Bob Lehnen’s C&EI

Note: this layout is participating in the CIRROPS 2012 Operations Weekend.

I model the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI) in HO scale. It is based on the prototype’s Chicago-Evansville mainline, as it existed in 1951 through 1954.  Layout operations include all trains in C&EI Time Table No. 45 (effective August 26, 1951), as well as many unscheduled locals and turns. There were four types of traffic on the prototype:  streamliner passenger service between Chicago and Florida, coal traffic originating from extensive coal fields in western Indiana and eastern Illinois, agricultural and manufacturing businesses along its mainline, and bridge traffic.

Passenger Traffic
The prototype C&EI was noted for its premier Dixie passenger trains serving the Chicago-Florida market and for its joint passenger service with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) between Chicago and Atlanta, New Orleans, and cities in the southeast.  If you like to run high-speed passenger streamliners, the C&EI Dixie trains linking Chicago and Florida and the joint passenger service operated with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) will keep you busy.  Operate such named trains as the C&EI’s Dixie Flyer and its Trailer-On-Flat-Car (TOFC) Dixie Piggyback Flyer.  The C&EI ran this “pig” train as a second section of the Dixie Flyer, so it is actually a “passenger” train.  The C&EI in the 1950s also runs the Chicago sections of  L&N’s The Georgian and Hummingbird.

Coal Traffic
The C&EI was an Appalachian coal road in prairie country.  My C&EI in the 1950s has substantial online coal traffic originating from extensive bituminous coal deposits in western Indiana and eastern Illinois.  Look for the heavy coal traffic originating from the  western Indiana mining towns of Clinton, Terre Haute, and Sullivan. If you like coal operations, run the Crown Hill #6 mine or the coal operations based at Baker yard in Terre Haute.

Manufacturing and Agriculture Traffic
The prototype railroad also served many large manufacturing and agricultural businesses along the Danville and Evansville subdivisions.  Hoopeston, Illinois was the home of an extensive canning industry and such manufacturing facilities as Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) and Vermilion Malleable.  Danville, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana also had extensive manufacturing and agricultural business traffic.  If you like to run locals and turns, try the Watseka or Crown Hill turns, or the Danville, Clinton, or Vincennes locals.

Yard Jobs
The C&EI in the 1950s has two large yards and two small industrial yards.  Like the prototype, the main yard on the C&EI in the 1950s is Brewer yard in Danville, Illinois.  Brewer yard is the site of a lot of interesting work.  The through freights stop here to deliver and pickup large blocks of cars.  The Brewer yardmaster and assistant make up many locals and turns there.

Baker yard at Terre Haute, Indiana is primarily about coal.  Besides the through freights that stop there, the Baker yardmaster handles all the coal- jobs in the Clinton-Terre Haute area.  This yard will keep you busy but has less “pressure”.  There are two small industrial yards–Alice yard at Vincennes, Indiana and North yard at Danville, Illinois.  If you like to operate away from the busy mainline, these smaller yards are for you.

Bridge Traffic
The C&EI was the primary way for railroads in the southeast, particularly the L&N, to gain access to the Chicago market via the Evansville gateway.  Southwestern railroads, such as the Missouri Pacific, Frisco, and Cottonbelt also used the C&EI’s St Louis or Thebes (Missouri) gateways for access to Chicago. I run  pairs of through freights (Chicago-Evansville and Evansville-Chicago) during the morning and afternoon sessions. If you like operating long freights hauling blocks of cars from one end of the railroad to the other, then try one of these 2-man crew jobs. These trains keep both crew members busy.

Motive Power
The C&EI terminated all steam operations by 1950. The railroad had not purchased any new steam power since the 1920s, and operations during the Depression and World War II meant that all of its steam power was effectively “junk”.  Like may post-war railroads the C&EI purchased whatever diesels that were available, resulting in a curios mix of diesel power.  Look for the EMD F3s, FP7s, E7s, a BL-1, a BL-2, NW2s, SW7s, and many GP-7s.  You will also find an ALCO-GE S-1 and RS-1s in the famous C&EI blue and orange scheme.  There is a single Baldwin V-1000 switcher too.

Layout Design
The layout  is a point-to-point, 2-level design with staging areas at Chicago, Evansville, and St. Louis.  A helix between Clinton and Terre Haute permits trains to move from the lower level at 40 inches to the upper level at 60 inches.  Train control is by DCC manufactured by NCE.  Operating sessions support up to 18 people, including a dispatcher, traffic manager, two yardmasters, four road crews of two people (engineer and conductor), and many local jobs and extras.

Construction on the C&EI began in the fall 1999.  I completed all benchwork, track, and wiring that allowed  trains to  operate  between Chicago and Evansville staging by 2007.  By the spring 2008, I had implemented the current operating scheme using RailOp switchlist software and the CATS/JMRI software for dispatching.  Since 2009 I have added operations to St Louis and southern Illinois via Woodland Junction, Illinois, and the remainder of the unfinished track work–the Mt Vernon, Indiana branch and Oaklawn Shops at Danville, Illinois.  I am now in the process of completing scenery and  structures for the entire railroad.

My Model Railroad “Philosophy”
If you operate on the C&EI in the 1950s, I hope that you HAVE FUN, and in the process, learn something about prototype railroading.

About the Prototype Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad
The C&EI was a Class 1 regional railroad with over 800 miles of mainline track.  Its predecessor railroad was the Evansville & Vincennes chartered in the state of Indiana in 1849.  By the middle 1880s the C&EI had completed its modern mainline route structure shown in the map and established its  corporate name (C&EI). The C&EI started its Chicago-Florida passenger service modeled on my C&EI in the 1950s in the 1900s.

In the 1960s the Missouri Pacific Railroad sought to purchase the C&EI to gain access to the Chicago market, and late in the decade  the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) agreed to the purchase provided that the MoPac sell the Woodland Junction-Evansville line to the L&N.  Under the agreement the MoPac would own the Chicago-St Louis-Thebes mainlines, and the L&N, the Woodland Junction to Evansville mainline.  Both railroads had trackage rights between Chicago and Woodland Junction, but the MoPac dispatcher controlled that part of the railroad, Today, the Union Pacific (UP) owns the MoPac portion of the C&EI, and CSX, the L&N’s part.  The C&EI lives on today, since virtually all of its mainline structure exists, and UP and CSX run double stacks and unit trains on the old C&EI right-of-way.

Thanks to the Many People Who Make My Railroad Possible
Construction and operation of this layout is a team effort, and I have been fortunate to receive valuable assistance from the C&EI Maintenance and Operating Group volunteers. Baron Simmerman designed and supervised the construction of the benchwork.  Stan Krasienko, Steve Johnson, Al Kohut, John Munson, and Ken Osiecki assisted me in developing operations. Ken Osiecki also installed the RailOp software  and is the traffic manager.  Steve Johnson created the CATS/JMRI dispatcher software for the railroad. Jeff Norkin and Rich Bourgerie take professional quality photographs.  Many other members of the maintenance group–in particular, Julian Garner and Jeremy Harris–contribute their time working on track, repairing cars, and doing the many small, but important jobs that keep the C&EI running.