LaSalle & Bureau County

Company History: The LS&BC opened in 1892 to link the zinc mines around LaSalle to Midway, Illinois. They connected with Illinois Central, Burlington, Chicago & North Western and New York Central. LS&BC was infamous for being the shortline that stole 352 boxcars from Penn Central. This was done by having a sister company of the LS&BC offer to rebuild a group of old PC cars. Many were reported to be a total loss, unworthy of rebuilding and reportedly sent to scrap. But the cars were fine. They were re-stenciled for LSBC and pressed back into service. The scheme came apart when one of these stolen cars ended up on a Penn Central RIP track. The car knockers looked up the original road number which was stenciled on the center sill and discovered it had been reported scrapped. Ultimately, people went to jail over the incident. In 1980, the LS&BC bought the Kensington-Blue Island-Chicago route from the bankrupt Rock Island. Not long after, they acquired some former Milwaukee Road trackage around Mendota. In 1985, the railroad was sold and became Chicago Rail Link. Operations on the original LaSalle-Midway route ended in 1986.

Successor/Parent History: CRL is a switching line linking Kensington, Blue Island, Mokena and Chicago, Illinois. The length of the route is about 30 miles, with 72 track miles. The company was born from the 1985 reorganization of the troubled LaSalle & Bureau County. In 1988, the Chicago Rail Link was purchased and merged by the Chicago West Pullman & Southern but the Chicago Rail Link name was the one that survived. In 1991 Chicago Rail Link became part of the OmniTRAX shortline group. Connections are with Belt Railway of Chicago, South Shore and Iowa Interstate.

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.