The
State House's existence is book-ended by two dramatic changes in the state of Illinois' passenger rail service. The
State House made its first run on October 1, 1973, the same day that two French-built
Turboliner trainsets replaced the conventional
Abraham Lincoln and
Prairie State on the Chicago—St. Louis corridor. This third round-trip was intended as a Chicago—
Springfield route and received funding from the
Illinois Department of Transportation. Amtrak decided to continue the train to St. Louis (at its own expense) via
Carlinville and
Alton because of the difficulty in turning the train in Springfield. Over its 33-year history the
State House stopped in
Joliet,
Pontiac,
Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville, Alton and St. Louis. Service to
Bloomington ended on June 10, 1990, when operations moved to a new station up the tracks in
Normal. Service to
Dwight began October 26, 1986, and
Summit on October 25, 1987. as it and Illinois launched two additional round-trips over the same corridor. == References ==