Founded 1903 | Parent organization OmniTRAX | |
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The Manufacturers' Junction Railway (reporting mark MJ) is a shortline railroad operating six miles of track near Cicero, Illinois. The railway is currently owned and managed by OmniTRAX, a company offering railroad management and other related and unrelated services. MJ connects with the BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Canadian National Railway, and the Belt Railway of Chicago.
The railroad was founded on 28 January 1903, with the route opening in 1906, to switch Western Electric's Hawthorne Works In May 1986, the company was sold to the Chicago West Pullman Transportation Corporation (a subsidiary of OmniTRAX) from its original owner, AT&T Technologies.
The railroad operated two EMD SW1 locomotives: #23 (renumbered from #6), and #33 (renumbered from #7). #33 was originally EMD SW1 demonstrator #700. However the Railroad suspended operations in 2009 and the locomotives were heavily vandalized. As of 2016, the MJ roundhouse has been torn down and the engines have been scrapped. Current Operations, if any, are provided by power from CSX, however it doesn't appear that a train has ran since 2009.