Townhall Road Stone Arch

In 1857, the Tonica & Petersburg Railroad (T&P) began construction on a new railroad line, extending from Bloomington, Illinois to Jacksonville, Illinois.  At the north end of the route, the line connected to an existing railroad line, owned by the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad (StLA&C).  At the same time, the Jacksonville, Alton & St. Louis Railroad (JA&StL) began construction on a railroad line extending from Jacksonville to Godfrey, Illinois, where it connected with the same line as at Bloomington.  At the end of 1861, the T&P had constructed 28 miles from Petersburg to Jacksonville, and the JA&StL constructed 25 miles between Jacksonville and Whitehall.  The two railroads were merged into the StLA&C in 1862, and work resumed the same year.  The StLA&C was merged into the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago Railroad (StLJ&C) in 1862.  The remaining segments were completed in 1868 and 1866, respectively.  Starting in 1868, the Chicago & Alton Railroad (C&A) leased and operated the property of the StLJ&C.  The C&A was beginning to develop a moderate sized network of railroad lines throughout Illinois.  This route served as a secondary line, running roughly parallel to the original mainline.  It also provided opportunities for the construction of branch lines.  An 8 mile cutoff between Godfrey and Wann was completed in 1881, providing a bypass around Alton.  In 1899, the StLA&C was purchased by the C&A.

Throughout the years, the C&A would be affiliated with several larger railroads, and the railroad primarily operated as a bridge route.  The C&A was reorganized in 1901, and until 1906 was owned by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway.  This route continued to serve as a secondary line, feeding mainly the line to Kansas City.  Between 1906 and 1907, an additional 35 miles of railroad was constructed between Iles (Springfield) and Murrayville, connecting the two parallel lines.  In 1931, the C&A would be reorganized as the Alton Railroad (A), a subsidiary of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.  The Alton was sold to the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (GM&O) in 1949, and the various subsidiaries consolidated at that time.  The section of line through Alton was abandoned in approximately 1960, except for short segments at either end.  The GM&O merged with the Illinois Central Railroad to form Illinois Central Gulf (ICG) in 1972.  The section from Jacksonville to Bloomington would be abandoned in 1980.  This line was excess for the ICG, and the route would be sold to the Chicago, Missouri & Western Railway (CM&W) in 1987.  The CM&W was reorganized as the Gateway Western Railway in 1990, which became a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) in 1997.  In 2023, the KCS was merged with Canadian Pacific Railway to form CPKC, the current owner of this line.  Today, the route is used as a secondary mainline by CPKC, with the Springfield Subdivision running from Ives to Roodhouse, the Godfrey Subdivision running from Roodhouse to Godfrey and the Jacksonville Subdivision running from Murrayville to Jacksonville.