Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad

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Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad
Logo
Reporting marks CSS
Locale Chicago to South Bend, IN
Dates of operation 1903–present
Track gauge ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters Michigan City, IN

The Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad (AAR reporting marks CSS), known to many as the South Shore Line, is a short line freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and local industries in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

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[edit] History

The line was operated as the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (CSS&SB) until it went bankrupt in 1989, when the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), formed in 1977 to help fund the line, took over the CSS&SB's passenger operations. The line's freight service was picked up in 1990 by the new Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad (AAR reporting marks CSS), owned by Anacostia and Pacific, which took over freight operations after acquiring the Kensington and Eastern Railroad, the piece in Illinois, from the Illinois Central Railroad in 1996.

The CSS&SB operates diesel locomotives on the whole line. It also operates the former Indianapolis, La Porte and Michigan City Railroad and Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville Railroad, once part of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate) system, from Michigan City southeast to Dillon (southeast of Stillwell), bought from Norfolk Southern in 2001. Via trackage rights it connects to many other railroads in the Chicago area, with connections to the Port of Chicago, Proviso Yard and Joliet.

The CSS&SB's primary businesses are coal and steel, the coal delivered to the Michigan City and Burns Harbor generating stations owned by Northern Indiana Public Service Company. The CSS&SB also serves many online customers along the line.

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