- evidence. Whenever it becomes necessary, in any judicial proceeding, to prove the title of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, or of the trustees of the railroad company, or of any person claiming title through or under the company or trustees, to any of the lands granted by the State to the railroad company under the provisions of the Act incorporating such company, the record in the proper county (or a transcript of such record, duly certified by the custodian thereof), of the list purporting to contain the tracts of land selected by the railroad company in such county, and purporting to be certified by the commissioner of the general land office as being a true abstract from the original list of selections by the company, shall be sufficient prima facie evidence of title in the railroad company or the trustees thereof, as the case may be, to the lands embraced in such list; and the record in the proper county (or a duly certified copy thereof by the custodian of such record) of the map or profile of the railroad or branches, shall be sufficient prima facie evidence of the line of location of the railroad or its branches in such county.
735 ILCS 5/8-1701