The Flickr Freeportsubdivision Image Generatr

CN recently completed its acquisition of the Iowa Northern Railway (IANR) and this engine had the northern Illinois railfan community buzzing when it showed up on the CN Freeport Subdivision.

This morning the crew was busy shunting cars back and forth including assembling what looked like a train for Rockford. It then put together a cut of grain hoppers before the crew took a break and parked the IANR engine outside the yard office. For unknown reasons no train went east to Rockford or Genoa by late afternoon.

Freeport was once a very busy railroad town with lines of the Illinois Central, Chicago & North Western, and the Milwaukee Road converging. Today CN is the only railroad left other than a small railroad museum.

CSXT 4775 (SD70MAC) leads CN M338, seen here alongside of Flora Church Road east of Irene, IL.

Norfolk Southern's "Norfolk & Western" heritage unit #8103 makes an appearance on CN's Freeport Subdivision on this wet and rainy night, in charge of grain train G889 for Ida Grove, IA.

In April 2025, Canadian National completed its acquisition of Iowa Northern, and as a result, CN locomotives have been finding their way onto the once independent IANR lines.

Tonight, the reverse is true - IANR GP38-2s 4100 and 4101 hitch a ride on CN M338 from Waterloo, IA to Kirk Yard in Gary, IN, where they will be transferred to a local freight for transit to CN's shops in Homewood, IL.

Their disposition from there was unknown at the time of upload.

New state-funded, passenger service operated by Metra is set to start in 2027 which will connect Chicago to Rockford.

While the exact location of the new downtown Rockford station has not yet been determined it will probably be in the same location as this long gone, ornate Chicago & North Western station at the southwest corner of Main and Cedar Streets. A parking lot now occupies this location and it is across the street from the recently opened Embassy Suites hotel.

The large and ornate station was appropriate for Rockford as the second largest city in Illinois and a manufacturing hub at the time.

In the foreground are the tracks of a streetcar line operated by Rockford City Railway, later the Rockford Traction, a Rockford & Interurban subsidiary.

Rockford has not had passenger rail service other than a seasonal trolley operation on the KD Line since 1981 when the Amtrak Black Hawk which used the Illinois Central line stopped. The former C&NW Freeport Subdivision (now UP Belvidere Subdivision) has not had passenger service since the late 1940s.

This Rockford & Interurban Railway car is westbound from Belvidere and about to cross the Chicago & North Western Freeport Subdivision at grade. The interlocking tower was probably built and staffed by the R&I as the junior railroad. In a few seconds it will cross the Kishwaukee River then be on its way to Rockford.

Looking northeast along the C&NW track is a tell-tale which probably warned crew members riding on the top of freight cars of the electrified wire of the interurban line ahead. It looks like the C&NW Cherry Valley depot was on the left in the distance.

The R&I was based in its namesake city and had interurban lines radiating out to Janesville, WI, Freeport, and Belvidere. It also operated local streetcar service in Rockford. The R&I connected to the Elgin & Belvidere Electric in Belvidere which provided a link to the Chicago area interurban network until the E&B stopped operating in 1930.

The R&I ceased operations in 1936. The C&NW line is in use today by UP though it was cut back from Freeport to the west side of Rockford in the 1970s.

Unti a few years ago when it was torn down the R&I main carbarn was still in place on Kishwaukee Street in downtown Rockford though greatly modified over the years. Relics today of the R&I that still stand are the depots in Cherry Valley and Winnebago.

Original photographer and date unknown. Postcard in my collection.

From almost 6 years ago, CN U703 accelerates along the Freeport Subdivision at Plato Center with a CSX SD40-2 and UP SD70M for power.

KCS 4169 (SD70ACe) leads CSXT 4526 (SD70MAC) and a CN motor on CN M338 through Genoa, IL.

CN 3964, a former CREX ES44AC, leads another ex-CREX motor on a CN G804 grain train through Genoa, IL.

CN 3023, the EJ&E heritage unit, makes its second appearance (first leading a train) on the former Illinois Central's Iowa Division (now today's CN Freeport Subdivision) on this calm June night.

With a 10 mph slow order in effect due to ballast dumping along this portion of the route, the J leads M338 across a photogenic wooden trestle spanning Poole Road, just outside the Flora Prairie Nature Preserve northwest of Irene, IL.

Earlier today, CN M338 had a gaggle of locomotives entering the yard in Dubuque, IA, but a number of issues came up that prevented the crew from using one of them as the new leader of the train. Therefore, CN made the decision to press EJE 676, a former EJ&E SD38-2 no wearing CN colors, into service at the head end - an extraordinarily rare sight on the former IC Iowa Division!

Here, the old standard cab does its best lugging the train east by the former Illinois Central depot in Genoa, IL. Put this in the file of things unlikely to ever happen again.

On Saturdays typically the only trains operating in Rockford are ones on the Canadian National Freeport Subdivision, formerly Illinois Central. On a beautiful spring day this ethanol unit train was racing east with Norfolk Southern power in in the lead.

This section was double tracked up into the early 2010s, then long Buckbee siding was greatly reduced in length as local business in Rockford dried up. CN is down to just three customers in Rockford itself plus interchange with Illinois Railway.

At one time the Chicago Milwaukee & Gary Railroad (later MILW) went under the Illinois Central line a couple of blocks east of here then paralleled the IC mainline and the joint IC/CB&Q "Angle Worm" industrial track, both of which were just off to the right. A remnant of the "Angle Worm" industrial lead is still embedded in the pavement outside Benson Stone.

See below for the former double tracked ine and the Angle Worm line that veered off to the right at 11th Street.

After trailing on M337 the day before, two Illinois Central SD70s (#s 1038 and 1036) ply the rails of the former IC Iowa Division, seen here rolling past the former depot in Burlington, IL on X338 (extra section of M338) as the raindrops fall from a low-pressure system spiraling over northern Illinois.

Dakota & Iowa GP9 #2505 finds itself hitching a ride on CN train M338, seen here passing through Hillside, IL.

Not sure where this is bound to.

CN 2787, a former Citirail ES44AC, leads CN M338 past a small railroad-themed park in Elmhurst, IL.

IC 1018, an Illinois Central SD70 still painted in the "Deathstar" scheme, leads CN M338 past a small railroad-themed park in Elmhurst, IL on a frigid January night.

CN 3060 (ES44AC) leads CN M338 past the former depot in Burlington, IL on a frigid January night.

CN 2787, a former CREX Citirail ES44AC purchased by Canadian National, leads M337 out of the siding at Seward, IL after meeting its eastbound counterpart M338.

When these locomotives were initially purchased by CN, they were relegated to trailing only status due to no PTC equipment installed, but CN has been getting it implemented in more of them, so seeing them as leaders is getting to be more of an occurrence.

NS 7302 (SD70ACu) leads CN M338 past a tiny railroad-themed park in Elmhurst, IL.

A nice trio of CN M-2s pass the derelict IC depot in Genoa. Despite numerous rumors of it getting demolished, the roof beginning to cave in, and some pretty intense storms the last few years, this little depot is still standing.

Full disclosure, I removed some powerlines in the background using photoshop.