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Legend
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The Whippoorwill was a short-lived passenger train operated by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI) between Chicago, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana.
The C&EI introduced the Whippoorwill in 1946 as a day train supplement to the express streamliners it operated in conjunction with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The Whippoorwill was one of the first new streamliners introduced after World War II, with completely new equipment delivered by Pullman-Standard. A C&EI advertisement in Trains magazine touted the "ultra-modern chair car accommodations" and "latest type passenger Diesel locomotives."[1]
The train's original consist, as delivered by Pullman-Standard, included the following cars:
| Number | Type | Name | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| #304 | Baggage-coach | Turkey Run | Sold to the Shedd Aquarium and used as a fish transport. Now at the Monticello Railway Museum.[2] |
| #460 | Coach | Vigo Trail | Sold to the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) in 1961; converted to maintenance of way in 1971.[3] |
| #461 | Coach | Vincennes Trail | Sold to the IC in 1961; destroyed in a derailment involving the City of New Orleans in 1971.[3][4] |
| #462 | Coach | Vanderburg Trail | Sold to the IC in 1961; sold to Silcott Railroad Equipment in 1971.[3] |
| #463 | Coach | Vermillion Trail | Sold to the IC in 1961. Sold to Black Hills Central Railroad in 1971. Sold to the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway (OP&E) after 1971; possibly 1972 and no later than 1975. Sold to Louisiana and Arkansas Railway (LA) in 1975 and named "Sierra Madre."[3] |
| #505 | Diner | Shakamak Inn | Sold to the IC in 1962. Conveyed to the Louisiana Arts and Sciences Center in Baton Rouge. Now at the Monticello Railway Museum.[5] |
| #702 | Parlor observation | Chicagoland | Rebuilt as a coach in 1964. |
A famous publicity photograph, which the C&EI used long after the train's discontinuance, showed a single EMD E7 locomotive (#1102), leading these seven cars which made up the train's original consist. The photograph was colorized to accentuate the train's purple and yellow color scheme.[6] The northbound train (#4) departed Evansville at 7:00 am and arrived in Chicago's Dearborn Station at 12:20 pm. The train then returned south (as #3) at 5:30 pm, arriving in Evansville at 10:50 pm.[1]
The C&EI discontinued the Whippoorwill in 1948 after the L&N began running a section of the Georgian to Chicago over a similar schedule. The C&EI re-assigned the Whippoorwill's equipment to the Georgian and the Humming Bird until finally selling most of it to the Illinois Central in the early 1960s.[6]