Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Information & Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Links at HealthHaven.com

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
	;
Reporting mark	GMO
Locale	central United States
Dates of operation	1938–1972
Predecessor	Mobile and Ohio Railroad;; Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad
Successor	Illinois Central Gulf
Track gauge	4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Mobile, Alabama
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The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (reporting mark GMO) was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama and Kansas City, Missouri.

[edit] History

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio terminal in Mobile, Alabama.

The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was a result of the reorganization of the New Orleans, Mobile & Chicago in 1917. The GM&O incorporated in 1938 to take over and merge the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, which it completed in 1940. The railroad also merged with the Alton Railroad in 1947.

On August 10, 1972, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad was merged into the Illinois Central Railroad, forming the 9600-mile north/south Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. In 1996 Illinois Central spun off some of its redundant trackage, including most of the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. Most of this trackage was acquired by other railroads.

On February 11, 1998 the Illinois Central was purchased by the Canadian National Railway (CN) with the integration of operations beginning on July 1, 1999.

[edit] Passenger Operations

Aside from the GM&O's most popular train, the Rebel, the railroad also operated a number of other named trains. These include:

Alton Limited: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Abraham Lincoln: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Ann Rutledge: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Gulf Coast Rebel: (St. Louis - Mobile/Montgomery)
Midnight Special: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Night Hawk: (St. Louis - Kansas City)
Prairie State Express: (St. Louis - Chicago)
The Mail: (Chicago - St. Louis)

Until recently the Ann Rutledge was still operated by Amtrak.

[edit] Preservation

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2954 re-numbered by ICG as #199044, preserved by the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello Illinois.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio SD40-2 #950...the first GM&O SD40-2, currently in Illinois Central marking as #6071, recently donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello Illinois.

[edit] In the media

GM&O engines and passenger cars were featured in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. Although the film's opening and ending shots of the GM&O are implied to be in Mississippi (a fictionalized version of Sparta, Mississippi), GM&O had ceased all passenger service south of St. Louis, Missouri eight years before the film was made (1966). The actual filming location was Sparta, Illinois. The location where the GM&O engines and cars were filmed was Alton, Illinois.

In popular music, the GM&O line is referenced in Adrian Belew's "The Rail Song", a nostalgic song about the heyday and subsequent decline of the American railroads. Originally on 1983's Twang Bar King album, the song can also be found on the Desire of the Rhino King compilation and in an acoustic version on both The Acoustic Adrian Belew and the Salad Days compilation.

[edit] References

"Corporate Family Tree/Flow Chart". The GM&O Historical Society, Inc.. http://www.gmohs.org/TertiaryPages/FamilyTreeFlowChart.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-21.

[edit] See also

The Rebel, lightweight streamline trains, built for GM&O predecessor GM&N, by ACF

[edit] External links

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