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Chillicothe, IL
Former Amtrak and AT&SF station
The former Chillicothe Amtrak station in 2016.
General information
Location	1831 North Santa Fe Avenue, Chillicothe, Illinois 61523  United States
Coordinates	40°55′47″N 89°29′43″W / 40.929659°N 89.495377°W / 40.929659; -89.495377
Owned by	BNSF Railway
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	3
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Other information
Station code	CIA
History
Closed	August 1, 1996
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Galesburg (SF Depot)toward Dallas or Houston Lone Star Streatortoward Chicago Galesburg (SF Depot)toward Los Angeles Southwest Chief Preceding station Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Following station Edelsteintoward Los Angeles Main Line Wilberntoward Chicago
Location

Chillicothe was an Amtrak stop in Chillicothe, Illinois; a suburb of Peoria. The station was a stop on the Southwest Chief between Chicago Union Station and Los Angeles Union Station before the opening of the Cameron Connector led to the train being rerouted between Galesburg and Chicago via the BNSF Railway's Mendota Subdivision in 1996.

History

Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe

The building used as the Amtrak station between 1971 and 1996 was the second structure in Chillicothe that the Santa Fe had used as a passenger station. The original depot was constructed in 1887 and was destroyed by fire on June 13, 1963. Operations were then transferred to the Santa Fe Clubhouse. Following the creation of Amtrak, the Santa Fe shared the building as a division headquarters for freight operations until 1991.

Amtrak

Amtrak service at Chillicothe began on May 1, 1971, with the Chicago-Houston Texas Chief, a service previously run by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. This route was renamed the Lone Star in 1974 and discontinued in 1979.

For most of Amtrak's first quarter-century, it was Peoria's only link to the national rail system. The short-lived Prairie Marksman ran to East Peoria in 1980 and 1981.

Today

The station site, Streator and the Galesburg station are currently served by BNSF on their Chillicothe Subdivision.

References

1. "Amtrak Timetable - Effective April 14, 1996". timetables.org. Washington, D.C.: Amtrak. April 14, 1996. p. 6. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
2. Cherrington, Rex (June 20, 1996). "Did Galesburg businessmen really need to pay to bring the Santa Fe Railway to Town?". The Zephyr. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
3. Blankenburg, Eric (August 28, 1991). "Santa Fe trains begin 'running through'". The Chillicothe Times Bulletin.
4. "Amtrak Timetables - Effective May 1, 1971". timetables.org. Washington DC: Amtrak. May 1, 1971. p. 23. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
5. "Lone Star is Near End of the Line". The Ithaca Journal. October 9, 1979. p. 26. Retrieved January 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Trainweb.org – Chillicothe, IL (CIA)
• BNSF Subdivision Map

• Former Amtrak stations in Illinois
• Former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stations
• Railway stations in the United States closed in 1996
• Transportation buildings and structures in Peoria County, Illinois