Chicago Peoria & St. Louis

Company History: The CP&StL was established in 1888 as a subsidiary of what would become the Jacksonville Louisville & St. Louis Railway to acquire an inverted-Y shaped system linking Pekin (next door to Peoria) south to Jacksonville and Springfield, Illinois. By 1890, the line had been extended to East St. Louis. In 1893 the JL&St.L system (often referred to as the Jacksonville Southeastern Line) fell into receivership and was broken up. The CP&StL had to acquire trackage rights to get back to the St. Louis area. Two more reorganizations followed before the CP&StL was foreclosed upon in 1924 and the routes divided up between the Alton & Eastern, the Chicago Springfield & St. Louis, the Springfield Havana & Peoria and the Jacksonville & Havana. Segments of the CP&StL are operated today by Norfolk Southern and Illinois & Midland.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.