The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad that operates between the cities of Marion and Herrin in the Southern Illinois region. It is most historically recognized by the FRA for being the last U.S. railroad of any kind to use steam locomotives exclusively in regular revenue freight service up until 1986.OverviewThe present-day shortline currently operates a total of of track across the industrial centers of Williamson County in two separate railroad districts with a fleet of two diesel switcher engines. One line being known as the "Marion District", which is the railroad's main working division with roughly of track; and the other division being the "Herrin District", which mostly serves the city's manufacturing industries along a 5mi stretch of track.It also has three different interchange points with two Class I railroads. Near their main offices in downtown Marion, the railroad has a junction with Union Pacific's Marion Subdivision; another interchange is located in the nearby Marion suburb of Bainbridge with BNSF Railway's Beardstown Subdivision. A second BNSF connection with the same line is also present in the Herrin district. Most of the CO&E Railroad's revenue freight products primarily consist of coal, lumber, petroleum, grain, steel, paper, chemicals, manufactured goods, and railcar repair service.
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