A 21-mile recreation and nature trail in northeastern Illinois
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			4. A Railroad is Built The OPRT story now switches to Indiana and railroading. In early 1854 the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad Company was formed to build a railroad from Michigan City, Indiana to the Illinois border. On July 28, 1854 the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad and the Oswego and Indiana Plank Road Companies consolidated their stock into one company known as the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad Company and undertook to build a railroad. Slightly over two months later, on September 7, 1854, the new company was in New York borrowing $800,000 for construction. On the same September day the new railroad borrowed money, it's board leased the unfinished railroad to the Michigan Central Railroad for an annual payment of $2,000 per mile. The Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad was being built at a cost of $25,000 per mile. Making Connections The Illinois & Michigan Canal had opened for business in 1848. There were less than 100 miles of operating railroad track in Illinois. A group of Will County citizens started a plank road company in 1849 with plans to build from Oswego to Joliet and then straight east to the Indiana border. The Michigan Central Railroad had completed it's railroad line across Michigan from Detroit to Niles and New Buffalo around 1848. Passengers would get off the train in Michigan and take a stage coach or steamboat into Chicago. The Michigan Central R.R. was looking for ways to push it's railroad across northern Indiana and through Illinois into Chicago. According to Walter Havighurst, "the Michigan Central company bought stock in the New Albany and Salem Railroad of Indiana and the newly projected Illinois Central." Michigan Central backers were also probably among the Joliet and Northern Indiana supporters. In 1852 the Illinois Central Railroad line was under construction. The Michigan Central had obtained trackage rights across Indiana and was busy connecting with the Illinois Central at Kensington so it could run trains into Chicago.
				In 1854 the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad was formed in Michigan City, Indiana with many of the same subscribers as the Joliet and Northern Indiana Plank Road. The plank road company and the railroad consolidated once both state legislatures had passed laws enabling such interstate mergers. John Murray Forbes, the President of the Michigan Central Railroad, and his associates were very involved in building and financing the mid western railroads. Their goal was to build an integrated system across Illinois and Iowa and beyond. During the 1850's, Forbes and his partners merged a number of Illinois railroad lines into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. They built the first railroad bridges across the Mississippi and proceeded to buy up lines in Iowa and further west.
			In a little over 10 weeks, between June 27 and September 7, 1854, the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad had been created, it had consolidated with an Illinois plank road company, it had borrowed $800,000 in New York City, and it had leased itself to the Michigan Central R.R. In addition, during the preceding year, a number of state laws had been enacted in Illinois and Indiana that paved the way for the new railroad. It wouldn't be suprising to find the handiwork (and cash) of John Forbes and his associates behind the rapid developments in this story. An advertisement from an 1855 Detroit publication showing the departure times for Michigan Central Railroad trains. Click on the ad above to load the complete advertisement (116 Kb jpeg file). According to Illinois Central Rail Road historian, Carlton Corliss, The Joliet Cutoff was a critical link when it first opened. The Chicago & Mississippi Railroad (aka the Alton Road) started operating between Alton and Bloomington, Illinois during the spring of 1854. In August the Alton Road was completed to Joliet and on September 7, the Joliet Cutoff was completed from Joliet east to Matteson. Alton bound trains ran from Chicago to Matteson and then over the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad west to Joliet. From Joliet south the trains used the Alton Road's own rails. This route was discontinued the next year when on July 4, 1856 the Alton Road completed it's line between Joliet and Chicago.
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