page_title: Illinois Central Railroad
section_title: Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (1972–1988)
hierarchical_section_title: Illinois Central Railroad / History / Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (1972–1988)
caption_attribution_description: English: a hopper car in ICG livery with an ACI plate
context_page_description: The Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa. There was a significant branch to Omaha, Nebraska, west of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and another branch reaching Sioux Falls, South Dakota, starting from Cherokee, Iowa. The Sioux Falls branch has been abandoned in its entirety.
  The Canadian National Railway acquired control of the IC in 1998.
context_section_description: On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (reporting mark ICG). On October 30 that year the Illinois Central Gulf commuter rail crash, the company's deadliest, occurred.
  At the end of 1980 ICG operated 8,366 miles of railroad on 13,532 miles of track; that year it reported 33,276 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 323 million passenger-miles. Later in that decade, the railroad spun off most of its east–west lines and many of its redundant north–south lines, including much of the former GM&O. Most of these lines were bought by other railroads, including entirely new railroads such as the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway, Paducah and Louisville Railway, Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad and MidSouth Rail Corporation.
  In 1988 the railroad's then-parent company IC Industries spun off its remaining rail assets and changed its name to the Whitman Corporation. Whitman is currently in the businesses of bottling Pepsi products, Hussman comercial refrigeration, Midas auto repair, and Pet co.- makers of Old El Paso, Progresso, and Whitman Chocolates food products. Whitman sold off Pet Co.
  With bottling Pepsi products, Whitman purchased a rival Minnesota based PepsiAmericas Inc. bottler in 2000. On February 29, 1988, the newly separated ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became the Illinois Central Railroad.
caption: ICG hopper with ACI plate
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