Springfield, IL: Maps

Brian Berthold posted

Downtown Springfield Map

File in files section under railroad and traction for more info.

Brian Berthold posted

I remember Springfield was such a pain to map ...

files in files section if you want more info

Railroad and Traction KMZ

Carl J. Marsico: Future map of former C&A being realigned next to the former Wabash to eliminate grade crossings

http://springfieldrailroad.com/newsite/index.php/maps/future-rail-corridors-map

Carl J. Marsico: "Future" map doesn't include prior realignment of former Wabash and C&A KC line to new line (built for successors NS and GWWR) just north of I-72

John Smith posted 10 images with the comment:

3 full days doing nothing else and Springfield is done also got a jump on next town baby blue is Street cars Yellow is ICDARK Purple is WabashPeach is Chicago Peoria and St LuoisPink is IT maroon is Springfiel Rochester InterurbanLIGHT Purple is B&O

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Spriggsboro, IN: N&W "J" Class 4-8-4 #611 at Spriggsboro, IN

I don't normally post about a photo of yet another train on a track, but this is an exception because it is a N&W "J" class 4-8-4 #611 running with a clear stack at Spriggsboro, IN; and Spriggsboro forced me to learn more about the Fort Wayne Crossing.

Wayne Hudak posted
Norfolk & Western "J" class 4-8-4 #611 westbound at Spriggsboro Indiana, 1985. #611 has been restored a second time and hopefully she will be in NWIndiana for 2018.

My first issue is that when I looked it up in Google Maps it auto-corrected the spelling to Springboro, IN, which is down near Lafayette. The 2005 SPV Map showed Spriggsboro as the junction between NKP and GWT that is west of Valporaiso. A comment by James L. Ludwig on a posting by Mark Hinsdale explains that was NKP's name for that crossing.

Funny how it had three different names for the three different railroads-Grand Trunk called it GT called it Fort Wayne, Conrail's ex-pennsy called it C Valpo and Norfolk Southern's ex-Nickel plate called it Spriggsboro.

The GTW owned the tower that was in the southwest quadrant of their tracks crossing Tower Road (N 250 W), so that is the name on the tower and thus the most common name for these junctions. James named the junction between CFE/CSX/Pennsy and GTW as "C Valpo." But the SPV Map names it Grand Trunk.

Update:

Wayne commented on his posting
Spriggsboro today, looking west on NS.

Detroit, MI: Riverfront Railroad Yards

The other riverfront, Windsor. The notes on Detroit area ferries also have some views of the riverfront.

smallmr-BoatYard
[This is an update that I put at the top because the link takes you to an interesting article. You probably want to read that article before (instead of?) reading these notes.]

Carl Venzke posted
Peter Dudley The upstream - suspension cable of the 1929 Ambassador Bridge casts a mid-afternoon shadow across the 100-foot Union Belt of Detroit 21st Street Engine Terminal turntable pit (lower-left corner).
A whistling steam switcher (center-foreground) pushes a passenger train consist toward the elevated Fort Street Union Depot (FSUD) Viaduct. The 1924 FSUD Coach Yard is to the left (north) of the double-track FSUD lead. Note the coaling tower in the distance (left edge).
The Wabash and Pere Marquette boat yards slant toward the Detroit River (right), where two railroad car ferries were docked. The downtown Detroit skyline is almost-visible in the hazy distance.
Fernando Gutierrez I remember it from around 1955 and it did not change much from the time that the picture was taken. I lived on 23,st till 1967. I would walk down to the Detroit River and go fishing under the Ambassador Bridge. A lot of tracks to walk walk and run across to get to the river. It was fun.

 

Raymond Storey posted
The old 3rd Street Yards in Detroit. Demolished in the 1870s.

 

Tim Starr posted
Painting of one of the earliest roundhouses in the Midwest - enclosed "beehive" style of the Michigan Central in Detroit c1855 by artist G.G. Lange. (Univ. of Michigan Library)

smallmr-RailMarine

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These two pictures make me appreciate that, except for the Illinois Central and NYC's Michigan Central and Big Four, the other yards were along the Chicago River and its branches and then along the Calumet River and Lake.

Peter Dudley shared
Here's a late-1920s view of Detroit's west riverfront railroad yards, shot during Ambassador Bridge construction:

Mark Hershoren shared
another view of the railyards along the Detroit River.
Mike Murin: "Don't try this worker walking up a Plank during the Construction of the Ambassador bridge..OSHA wouldn't have agreed."
[Now they would have two "handrail cables" and be required to wear a harness that has two lines attached to it. The lines would have clips at the end so that at least one at all times is ckipped to the "handrail."]
Bridges Now and Then posted
On Detroit-Windsor's Ambassador Bridge, c. 1928. (Wayne State University)
Dennis DeBruler shared
This helps show how much railroading Detroit used to have on its river front. In the foreground, we can see one of the two ferry docks.

Dennis DeBruler commented on his share

I see on a satellite image that this area is still industrial and that the remnants of the ferry docks still exist.

https://www.google.com/.../@42.3164831,-83.../data=!3m1!1e3

 

Jack Bobby Lou Mulrevy commented on Dennis' share

Jack Bobby Lou Mulrevy commented on Dennis' share

Detroit Public Library Digital Collections

Kevin Keeton posted
Between the Detroit River and Fort St, most of these rails have been removed. That's all folks.
Kevin Keeton My question is that a rail station in the bottom right?
Glenn Adams Fort Street Union Depot in the foreground.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Street_Union_Depot

Alan Stouder posted
Former Wabash/Norfolk Western boat yards, downtown Detroit,MI. Tri-level car haulers and certain box cars were too big for the railroad tunnel under the Detroit River to Windsor,Ont. So they ferried them across the river on special barges. This picture was taken in 1980.
Christopher J. Smith Third track in from the water. Is that a vinegar car?Doug Kaniuk http://vinpic.dhke.com/
Mark Hershoren shared
Brian Henson I understand that, since the railroad tunnel has been enlarged (by CP), such cars can now pass through the tunnel.

Randall MacArthur posted

Rod Durham shared
Peter DudleyGroup Admin DETROIT (of DETROIT), a Michigan Central Railroad (M.C.R.R.) propeller-driven railroad car ferry, entered service in 1904. She joined a fleet of older side-wheel ferries, one of which is included in this photograph.
After M.C.R.R.'s Detroit River Tunnel was completed in 1910, several M.C.R.R. ferries (including DETROIT) were sold to Wabash Railway. DETROIT continued shuttling across the Detroit River, between Windsor and Detroit, for more than a century.
In June 1910, DETROIT (cut down to a barge) was tied up in a Windsor slip, awaiting the cutter's torch. This was one month shy of the centennial of the tunnel's opening (which hardly anyone observed).
William Worden Detroit was later altered to have four tracks.
Peter DudleyGroup Admin M.C.R.R., NYC, Canadian Pacific Railway, and (much later) Conrail didn't use railroad car ferries after October 1910 (they accessed the Detroit River Tunnel, instead). Other railroads (which didn't have access to the tunnel) continued their car ferry operations between Windsor and Detroit, including Wabash (later Norfolk & Western), Pere Marquette (later Chesapeake & Ohio), and Grand Trunk (today's Canadian National).
The U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission granted Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) access to the tunnel in 1976, which resulted in the retirement of the LANSDOWNE (built 1884, as a side-wheeler).

Stephen Phillips posted
C&O , 21st. Street Yard....Detroit Mich. ... ten ex Pere Marquette switch engines are dragged out of the yard bound for Grand Rapids Mich. and certain scrap .....In the back ground lurks the Ambassador Bridge ...across the Detroit River ... Windsor Ontario is on the other side ....
Peter DudleyGroup Admin That looks like HURON (built 1875), docked at a car ferry slip. The old barge sank in a slip at River Rouge MI, more than thirty years ago (it's still there).
There were lots of rail passenger cars at Fort Street Union Depot's "new" Coach Yard (completed 1924), along with a Diesel-electric switcher. The overgrown remnants of the yard (vacant since 1971) are still there.
Union Belt of Detroit's 21st Street Engine Terminal was just out-of-frame, on the right (the 1924 roundhouse is long-gone, but the outline of the 100-foot-wide turntable pit is still-visible in current Google satellite views).Ken Borg That is not the HURON. it is a PM boat. Might be the 10.
Peter DudleyGroup Admin Pere Marquette No. 10 entered service in 1945 -- from here, the ferry pictured looks much older.

Peter Dudley commented on Stephen's posting
Here's HURON in a more-likely setting, near the Grand Trunk car ferry slip at Detroit's Brush Street Station:

Peter Dudley posted
A c. 1962 aerial photograph (DHS 2005.085.002, retrieved from Detroit Historical Society's Online Collection) looks northeast along West Fort Street toward downtown Detroit.
The "starfish" - shaped footprint of the demolished Union Belt of Detroit (UBD) 21st Street Engine Terminal is visible under the Detroit approach to the Ambassador Bridge, just south of West Jefferson. The roundhouse was completed in 1924, five years before the bridge opened.
Close examination shows that Pennsylvania Railroad's Third Street Freight Terminal (demolished 1962) was also gone, while the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building (today's One Woodward, completed 1963) was nearing completion.

James Holzmeier posted
Wabash's Boat Yard looking E-NE towards downtown Detroit. 1964 photo, taken in all probability from the bridge of one of Wabash's car ferries.

James Holzmeier posted
Wabash's Boat Yard ca. 1964, looking towards the Ambassador Bridge approach.

Peter Dudley posted
This early-1960s photograph (shot from the Ambassador Bridge) provides a view of the Wabash Railroad (aka Norfolk & Western Railway) and Pere Marquette Railroad (aka Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) Boat Yards in Detroit.
Tracks leading to the elevated Fort Street Union Depot (FSUD) Viaduct are visible in the lower-left corner. The Wabash Railroad 12th Street Freight Terminal is also visible (upper-left corner).
Farther upstream, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) Third Street Freight Terminal was still standing, which dates this image to before the June 19, 1966 fire. Completed in 1884, this structure originally served as Michigan Central Railroad's Detroit passenger terminal until December 26, 1913, when a fire forced the transfer of passenger operations to M.C.R.R.'s new Michigan Central Station on 15th Street (photo retrieved from Aaron Alice, December 7, 1916).

Peter commented on his post
West Jefferson (between Rosa Parks Boulevard and 21st Street).
Watch out for potholes.
A slightly-shopped excerpt from a c. 1918 map shows terminal tracks along the Detroit River, between the foot of 12th Street (today's Rosa Parks Boulevard, right), and the future site of the Detroit / Windsor Ambassador Bridge (west of 21st Street, left).
Among the points of interest are the Wabash 12th Street Freight Terminal, which included the 1914 Wabash Freight House, and the 1883 former - Union Station, which hosted Wabash and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) passengers until Fort Street Union Depot (FSUD) opened on Third Street in 1893.
A grain elevator, used for transshipping grain between railroad freight cars and ships, was located west of the Wabash freight terminal, near the riverfront.
The original Pere Marquette Railroad (PM) Coach Yard parallels West Jefferson, just north of the late-1800s-vintage PM roundhouse (east of 18th Street). Both the roundhouse and the coach yard were replaced by new and larger facilities, located farther west (near 21st Street) in 1924.
Downstream from the grain elevator, the Wabash and PM boat yards connected with two railroad car ferry slips (which are still-extant today, but abandoned). Near the foot of 21st Street, another slip had been used by CP until 1916, when CP began using the new Michigan Central Railroad (M.C.R.R.) Detroit River Tunnel. Eventually, the movable apron on this slip collapsed -- it's visible in recent Google satellite views, located just upstream from the Ambassador Bridge.
To access the complete map, which shows the entire c. 1918 Detroit riverfront between Woodward Avenue and the Rouge River, click here: https://archive.org/stream/reportongradesep00detr… 
The complete map also shows Detroit United Railway (DUR) trolley lines, including West Jefferson, West Fort, and Dearborn Street (running through Delray Junction).

Steve Vanden Bosch posted
Detroit River between 1900 and 1910 showing what I believe is Barge 129. This photo is from the Library of Congress.
William Worden Not the Columbia and Ste. Claire. This has to be before 1902, when Bob-Lo moved to the new cast-iron pavilion at the foot of Bates. The pavilion is not in the photo. The two boats in the center are the Garland, to the right, and the Promise or the Pleasure to the left.
Nolan Skipper LaFramboise II The time frame is about right. They could be the Bob Lo Boats. Is barge 127 self-propelled?
William Worden Oh, and, no, the barge was not self-propelled. At the risk of being thought snarky, I'll say that's why she was called a barge. I know there have been instances when "barge" was used for self-propelled vessels, but then you look for the modifier, as in "steam barge." These old-time tow barges carried crew; they were steered. So there was a donkey boiler to run steering gear and windlasses, etc.; hence the funnel that makes it look like they're powered vessels.
William Worden Have to regroup. This is after 1907 when the Hotel Pontchartrain was built (why didn't I notice that?). I finally found a bit of the roof of the Bates Street pavilion pavilion above the Promise/Pleasure. That makes it possible to identify the ferry at far left as the Victoria. Usually, I can tell the Promise from the Pleasure in a broadside view, but the resolution and the distance are stumping me with this one.
Tim Pranke William Worden The silver stack with black ring confirms an after 1905 date.

Wayne McCarty Thats a whaleback, not a barge.
David Allan Wayne McCarty look at cable on bow.
William Worden That's a whaleback barge.

Fred Bultman Nolan Skipper LaFramboise II only about eight man crews and the pilot houses were open, with a tarp for a roof.
Fred Bultman Nolan Skipper LaFramboise II not a fun assignment. Especially as the usual practice in severe storms was to cut the barge loose...
Wes Oleszewski Fred is right, the barges normally carried a crew of between 5 and 8. Since there were so few crew, there was more space in the cabins below deck. The turrets themselves were nothing more that stairways with the bow turret doubling as a windlass. Below decks the only light was by way of oil lamps in the earliest barges and later electric lamps. Now, that said, the steamers were loved by their crews, especially when loaded in a heavy weather, because they sailed so well in the rough seas and they we fast. In November of 1892 a whaleback steamer made the passage from Duluth to Buffalo in a record 96 hours while fully loaded.
Dale Pohto Many viewers see smoke being emitted from the stack and assume the ship is under its own motive power. The stack of barges (usually rather small) was to vent smoke from the boilers which provided steam to the winches and heat to the cabins. Besides looking for a tow cable, look for 'prop wash' at the stern which ships under their own power will normally create .

Randall MacArthur posted six photos, four of which are of railroad ferries.

Farmington, MI: Old Smokestack Preserved as a Chimney Swift Bird Sanctuary

(3D Satellite)
I haven't done much about the "Nature" part of this blog, but here is an interesting mix of industry and nature.

Detroit Free Press

Please click the link in the caption above to access an article that explains the swifts fly during the day and roost in chimneys at night. This 151' chimney built in 1898 is maintained by its owner, Don S. White, as a swift sanctuary for up to 50,000 birds.

Peter Dudley commented on his posting
Here's an image of Farmington Junction (aka The Haunted Junction) in Farmington MI (accessible through history.farmlib.org).

Arcola, IN: CFE/CSX/Pennsy Tower and Depot

(Satellite)

Rural American History Captured posted

I can't find a railroad that crossed the Pennsy in this town. I don't see any crossovers to control. So that tower must have been controlling the turnouts to sidings and spurs. Although those types of turnouts are normally moved by the train's brakemen. That tower also looks rather big even if it is controlling a few turnouts. I wonder if Pennsy had a one-size-fits-all standardized design for towers.

I looked at a 1951 aerial photo, but I could not locate where these buildings stood.

Arcola is not listed in the track diagrams.

Kenova, WV: NS/N&W crossing CSX/C&O+B&O

(3D Satellite)

Donald Haskel posted
Norfolk and Western coal train crossing over another coal train Kenova, WV 1972. Between the the two major railroads, N&W and CSX, and the Ohio River, a lot of tonnage moves through here in a day.
Doug Bess Nice photo. I see that the elevator tower is all that remains of a once great passenger station that at one time served three railroads.Donald Haskel Tha abandoned station used to be to the left of this tower. You say it is gone now.Doug Bess It is gone. If you're interested I have a piece on Kenova on my website. Here is the link: http://wvrails.net/?p=986
[The lower tracks were the C&O. Judging from the 3D satellite image, only the square foundation of the elevator tower remains today.]

This is a copy of the satellite image in case trees later overgrow the elevators foundation. Trees now occupy the location of the depot itself. [2010nov]

3D Satellite

The B&O river line joined the C&O tracks in Hunington to gain access to Kenova. The passenger station servied N&W trains with elevated wooden platforms and served the C&O and B&O at grade level. [2013mar]

Joliet, IL: John Smith's Map

This was the layout of the railroads before they were elevated. Each railroad had their own depot back then.

John Smith posted

blue is Santa Fe

Pink is Chicago & Alton

Orange is Elgin Joliet &Eastern

Green is Chicago Rock Island

Purple Is New York Central

Dark Orange is Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific