Midwestern prairie towns depended on trains to bring passengers, consumer goods, construction lumber, mail, and coal, and a town with a depot benefited from increased business activity and a steady flow of travelers because trains stopped regularly to load and unload. In Correctionville, two railroad companies operated depots, the Illinois Central Railroad and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. The Illinois Central functioned as a freight line carrying grain, cattle, farm implements, bricks, and gravel, while the Chicago and Northwestern line ran four passenger trains, two freight trains, and two mixed passenger and freight trains each day. This volume of rail traffic made Correctionville a busy, thriving town, and the Illinois Central and Chicago Northwestern lines drove much of its business growth. Several businesses located near the Illinois Central tracks to ship and receive goods, including Cathcart & Sons Elevator, Illinois Central Stockyards, Cherry Red Pressed Brick Company, George S. Sardam Lumber & Coal Company, Bellamy Company Gravel Mine, and Sioux Valley Milling Company.