Say goodbye to the J! Elgin, Joliet and Eastern to be bought out by CN. I kind of liked their Orange Engines, and was always surprised one was never mass produced in N Scale. "CN to acquire ‘major portion’ of Elgin, Joliet & Eastern from U.S. Steel Three weeks after Canadian Pacific Railway announced plans to acquire the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp., CPR’s Canadian Class I counterpart has revealed an acquisition deal involving another major U.S. regional. Today, Canadian National Railway Co. announced it reached an agreement with United States Steel Corp. to acquire a major portion of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co. (EJ&E) for $300 million. Known as “Chicago’s Outer Belt,” the 198-mile regional operates a mainline encircling the Windy City, reaching Waukegan, Joliet and South Chicago, Ill., and Gary, Ind. The deal calls for U.S. Steel’s Transtar subsidiary to retain ownership of railroad assets and equipment, and continue employing workers at a Gary Works site in northwest Indiana, which will become the Gary Railway. CN would acquire the remainder of EJ&E’s operations. The transaction is subject to Surface Transportation Board approval. Pending regulatory review, the deal could close in mid-2008. “This acquisition is good news for railroading in Chicago … [which] is essential to CN’s rail operations, yet presents us with major operational challenges,” said CN President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a prepared statement. “This transaction will improve rail operations on the CN system and the rest of the Chicago rail network by moving CN trains out of the urban core to EJ&E lines on the outskirts of the Chicago metropolitan area.” The deal also will provide CN what had been a missing link to connect the eastern, western and southern regions of the Class I’s network, said CN Senior Vice President-Southern Region Gordon Trafton. The acquisition wouldn’t cause any shippers to lose direct rail competition or adversely effect rail competition, CN said. The Class I would keep gateways open and honor trackage rights agreements with all connecting carriers, which include CPR, BNSF Railway Co., CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Corp. and Union Pacific Railroad. CN plans to invest about $100 million to integrate the regional, build connections, improve infrastructure and expand capacity on the EJ&E, which moves steel, petroleum and chemical products, coal, and other bulk commodities and finished goods. The regional employs 700 people."
This is the end of an era. With DT&I long gone and B&LE and DM&IR fading away, all the major iron and steel roads of the Great Lakes area are gone.
Sorry to post in an old thread but I remember seeing those orange engines in the distance every now and then from my bedroom window in New Lennox, IL.
It's not happening just yet. For some reason, area locals, (non-RR concerned), are protesting the merger. Seeking all kinds of conditions on CN. CN is very unhappy, and has asked for a deadline on this proceeding. For late in 2008. If they don't get it, I'd say the whole deal may go away. Boxcab E50
The only reason I see the CN wanting the EJ&E is to reach the IC from the northwest chicago area...There should be a better reason than that. What non rail concerns are concerned about this? could it be the higher level of traffic through the towns?
That's exactly the concern. CN wants to use the J as a bypass around Chicago and the communities on the line are lining up to complain. In particular Barrington has made the news about it. of course, Barrington is filled with millionaires, so their voice caries a little louder. If CN gets shot down, then they'll just build a bypass further out. Sure the EJ&E will still exist, but it will see it's traffic suffer and chicago will lose jobs. Metra also had interest in the line as a a belt line to accomodate the growing jobs in the suburbs and I think they got shot down too.
If the J losses CN traffic, they could go to the other roads that use the BRC and IHB to see if they could intice the traffic from them...A train coming from the Northwest or south east especially would not have cars for the chicago area so it wiyld be bypassed completely. Now that would be an enticing offer
