Chicago Aurora & Elgin

Company History: The CA&E was born in 1922 from the split up of a larger interurban and streetcar system. CA&E got the interurban lines linking Chicago with Aurora, Batavia, Elgin and Geneva, Illinois. Power was distributed primarily through third-rail with trolley wire as a back up where the third-rail was not practical. This route included trackage rights on the “L” to reach the end of their line at Wells Street. Samuel Insull (who already controlled the Chicago South Shore & South Bend and the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee) took control of the CA&E in 1926. After the war, passengers fled the CA&E for their own automobiles. Unlike sister road South Shore, freight traffic on the CA&E was relatively light and certainly not enough to carry the whole operation. Passenger service ended in 1957. The freight service struggled on for another two years before ending as well. The CA&E was formally abandoned in 1961.

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.