By 1886, the Wisconsin Central Railroad had formed a new railway company, called the Chicago and Great Western Railroad (C&GW, not to be confused with the Chicago Great Western Railway) to build a new line from a connection with the WC at Forest Park into the city, and to construct the Grand Central Station, which opened in December 1890.

In July 1897, a new company called the Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad (CTT) bought the C&NP from the Wisconsin Central.

When the Pere Marquette Railroad was completed to Porter, Indiana in 1903, it also used the CTT into Grand Central Station.

The railroad was strategically located in Chicago; connections made at Forest Park and trackage rights allowed the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste.

The B&O's South Chicago Station was located approximately at 94th Street and Commercial Avenue, slightly to the southwest of the Calumet River's opening to Lake Michigan.