San Antonio to Rantoul, Ill 1960 - looking for train names and schedule

[CEJIII]

In Nov 1960, the USAF sent a group of us from boot camp to tech school at Chanute AFB, Rantoul, Ill. by train.  We went first class, two men to a room. 

I have collected a few models of famous passenger trains of the US and have become curious if that train I rode that day in 1960 had a name.  I am trying to find out the name of the train we rode and other details - the price of such a trip back then, and the schedule.

The trip took us from San Antonio through Texarkana sometime in the middle of the night, on to St Louis where we changed trains.  The next train took us to Carbondale, Ill where we changed trains again.  We the traveled on what I beleive to be the Illinois Central mainline stopping in Champaign-Urbana and then our last stop was Rantoul.  The trip took about 26 hours.

Any leads or guidance appreciated. 

CEJIII

 

[MP173]

I can help you, but need a little basic information. 

Do you recall the approximate time of departure and arrival (early morning, afternoon, etc.).  Dont really need the exact time. The midnight at Texarcana should help, but approximate times would help, as would the appx time of layover.

 

ed

 

[CEJIII]

I think we left San Antonio in late morning.  St Louis was an early morning layover for awhile then the rest of the trip, with the quick change in Carbondale, got us to Rantoul in the late afternoon. 

The train from San Anotino to St Louis has a vista dome and all the amenities of a first class train.  One thing that was strange, is I remember having to take my duffle bag from the baggage car at Carbondale and carry it across tracks to the next train and throw it onboard myself.  I do not recall being in a station at Carbondale.  There were only 10 of us so it wasn't that there were a large number of duffles to be moved.

Thanks,

CEJIII 

 

[MP173]

This is an educated guess to your question.  I do not have a 1960 OG, but do have a 1958 edition.  I would think these trains and times would be fairly accurate as the great passenger train exodus had not quite started yet.  Here goes:

 

Lv San Antonio 230pm on Texas Pacific/Missouri Pacific train 2, Texas Eagle

Texarkana        1115pm

Ar St.Louis        825am

lv St.Louis         950am on train 101 (the St Louis section of City of Miami and City of New Orleans

ar Carbondale   1210pm

lv Carbondale    1215pm on Illinois Central train 8, The Creole.

Ar Rantoul         502pm

Pretty tight scheduling with only 5 minutes at Rantoul.  

Does this make sense?

I often revisit trips we made as a kid by reviewing in the OG's.  We made a trip from Olney, Il to Pueblo, Co in 1964 via the B&O and the MoPac.

 

BTW...this months Classic Trains has an excellent photo article "One Day at St Louis Union Station."  The article and photos are based on 1965.  Both the Texas Eagle and IC train 101 are shown!  Times are different for 101.

 

ed 

[CEJIII]

Boy that was easy.  What you sent definitly fits the schedule I remember.

Thank you very much.  Last long distance train trip (1974) I took in the US was on the Broadway Limited from Newark, NJ to Chicago (through Valpo).  Then Chicago to Jackson, Michigan, I believe on the Turbo Train.

We live on the Jersey Shore so we ride the North Jersey Coast Line to NYC.  Originally part of the NY to Long Branch Railroad/Jersey Central, part of the trip is still on the old Pennsylvania mainline from Woodbridge to Penn Station NYC.  They still fly up and down that part of the northeast corridor.  As a kid I use to put coins on the tracks near Metuchen, NJ where the GG1s would go roaring by. 

I believe the B'Way Limited we went through Valpo.  My sister-in-law taught at Valpo back around 1970-1972.  Very nice town.

[MP173]

Indeed, the Broadway did pass (and stop) in Valpo until it was taken off this line.  I spent lots of time and exposed a few photos of the train at the station.  We also had commuter trains into and out of Chciago (dummies, as they were called).  I moved here in 1977 and was very entertained by all of the action. 

Today, the Broadway line (ex PRR, PC, Conrail) is now Chicago Fort Wayne, and Eastern,  a regional line with a couple of trains daily.  The ex NKP line and GTW line are now NS and CN and are both busy.  I rode the Broadway east to Philadelphia in 1979 then took the second to last Crescent Limited to New Orleans and the Panama Ltd back to Chciago.  That was the last great train trip for me. 

BTW, Rantoul is going thru more changes.  The AF base shut down and industries moved in.  One of the big employers on the base is closing three factories, laying off over 600 people.

ed

[timz]

In 1960 the northbound Creole was scheduled to leave Carbondale ~15 min before your train arrived from St Louis, so either they held it for your group or you took a later train and they made an unscheduled stop for you at Rantoul.

[Anonymous]

My Feb. '52 Guide doesn't show a Creole but does show the St.Louis train on about the same schedule as mentioned above.  My June '54 Guide shows a northbound Creole arriving at Carbondale at 11:50 AM and departing 40 minutes later at 12:30 PM with the St Louis train arriving 15 minutes prior at 12:15 PM.  The southbound City of Miami is scheduled to depart at 1:02 PM.

 It appears as though the St. Louis train is providing service at Carbondale in both directions on the mainline for St.Louis passengers.

A later train at Carbondale would arrive at Rantoul after sunset in November. 

 Art

[aricat]

   I think that you probably took the Texas Eagle which is a Missouri Pacific train.It would have left at 2:15 pm CST and arrived in St Louis at 8:30 am CST the next morning. I am guessing that you the took IC's City of New Orleans St Louis to Carbondale which is by timetable southbound. That Train would have arrived at Carbondale at 12:45 pm. The IC probably held the Creole at Carbondale for you. The Northbound City of Miami would have been able to take many of the Creole's passengers since it left Carbondale only 26 minutes after the Creole. The Creole would have had a scheduled stop at Rantoul at 4:32 pm CST. I have consulted an Official Guide circa 1964. I hope this helps you out .  Aricat

[KCSfan]

   I think that you probably took the Texas Eagle which is a Missouri Pacific train.It would have left at 2:15 pm CST and arrived in St Louis at 8:30 am CST the next morning. I am guessing that you the took IC's City of New Orleans St Louis to Carbondale which is by timetable southbound. That Train would have arrived at Carbondale at 12:45 pm. The IC probably held the Creole at Carbondale for you. The Northbound City of Miami would have been able to take many of the Creole's passengers since it left Carbondale only 26 minutes after the Creole. The Creole would have had a scheduled stop at Rantoul at 4:32 pm CST. I have consulted an Official Guide circa 1964. I hope this helps you out .  Aricat

The Creole was an interesting operation and I rode it almost weekly in the 1952-55 time period between Champaign to the Chicago suburb of Homewood. It ran only northbound and its coaches were deadheaded back to New Orleans on the all-stops Southern Express. The Creole was the lowliest northbound train on the IC mainline and stopped at any number of towns that the other trains just whistled through in passing.  The Creole always carried lots of head end mail and express cars and in the mid 50's typically ran with 4-5 modernized heavyweight coaches with a diner added at Champaign. Through riders were mostly blacks from the rural south though it picked up a number of passengers at Champaign because of its convenient 5:10pm departure. The passenger load peaked on Fridays and three or more coaches were added to accommodate the many Champaign passengers including Univ. of Ill. students going to Chicago for the weekend. By 1960 ridership may have dwindled to the point that the Creole ran with only two or at the most three coaches south of Champaign and holding it at Carbondale for 12 riders wouldn't have been any problem at all.

The City of Miami might not of been an option for passengers from Carbondale because it was an every other day train so there was only a 50/50 chance the trip described in the original post took place on one of the days that it operated. Even if it did run on that day it would not have been an option for passengers going to the many towns between Carbondale and Chicago that were served only by the Creole and were not scheduled stops for the CM.

Mark