The attached files are taken from a Visitor's Guide to the St. Louis Area published in 1905. The Frisco controlled the Chicago & Eastern Illinois (C&EI) from about 1902 to 1920. The first scan is a full page advertisement for the railroad's passenger trains to Chicago, while the second scan is a map of the system on one page and the timetable on the other. Rich
Rich, thanks for the map. It's interesting to note that the Frisco did not build their yard and town at Chaffee, MO until late 1905. The map doesn't even show a spot for Chaffee on it. However, as my puny efforts at research have always indicated, B.F. Yoakum's Frisco System and its accompanying control of the C&EI were part of the impetus behind Chaffee's creation. St. Louis-Memphis traffic on the old St. Louis, Memphis and Southeastern (StLM&SE) and C&EI traffic crossing at Thebes, IL created the need for a new, larger yard facility. The Frisco System had neither the space to expand at Cape Girardeau nor the apparent will to pay for already developed land to expand. Prior to 1913, I think I've seen C&EI timetables documenting Cape Girardeau-Chaffee-Chicago passenger trains via C&EI iron. I would have to double-check; it's packed away somewhere. Even after the Frisco divested itself of C&EI property after receivership, the C&EI still used Chaffee as a terminal. Ken McElreath has documented a Chicago streamliner, the Meadowlark, terminating at Chaffee in the 1950s for a short time. And even into the 1960s, I've seen a switch list (courtesy of Karl) showing a C&EI "Chaffee Turn." I'm not sure I've ever seen photos of C&EI motive power or passenger cars on the Missouri side of the river. Best Regards,
