Companies Based in Williamson County, Illinois - Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad, Tri-State Christian Television, American Rail Heritage Ltd. (Paperback)

Chapters: Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad, Tri-State Christian Television, American Rail Heritage Ltd.. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad (reporting mark COER) is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad that operates between the cities of Marion and Herrin in the Southern Illinois region. It is most historically recognized by the FRA for being the last U.S. railroad of any kind to use steam locomotives exclusively in regular revenue freight service up until 1986. The present-day shortline currently operates a total of 15 miles (24 km) of track across the industrial centers of Williamson County in two separate railroad districts with a fleet of three diesel switcher engines. One line being known as the "Marion District," which is the railroad's main working division with roughly 10 miles (16 km) of track; and the other division being the "Herrin District," which mostly serves the city's manufacturing industries along a 5-mile (8.0 km) stretch of track. The railroad operates only a small workforce of five employees on the system. It also has three different interchange points with two Class I railroads. Near their main offices in downtown Marion, the railroad has a junction with Union Pacific's Marion Subdivision; another interchange is located in the nearby Marion suburb of Bainbridge with BNSF Railway's Beardstown Subdivision. A second BNSF connection with the same line is also present in the Herrin district. Most of the CO