A once popular local Chicago area railroad that unfortunately has since became a fallen flag railroad itself, was the fabled Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad.
Originally owned by the United States Steel Corporation, this industrial railroad operated from Waukegan Illinois on the north, to Gary Indiana on the south, using a route that circled the far once rural outlying future suburbs. Because of this, the railroad had become known as "The Chicago Outer Belt Line", avoiding much time consuming interchange operations in the immediate Chicago area.

The E,J & E had used several different color schemes on their diesel locomotive fleet ranging from solid black on the very early diesel switchers, to a colorful orange and green, to a solid orange, a solid green and a solid mineral brown on the yard switchers, and finally...this bright solid orange with the "J' logo on a green circular background on the nose of some of their EMD SD series heavy roadswitcher locomotives used in the later years.

On February 1st, 2009, the Canadian National Railroad purchased the former E,J & E and acquired the railroad through merger. The old E,J & E had a unique flavor and character all of it's own.