I found this rare and very historic Chicago railroad photograph on the internet.

I was born in Chicago Illinois during the year of 1962, and I grew up in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood on the near southwest side of the city.

A little industrial railroad that had served the factories in My old neighborhood for many years, was the Illinois Northern Railroad.

The Illinois Northern Railroad, was a subsidiary of the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. The Illinois Northern Railroad line, operated from South Western and Blue Island Avenue on an elevated grade seperated embankment at the east end, where it interchanged with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad along the western edge of Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. The line traveled west alongside West 26th Street, and featured a run around siding along the northside of Chicago's Cook County Jail between South California and South Sacramento Avenues. The line curved southwest, and proceeded across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal just west of South Kedzie Avenue at approximately West 33rd Street, and entered the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad's Corwith Yard.

The Illinois Northern was partially owned by the Santa Fe, and the International Harvester Corporation.
When the International Harvester Corporation left Chicago during the early 1970's, the Santa Fe purchased the I.N outright in 1972, and operated this line Monday thru Friday as the Santa Fe's I.N branchline. Soon after the I.N takeover by Santa Fe, the old 1950's era Alco S 4 yard switchers painted in the 1950's era Santa Fe Zebra stripe color scheme, were sold to the Western Pacific Railroad's subsidiary Tidewater Southern Railroad. The Santa Fe replaced these on the I.N branch with EMD SW Series yard switchers, and later with rebuilt EMD GP 9's in 1983.

This photograph is from the Frank Zeller collection.
Seen here at the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad's Corwith Yard locomotive terminal, is Illinois Northern Railroad Alco S4 switcher #34, photographed on June 16th, 1965.

Freight business gradually slowed down on the I.N branchline during the 1980's. In late 1995, the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad, becoming today's BNSF Railway. The BNSF operated this line for a few more years, then leased the line to DRS Rail Services in 2000. Business on this line dried up greatly, until the line was switched only as needed with one or two customers left on line.

The BNSF Railway has since abandoned the old Illinois Northern branchline in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood recently, due to a major lack of any real online business.

The I.N was My old neighborhood railroad.

Thanks.
Eddie K.