Shawnee (train)

The Shawnee was a passenger train operated first by then Illinois Central Railroad and then by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois and Carbondale, Illinois. It operated from 1969 until 1986.

Shawnee

The Shawnee at Savoy in April 1984
Overview
Predecessor	Seminole
First service	June 3, 1969
Last service	January 2, 1986
Successor	Illini
Former operator(s)	Illinois Central Railroad Amtrak
Route map Legend Dist. Station 0 mi Chicago-Union Chicago-Central 25 mi 40 km Homewood 57 mi 92 km Kankakee 115 mi 185 km Rantoul 129 mi 208 km Champaign–Urbana 174 mi 280 km Mattoon 201 mi 323 km Effingham 254 mi 409 km Centralia 310 mi 499 km Carbondale v t e

History

The Shawnee at Mattoon in February 1976

The Shawnee took its name from the Shawnee, an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America who formerly lived in southern Illinois.^[1]: 100 The train made its first run on June 3, 1969. It replaced the Seminole, a long-distance train which had operated between Chicago and Jacksonville since 1909.^[2]: 20 At the dawn of Amtrak the Shawnee was one of several trains the Illinois Central operated over the Chicago—Carbondale corridor, including the Southern Express, Creole, and Louisiane.^[1]: 93 Along with the Panama Limited, also retained from the IC, the Shawnee continued to use Central Station instead of Union Station in downtown Chicago. The train was one of the few Illinois Central trains Amtrak retained after the end of most private-sector passenger service in the United States on May 1, 1971.

Its rolling stock consisted of inherited Illinois Central Gulf locomotives and passenger cars, but in 1976 they were replaced with GE P30CHes and Amfleets and for a brief time, they used Superliner cars. The 1980s most likely saw introduction of EMD F40PHs and retaining of Amfleets, as the Superliners were sent on other routes.

On October 12, 1979, a northbound train was involved in an accident at Harvey, Illinois, when the train collided with a stationary ICG freight train due to misaligned switches, claiming the lives of two people.

The Shawnee operated until January 12, 1986, when budget cuts led to its consolidation with the Illini.

References

1. Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
2. Lind, Alan R. (1986). Limiteds Along the Lakefront: The Illinois Central in Chicago. Park Forest, IL: Transport History Press. OCLC 20171887.

External links

Media related to Shawnee (train) at Wikimedia Commons

• April 28, 1985 timetable