstate Railroad
* Joppa and Eastern Railroad
* Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad
* Keokuk Junction Railway
* Lincoln and Southern Railroad
* Manufacturers' Junction Railway
* Manufacturers Railway
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Peoria and Pekin Union Railway
* Peru Industrial Railroad
* Pioneer Industrial Railway
* Port Harbor Railroad
* Riverport Railroad
* Shawnee Terminal Railway
* South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway
* Southern Illinois and Missouri Bridge Company
* Tazewell and Peoria Railroad
* Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
* Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
* Union Pacific Railroad
* Vandalia Railroad
* Vermilion Valley Railroad
* Wisconsin and Southern Railroad

Passenger carriers|

* Airport Transit System
* Amtrak
* Chicago "L"
* Metra
* MetroLink
* South Shore Line

Private carriers|

* Bulkmatic Railroad
* C&C Railroad
* Calumet Transload & Railroad
* Captain Mine
* Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer Railroad
* Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad
* DOT Rail Service
* FNG Logistics Company
* Joliet Junction Railroad
* Kaskaskia Regional Port District Railroad
* Mokena Illinois Railroad
* North American Industrial Railway
* Peabody Energy
* Peoria, Peoria Heights and Western Railroad
* Respondek Railroad Corporation

Heritage railroads|

* Fox River Trolley Museum
* Illinois Railway Museum
* Monticello Railway Museum
* Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad

* See also: Former carriers in Illinois
* List of United States railroads by political division

* v
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Railroads of Indiana

Common carriers|

* Bee Line Railroad
* Big 4 Terminal Railroad
* Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad
* Central Indiana and Western Railroad
* Central Railroad of Indianapolis
* Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad
* Central Railroad of Indiana
* Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad
* C&NC Railroad
* Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad
* CSX Transportation
* Dubois County Railroad
* Evansville Western Railway
* Elkhart and Western Railroad
* Fulton County Railroad
* Gary Railway
* Grand Trunk Western Railroad
* Honey Creek Railroad
* Hoosier Southern Railroad
* Indian Creek Railroad
* Indiana Eastern Railroad
* Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
* Indiana Northeastern Railroad
* Indiana Rail Road
* Indiana and Ohio Railway
* Indiana Southern Railroad
* Indiana Southwestern Railway
* Indianapolis Union Railway
* Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad
* Kendallville Terminal Railway
* Logansport and Eel River Short-Line Company
* Louisville and Indiana Railroad
* Lake Michigan and Indiana Railroad
* Lucas Oil Rail Line
* Madison Railroad
* MG Rail, Inc.
* Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Ohio Valley Railroad
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Western Ohio Lines
* South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway
* Squaw Creek Southern Railroad
* Southern Indiana Railway
* Soo Line Railroad
* Southwind Shortline Railroad
* Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
* U S Rail Corporation
* Vermilion Valley Railroad
* Wabash Central Railroad
* Winamac Southern Railway

Passenger carriers|

* Amtrak
* South Shore Line

Private carriers|

* BP
* City of Auburn Port Authority
* Steel Dynamics
* R.J. Corman
* Toyota

Heritage railroads|

* Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society
* Hesston Steam Museum
* Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum
* Indiana Railway Museum
* Indiana Transportation Museum
* National New York Central Railroad Museum
* Whitewater Valley Railroad

* See also: Former carriers in Indiana
* List of United States railroads by political division

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