In 1853 the Illinois Central Railroad laid out Centralia proper. David Oxley was the master mechanic at the Centralia I.C. shops from 1854 until 1890. Through years of experiments, he developed coal-burning locomotives to replace the old wood burners. The name, “Centralia” was given the new town in honor of the Illinois Central by John W. Merritt, the newspaper publisher at Salem, the county seat. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy first reached Centralia in 1882. In 1887 the Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis Railroad (the Air Line), which was part of the Southern Railroad system, ran through Centralia to Mt. Vernon. In 1893 the Centralia and Chester line ran between these two towns and in 1896 was extended to Salem. It was later to become part of the Missouri Pacific system. To local citizenry it was the Mike and Ike.