Kankakee Beaverville & Southern

Company History: Originally running from Kankakee to Sheldon, Illinois, the KB&S route was a Penn Central (NYC) line that was destined to be left out of the Conrail reorganization. KB&S began service on this line in 1977. In 1981, they picked up a connecting former Milwaukee Road line. Then came a former Nickel Plate line from NS. Today the KB&S runs 155 miles (plus 11 miles of trackage rights) in a rough 3-spoke system linking Kankakee and Danville, Illinois with Lafayette, Indiana. As the intermodal scene heated up in the ‘80’s, KB&S operated a huge fleet of lease trailers with big KBS logos. The all-Alco diesel fleet included RS-11’s, an S-2, a C-420, and an “RS-20” which was actually a re-engined RS-3. In 2003, the Alco’s were finally replaced with six GP-38-2M’s (built as GP40’s for C&NW.) Traffic is mostly farm products.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.