Missouri Pacific
Caboose 13495

You are looking at a steel caboose built by the Chicago & Eastern Illinois (C&EI) Railroad in 1950 at its Oaklawn Shops in Danville, Ill. When it was built, this caboose – a freight train’s office on wheels – was numbered 8 out of a group bearing numbers 7-21. 

 

The Missouri Pacific (MoPac) railroad assumed control of C&EI on October 15, 1976, although by that time parts of the C&EI had been sold off, most notably the 206-mile line from the Chicago area to Evansville, Ill., which was acquired by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N). After the merger/acquisition of C&EI, MoPac replaced the streamline cupola on caboose #8 with a standard MoPac cupola at its Sedalia, Mo., shops, and it was renumbered 13495.

 

C&EI traces its origin back to the creation of the Evansville & Illinois railroad in 1849. Ultimately, the railroad expanded through acquisitions and construction, with lines in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. According to literature, C&EI had more slogans associated with it than any other U.S. railroad, including: The Danville Route; The Evansville Route; The Modern Route; The Noiseless Route; The Boulevard of Steel; and The Chicago Line.

 

This regional railroad provided the route for L&N to gain access to Chicago for passenger trains such as: Dixie Flyer; Dixie Limited; Dixie Flagler; Humming Bird; Georgian; Danville Flyer; as well as its own Whippoorwill and Meadowlark.

 

MoPac was acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation in 1982, and officially merged into Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1997.   

​

​