The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (often referred to as the Milwaukee Road) (reporting mark MILW), was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1980, when its Pacific Extension (Montana, Idaho, and Washington) was abandoned following a bankruptcy. Around this time, the company went through several official names and faced bankruptcy on multiple occasions. The eastern half of the system merged into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986, a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway (reporting mark CP). Although the "Milwaukee Road" as such ceased to exist, much of its track continues to be used by multiple railroads.
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society was organized in the spring of 1982 in a former C&EI depot in Rossville, Illinois by some fifty fans and former employees of the railroad. Our purpose is to preserve the history of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company, its subsidiaries, its corporate predecessors and its corporate successors.??�
Herbert T. Chaudiere, born September 3, 1929 in Englewood, New Jersey, passed away on September 9, 2000 in Redmond, Washington. Herb served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. He was Vice-President for Bruck, Richards and Chaudiere, Inc., an acoustic firm in the Seattle area, functioning as an acoustical expert. Herb enjoyed chasing trains and recording railway sounds, and was a published artist in this area. A nationally recognized model railroader, he published numerous articles for magazines on how to engineer a model railway, and was involved with the Puget Sound Garden Railway Society, the Narrow Gauge Railroad Society, the Acoustical Society and the Audio-Engineering Society. He also enjoyed building scale model railroads and was an avid photographer, particularly focusing on railroads and old gas pumps.