Chicago, Indiana & Southern commuter trains?

Looking at old Official Guides and Nickel Plate employee timetables, I see both lines reporting commuter service between Osborn, IN and Chicago, IL. Some think that there was only one service, with the CI&S having trackage rights on the NKP. But the Guide & employee timetables train listings do not match up very well. Do any of you know if there was just the CI&S runs, or did the NKP have some trains on that leg as well?

NKP1155 wrote:Looking at old Official Guides and Nickel Plate employee timetables...

What years? The CI&S was folded into the New York Central around 1914, right?

-otto-

I have 1910 & 1911 emp tt's. and OG's that show these trains. The Guides do not describe which Chicago station the CI&S used. The CI&S is included in the NYC (Big 4) listings. At NKPHTS we have no commuter schedules for Chicago, as we do for Cleveland. The NKP did not show any commuter service at any city in the Guide.

According to John Droege's work, Passenger Terminals and Trains , LaSalle St. Station hosted three trains in and three trains out per day for the NYC&StL and an additional three trains in and three trains out for the CI&S for the period 1912-1913. The trains were classified as "through" rather than suburban, although this could have been merely a matter of definition. Daily passenger counts were listed as 694 for the NYC&StL and 678 for the CI&S. Traffic volumes for the CRI&P and LS&MS at LaSalle St. Station were of course substantially greater.

The December 1913 Official Guide shows the 3 trains mentioned by Droege, plus 5 round trips to Osborn (squeezed in sideways as "Additional trains" and showing only the departure and arrival times at La Salle St. and Osborn). There was service 7 days a week, although the daily and daily-except-Sunday trains don't balance directionally. By the way, the CI&S is in the NYC listings under its own name, right up there with the Lake Shore, Michigan Central, and Big Four, and with the same top officers as the New York Central System. There was a Pullman buffet parlor on the Danville train and a sleeper to and from Cairo.

In addition the Egyptian was an overnight train up until 1957.

"The Chicago, Indiana & Southern opened January 21, 1906, between Indiana Harbor and Danville, Ill. Passenger service began with one Chicago-Danville round trip, but expanded to two round trips within a year and three round trips on June 28, 1908. One pair of trains had a through sleeper between Chicago and Cairo. Ill.
One pairing had begun operating by 1913 between Chicago and Kentland in Newton County, but these trains were gone within two years. Service then was two Chicago-Danville round trips, increasing to three on September 26, 1926, one of which was the Egyptian with Chicago-Cairo through coaches and sleepers.
The Egyptian became a (sic: through) Chicago-Cairo train in 1934, operating on an overnight schedule. It began terminating in Harrisburg, Ill. On June 22, 1941, offering a sleeper, usually a 10-section, three double bedroom heavyweight, through the late 1950s. The Egyptian ended April 28, 1957."

Source: Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838-1971