The Alton never got much attention, and I suspect that, as with Chicago Great Western, it was because a lot of competitors ran to just about everywhere it went, and usually did a better job of it.
The one exeption to this was the Chicago-St. Louis passenger route, where the Alton''s direct routing via Springfield (the state capital, and at a distance short enough to negate any air-travel advantage from both end points) gave it an advantage, and the inception of Amtrak service via that route helps to keep its memory alive.
The Alton never owned any "late-model" steam power along the lines of, for example, a Lima Berkshire, and while that diminished its attraction for railfans, being the first "major" system (albeit as part of GM&O) to deselize completely, and{/u]n early use of CTC on much of it's mainline, proved it wasn't as "backward" as some people were led to believe.
I suspect that the Alton's "early" demise, linked in turn to the relative obscurity of data on the 'Net, makes it a more-intriguing study for some of us.
What a revoltin' development this is! (William Bendix)