B&OCT
| Reporting mark | BOCT |
|---|---|
| Locale | Chicago area |
| Dates of operation | 1910– |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (reporting mark BOCT) is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those railroads for freight transfers, and is now controlled by CSX Corporation, the successor to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
By 1886, the Wisconsin Central Railroad had formed a new railway company, called the Chicago and Great Western Railroad (C&GW) to build a new line from a connection with the WC at Forest Park into the city, and to construct the Grand Central Station, which opened in December 1890.
In June 1887, a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad called the Chicago & Calumet Terminal Railway (C&CT) consolidated several terminal railroads in the Chicago area with lines running between the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at McCook, Illinois to the south and south-east to Hammond, Indiana and a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O).
In March 1890, another subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad bought the C&GW along with several other WC lines in the Chicago area, consolidated them all as the Chicago & Northern Pacific Railroad (C&NP). The next month, the WC had itself leased to the Northern Pacific. As they were both controlled by the same railroad, the C&NP and the C&CT were linked together with new construction and trackage rights. The lease arrangement between the Wisconsin Central and the Northern Pacific worked until the Panic of 1893, when the WC was freed from the lease, and the C&NP was again placed under the control of the WC. Weakened by the prolonged economic downturn, the C&NP was bankrupt by October 1893.
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