The
Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the
Main Line of Mid-America, is a
railroad in the central
United States, with its primary routes connecting
Chicago, Illinois, with
New Orleans, Louisiana, and
Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with
Sioux City, Iowa (1870). There was a significant branch to
Omaha, Nebraska (1899), west of
Fort Dodge, Iowa, and another branch reaching
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), starting from
Cherokee, Iowa. The Sioux Falls branch has been abandoned in its entirety.