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rebelroutes
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collection

gmo_ad egyptian_c reated in 1940, the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad was brought into being by the merger of two parallel regionals running south to north: newcomer Gulf, Mobile & Northern and the bankrupt veteran Mobile & Ohio. Both predecessor roads served the Gulf Coast ports — Mobile and New Orleans — and both laid rails northward to inland city markets in Tennessee, Kentucky. and Missouri. The older and longer M&O built as for north as St. Louis; the GM&N built to Jackson, Tennessee, with trackage rights as far as Paducah, Ky. Brought together under the leadership of President "Ike" Tigrett of Jackson, Tn, the new GM&O system spanned 2000 miles and offered the parallel Illinois Central lines a legitimate competitor in the Gulf to Great Lakes market for people and goods. Less than a decade later, following the War, in 1947, the expanding GM&O purchased the Alton Railroad, creating a 3000 mile north-south rail system serving America's middle states and offering a direct trunk line service between the great gateways of commerce and industry of this region. Like the Southern Railway, the GM&O was one of the first major railroad systems to dieselize. All of its aging steam motive power was inherited from its predecessors, and the fires dropped completely in the fall of 1949. Both Alco and EMD first generation "motors" were purchased to bring the road into the modern era.

red_inset On August 10, 1972, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad merged into the Illinois Central Railroad, forming the massive 9600-mile north-south Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. The ICG would find itself saddled with unprofitable east-west routes along its north-south corridor; making use of the Staggers Act after 1980, the Chicago-based system spun-off many of its secondary lines, including the bulk of the former GM&O mainline and secondary trackage. Although the ICG merger had been billed as a merger, in hindsight — for the GM&O at least — it was a merger with a subsequent liquidation. Although a handful of GM&O trackage is stil operated, most of the sytem has been abandoned. Kansas City Southern subsidiary Gateway Western operates the Springfield to Kansas City route; through acquisitions, Union Pacific has the Joliet to Saint Louis segment. In the south, several segments remain in operation by Kansas City Southern or recent shortlines. Chronicling those former GM&O lines, in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, is the heart of our "Rebel Routes" family tree collection.

Remembered today as "the Route of the Rebel," the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio remains a favorite among railfans and historians alike.

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at a glance

1929 1971
Miles operated 1808 2734
Locomotives 180 258
Passenger cars 96 92
Freight cars 6255 12,699
Service cars 144 ___
Reporting marks GM&O
Headquarters Mobile, Al
Named trains Rebel, Abraham Lincoln, Ann Rutledge, Alton Limited
Affiliated roads Mississippi Export
New Orleans Great Northern
Successors Illinois Central Gulf, Illinois Central
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pa_inset german_i n a period when many older and presumably stronger rail systems either were making slow progress or were losing ground financially, the GM&O was creating, out of bankrupt pieces of rail lines, a strong coordinated rail system, which, up through 1952 was successful financially. Another of the unusual features of its growth was that this program developed out of a company whose assets were excessively weak. The parent road was in such wretched shape in its early days that the major banking houses of the territory served by the road did not consider it a safe place even for operating capital. In spite of this, in spite of the greatest depression known to American railroads, in spite of the opposition of some of the strongest railroad systems in the country, a merger program took shape and progressed to the position in which we found the GM&O in 1952.

James A. Lemly, 1953

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from Handbook of American Railroads
by Robert G. Lewis - 1951 / collection

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GMO system map with predecessors / RWH

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See also these related scrapbooks:

Scrapbooks

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Motive Power

Equipment

tag_pinGulf States

rebelroutes
tag_pin gmo_loc_la

Louisiana

tag_pin gmo_loc_ms

Mississippi

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Alabama


Publications

gmo_list1946

1946 switch list / collection

gmo_time1943

1943 timetable / collection

gmo_map1941

1941 Official Guide map / collection

gmo_guide1941a

1941 Official Guide ad / collection

gmo_guide1941b
gmo_guide1941c
gmo_guide1941d
gmo_stock1944

stock certificate / collection

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gmo_scrapbook2
gmo_scrapbook3
gmo_scrapbook4
gmo_scrapbook5
gmo_scrapbook6
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gmo_scrapbook8
gmo_scrapbook9
gmo_scrapbook10
gmo_scrapbook11
gmo_scrapbook12
gmo_scrapbook13

all pages from Gulf, Mobile & Ohio scrapbook / JCH

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Long Live the Rebel Route

RWH

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Meeting Mr. Bodie

gmo_bodie1 Throughout the 1980s and 90s, dad and I enjoyed running O scale trains at numerous railroad shows with fellow modeler and beloved friend Gordon Payne and his excellent portable layout. We participated in many shows and meets around the Gulf coast, running trains and meeting fellow modelers and railfans. In the early 90s, we set up for a railroad show in Mobile, Alabama. Given the location, dad was sure the bring plenty of our O scale Gulf, Mobile & Ohio equipment to run. Since his childhood, the GM&O was one of his favorite roads. He was not going to miss the opportunity to run some Rebel Route power and rolling stock in the road's namesake town.

gmo_bodie2 During the show, we met a kindly older gentlemen who took great interest in our GM&O equipment — especially the long string of maroon and gold passenger cars running around the portable mainline loop. Never at a loss for conversation, dad quickly discovered why his new acquaintance was so fond of the Rebel Route: he was B. V. Bodie, retired Executive Vice President of the GM&O and its last General Manager before the Illinois Central Gulf merger. Mr. Bodie was thrilled to see the old familiar Rebel paint schemes in 1:48 form.

And you would have thought my father had met King George VI.

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Links / Sources

This page was updated on 2022-06-11