Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad history

A local portion of an IHB map showing two routes through Whiting and Robertsdale in 1909.

A portion of an IHB print advertisement from 1910.

In 1911 the Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road both acquired a 20% stake as a means of improving their interchange connections.

When CI&S was folded into the New York Central System in 1914, the Harbor leased the G&W/CI&S route from the Central.

The result was a new hump yard built near Blue Island in 1926.

The steamers boasted a whopping 89,500 pounds of tractive, which was greater than the Harbor's batch of Mikados!) along with an additional forty 2-8-2's. It's steam fleet comprised a mix of switcher arrangements including 0-4-0's, 0-6-0's, and 0-8-0's (There was a small, three-unit sub-grouping of these classed U-4a which were dubbed "Super Switchers." They were a late-era design of Alco's Brooks Works, outshopped in 1927.

Below you’ll find a carload of fascinating photos, most of them from the archives of the Library of Congress, showing us what it was like to work on a freight railroad in 1943.

IHB's ownership remained unchanged until 1961 when C&NW sold out to the Milwaukee Road due to its declining financial situation; this realigned ownership to Milwaukee enjoying a 49% stake and New York Central the 51% majority.

With the closure of the stockyards in 1972, the line was gradually cut back to a small segment at Argo.