C&NW and EJ&E operating together

[Blind Bruce]

Many MANY moons ago (1950),  I watched the EJ&E switcher ply its trade alongside the C&NW tracks in Waukegan, Illinois. My layout is a switching type and I wonder how the two roads worked together.

Any information will be appreciated.

[KCSfan]

The EJ&E was a US Steel Co. railroad and connected that company's mills in South Chicago and Gary with its subsidiaries, the Chicago Bridge & Iron in Joliet and the US Steel and Wire in North Chicago which is adjacent to Waukegan. It was known as the Chicago Outer Belt line and was a bypass around Chicago from Waukegan on the north to Porter, IN on the east connecting with almost every other railroad that entered Chicago. The "J", as it was commonly called, connected with the CNW at Waukegan, Barrington and West Chicago. The two roads interchanged a few cars at these points but other than that there was no special working relationship between the two.

Mark  

[aricat]

I went through US Navy Boot Camp at Great Lakes Illinois and became quite familiar with EJ&E and C&NW. If you have go through basic training and are a railfan, Great Lakes was the place to be. You could see EJ&E Baldwins at Waukegan from passing C&NW passenger trains often. I saw one coming back from Boot Liberty in Milwaukee. EJ&E crews used to shout at us as we did our push ups as they passed by; they got quite a kick out of it. I saw quite a few EJ&E freights while at Great Lakes, however, since Great Lakes, I have seen only one EJ&E train. EJ&E made my two months at Boot Camp a little more bearable and it made me a fan of the railroad. I would have liked to stay, however, one of the best train rides I ever took was riding a C&NW commuter train from Great Lakes north to Waukegan and then catching the Flambeau 400 to MIlwaukee; then changing stations to the Afternoon Hi for home. The Twin Cities 400 had just been discontinued. I wished I could have seen the Northshore at Great Lakes, but it too was gone.