Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad

The GM&O Limited departing Chicago, 1963.

GMO (Gulf Mobile & Ohio) EMD E-3A and F-3B, led by No. 101-A, heading out of Chicago's Union Station with the Alton Limited, 1963.

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(Dan Pope Collection / RMP Archive)

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (reporting mark GMO) was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois.

From its two parallel lines through eastern Mississippi, the GM&O also served Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as Memphis, Tennessee.

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio terminal in Mobile, Alabama.

(Altairisfar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

History

The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was created as the reorganization of the New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago Railroad in 1917. The GM&O was incorporated in 1938 to merge the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, which was accomplished in 1940. The GM&O later bought and merged the Alton Railroad in 1947.

Isaac B. Tigrett, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, was president of the GM&N from 1920 and of the GM&O from 1938 to 1952, and oversaw the development of the road from a nearly bankrupt operation into a thriving success. He was the great-uncle of Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett, also a native of Jackson.

From 1952 to 1972 the headquarters of the GM&O were in Mobile, Alabama at 104 St. Francis Street. The President of the GM&O Railroad during this period was G. Paul Brock. The Railroad retained the passenger terminal at Beauregard Street for additional offices.

At the end of 1944 GM&O operated 1950 miles of road, including NOGN; at the end of 1950 it operated 2898 route-miles. At the end of 1970 route mileage was 2734 (3946 miles of track); GM&O reported 8285 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 44 million passenger-miles for that year.

The GM&O Railroad was the first "large" railroad in the United States to replace all its steam locomotives with diesels.

On August 10, 1972 the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad merged into the Illinois Central Railroad, forming the 9600-mile north-south Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. In 1988, the railroad dropped the "Gulf" from its name, reverting its name to the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1996 Illinois Central spun off some of its redundant trackage, including most of the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. Most of this trackage was acquired by other railroads.

On February 11, 1998 the Illinois Central was purchased by the Canadian National Railway (CN) with the integration of operations beginning on July 1, 1999.

Postcard circa 1940 depicting one of the Rebel streamliners.

(Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Postcard depiction of a Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad's Limited, a streamlined diesel-powered train which traveled between Chicago and St. Louis.

(Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Passenger Operations

In addition to the GM&O's most popular train, the streamlined Rebel (New Orleans - Jackson, Tennessee 1935-1941; extended to St. Louis thereafter), the railroad also operated a number of other named trains. These include:

Alton Limited (later simply The Limited): (Chicago - St. Louis)
Abraham Lincoln: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Ann Rutledge: (Chicago - St. Louis) (operated 1937-1947 by the Alton, 1947-1971 by GM&O, 1971-2009 by Amtrak)
Gulf Coast Rebel: (originally Mobile - Union, Mississippi, later extended to St. Louis)
The Mail: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Midnight Special: (Chicago - St. Louis)
Night Hawk: (St. Louis - Kansas City)
Prairie State Express: (St. Louis - Chicago)
Rebel: (St. Louis - New Orleans)

A GM&O Gallery.

GM&O passenger train No. 10, led by motor railcar No. 2509.

GM&O EMD E7 No. 100 at the Chicago Terminal in 1967.

GM&O EMD E7 No. 102 leads the Abraham Lincoln at Chicago Union Terminal in April, 1971.

GM&O passenger train No. 10, led by motor railcar No. 2509, at Mexico, Missouri, April 14, 1960. Trains 9 & 10 ran between Kansas City and Bloomington, IL. Photo Credit: Larry McDonald. (© Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties, Inc., Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)

GM&O EMD E7 No. 100 at the Chicago Terminal in 1967. (© www.railcards.com, Alameda, CA, Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)

GM&O EMD E7 No. 102 leads the Abraham Lincoln at Chicago Union Terminal in April, 1971. The heavyweight train consists of a parlor, diner, and two coaches. (Photo by Henry Butz, © 1991, Parlor Car Enterprises, Hopatcong, NJ, Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)

The crew of the Abraham Lincoln waves as the train passes through Springfield, IL, June 12, 1971.

The GM&O's southbound Alton Limited departing Springfield, IL.

GM&O train No. 2, the northbound Abraham Lincoln stops briefly at Bloomington, IL.

The crew of the Abraham Lincoln waves as the train passes through Springfield, IL, June 12, 1971. Photo by R.R. Wallin. (Audio-Visual Designs, Earlton, NY, Public domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)

The GM&O's southbound Alton Limited departing Springfield, IL. It was once billed as "the most beautiful train in the world." Photo courtesy Ricard R. Wallin. (© Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties, Inc., Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)

GM&O train No. 2, the northbound Abraham Lincoln stops briefly at Bloomington, IL, September 6, 1964. Photo by Roy Gabriel. (Lyman E. Cox, Sacramento, CA, Public domain, W. Lenheim Collection)

Preservation

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2825 is on display in Kiroli Park in West Monroe, Louisiana.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2867 is privately owned and on display in Rienzi, Mississippi.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2951 is on display in downtown Madison, Mississippi.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2954: re-numbered by ICG as No. 199044, preserved by the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2994 is on display at the depot in downtown Corinth, Mississippi.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose No. 2997 is on display at the depot in downtown Booneville, Mississippi.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio SD40 No. 950: the first SD40, currently in Illinois Central marking as No. 6071, donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio GP35 No. 631 currently owned by the SARM in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The unit is non-operational and in much disrepair.
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio parlor-observation No. 5998 from the 1935 "Abraham Lincoln" train is on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio EMD AA Boxcab No. 1200 is currently on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri as B&O 50.
Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio ALCO RS1 No. 1053 is currently preserved at the Danbury Railroad Museum in Danbury, Connecticut as New Haven No. 0673.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Pullman "Judge Milton Brown" is on display and used by American Family Radio at the Casey Jones Village in Jackson, Tennessee.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio No. 580, originally Gulf, Mobile and Northern No. 425, is currently operational at the Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad in Port Clinton, Pennsylvania.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio F3 No. 800A is currently inoperable on display as the Seaboard Air line No. 4033 at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, in Miami, Florida.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio F3 No. 883A which was later rebuilt and converted into an FP10 by MBTA and renumbered to No. 1153 is currently on display at the Edaville Railroad, in South Carver, Massachusetts.
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio "Azalea" Passenger car located in Liberty, New Jersey 1421 US-46 visible on Google Maps.

GM&O System Map, 1952.

(W. Lenheim Collection)

In Popular Culture

Sonny Boy Williamson recorded the song GM&O Blues in 1945.

A GM&O EMD E7 and passenger cars were featured in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night.

In popular music, the GM&O line is referenced in Adrian Belew's "The Rail Song," a nostalgic song about the heyday and subsequent decline of the American railroads. Originally on 1983's Twang Bar King album, the song can also be found on the Desire of the Rhino King compilation and in an acoustic version on both The Acoustic Adrian Belew and the Salad Days compilation.

The album cover of the 1989 Traveling Wilburys song End of the Line features an upside down photograph of the Ann Rutledge at Lincoln, Illinois in 1953.

Overview

Headquarters: Mobile, Alabama
Reporting mark: GMO
Locale central: United States
Dates of operation: 1938–1972
Predecessor: Mobile and Ohio Railroad; Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad; Alton Railroad
Successor: Illinois Central Gulf
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge