With the merger of the Gulf Mobile & Ohio (GM&O) to the Illinois Central on August 10, 1972, a new railroad name would be created, thus the Illinois Central Gulf was born. Along with a new name was a new logo, gone was the split IC lettered cross-sectional rail profile and put in its place was the solid cross-section rail with dot centered on top. While the name would eventually transition back to Illinois Central, the solid rail would remain and take on a new form in the cleverly named “death star” logo in 1988.
