JeffPo's Chicago and Eastern Illinois Lantern Page
Last update: 08/04/26
This Adlake lantern (model 250) was used by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
Railroad. The top of the lid is stamped with C&E.I.
The red globe indicates it was used as a stop signal.
The globe is cast with C&E.I. on one side.
The other side of the globe is etched with SAFETY FIRST. "SAFETY FIRST" was a moderately common safety slogan cast or etched onto railroad lantern globes, primarily during the early to first half of the 1900s.
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a prominent Class 1 American railroad founded in 1877. It was a consolidation of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad, the Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Railroad, and the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad. The regional line primarily linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Evansville, Indiana. It operated both freight and passenger trains, with many streamliners (trains that were sleek and shaped to reduce air resistance). The C&EI was heavily relied upon as a major coal-hauling railroad, moving immense amounts of coal from mines in central Illinois and Indiana up to Chicago. The C&EI remained strong through the Great Depression and World War II, but was eventually absorbed by larger competitors. The Missouri Pacific Railroad gained control of the company in 1967. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad bought the eastern leg of the line in 1969. The remaining corporate footprint of the C&EI formally merged directly into Missouri Pacific in 1976. Today the historic routes are operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation.