The Panama Limited was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three years from completion. For most of its career, the train was "all-Pullman", carrying sleeping cars only. The Panama Limited was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971, though Amtrak revived the name later that year and continued it until 1981.
Postcard depiction of the train, c. 1917.
Interior of the club car on the Panama Limited, c. 1917.
The streamlined Panama Limited, c. 1940s or 1950s
The interior of the Panama Limited in 1964
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Another line connected Chicago west to Sioux City, Iowa (1870), while smaller branches reached Omaha, Nebraska (1899) from Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), from Cherokee, Iowa. The IC also ran service to Miami, Florida, on trackage owned by other railroads.
Two Illinois Central EMD SD70s lead a train at Homewood, Illinois
Illinois Central ad (1870)
Illinois Central Rail Road share, issued 1899
ICG hopper with ACI plate