Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway

The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class II American railroad that ran a roughly circular route between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana, serving as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago while operating almost entirely within the city's suburbs. Known by nicknames including The J and the Chicago Outer Belt Line, it operated 164 miles of track and carried 848 million ton miles of revenue freight in 1970 alone. The Canadian National Railway announced its purchase of a majority of the railway in 2007, a deal completed in 2009, and on January 1, 2013 the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern ceased to exist when it was merged into the Wisconsin Central, another Canadian National subsidiary, 124 years to the day after its founding.