Danville, IL: Andersons/Freight Car Svc./C&EI Oaklawn Shops

(see below for satellite)

Ken Haughton posted

Aerial view of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Oaklawn Shops at Danville, Illinois. Date & Photographer not listed. (1940's?)

Scanned using a Epson V750.

Collection of Houghton's RailImage

Kevan Davis shared
Kent Bankhead: Impressive transfer table!
Dennis DeBruler

Kent Bankhead Since this post is in the same group, its contents should be visible.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2136025179943537&id=1604245826454811

Tim Starr posted
Layout of the 56-stall roundhouse terminal and shops of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois RR at Danville IL in 1903, just after the old ones were decommissioned. (Railway and Engineering Review)

What does Google do with a link after the name is no longer valid?

Freight Car Svc Inc, Satellite

Mike Breski posted

C&EI, Danville, Illinois, 1959

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad diesel locomotives resting beneath a coaling tower, now an obsolete symbol of the steam era, at Danville, Illinois, in November 1959. Photograph by J. Parker Lamb, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Lamb-01-041-01
Ken Morrison speaking of obsolete, looks like there's a BL2 and a caboose in the picture...
[They have already dismantled the unloading pit.]

And this photo allows us to see most of the top.

Evie N Bob Bruns posted
CEI 1608 at Danville in 1963. Photo by Bill Kuba.

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted two photos with the comment:

This C&EI HS archive photo shows the massive Oaklawn Shops at Danville, IL. before the November, 1937 fire that destroyed the coach shops. A new coach shops building opened in late 1939 in the same location south of the transfer table. The photo is looking northwest with the C&EI mainline tracks at the north side of the shops. Notice the old coaling tower and the large roundhouse. Many of the buildings are still standing today on the east side of Danville.

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C&EIRHS posted
C&EI Historical Society archive photo taken in 1958 by Bowman Studio in the Oaklawn backshop at Danville.
Jeffrey Owen My grandfather, Laurence Mast, operated a crane there for more than 40 years.
Larry Case Right outside the old dispatcher's office where my dad worked and I started as chief dispatcher's clerk in 1967.
James Myers Pre-OSHA, no hardhats.

Tim Starr posted
Floor plan of the new diesel repair shop at Oaklawn (Danville) IL of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois RR in 1950, just as most of the roster was being converted to diesels. (Railway Age)

Railway Age
The Andersons Inc. on Aug. 1 [2018] signed a $2.2 million agreement to purchase FreightCar America Inc.’s Danville Railcar Facility, Danville, Ill. The company intends to turn the now-shuttered freight car manufacturing plant into a full-service freight and tank railcar repair shop.

"Danville will be the Rail Group’s 21st shop in the U.S., strategically located in the high-volume Midwest rail transportation corridor." [Railway Age]

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP
Tim Starr posted a larger excerpt
Aerial view of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois main shops and roundhouse terminal at Danville IL around 1940.

The engine servicing facilities were in this yard. The classification was done in Brewer Yard. CSX still owns that yard.

1950 Danville NE and SE Quads @ 24,000

C&EIRHS posted
C&EI was an innovator in trailer on flat car TOFC service. This 1955 photo shows a flat car being fitted for TOFC service at their Oaklawn Shops in Danville, Illinois.
C&EIRHS posted
Photo 5036-O showing a flat car being converted to a TOFC (trailer-on-flat-car) at C&EI's Oaklawn Shops in Danville, Illinois c1955.

 

C&EIRHS posted
Photo 5036-H from the C&EI Historical Society archives showing the piggyback ramp at Chicago c1956.
Eric Sibul shared

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted two photos with the comment:

On April 16, 1988 the C&EI Historical Society held its annual meeting in Danville, IL. The agenda included a tour of the Oaklawn Shops where Robert Gibson took these photos of the Oaklawn transfer table.

Paul Jaenicke What's there now?
Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society Most recently it was Freight Car American that built coal hopper cars, but early this year they sold to Anderson Corporation which will start a freight car repair business there. It is expected to employ about 15 by the end of the year and some 100 next year. Presently repair cars have been arriving in the 400 car storage yard in preparation of the startup of the company. The west one-half of the former C&EI shops is owned by Mervis Corporation, a steel and scrap dealer that cuts up various freight cars.

[These are the rails for the transfer table. The yellow thing in the background would be the cab for the transfer table.]

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Michael Schwiebert shared two photos that have the comment: "Before and after pictures of the first car completed at our new railcar blast and paint shop in Danville, Illinois. The Andersons Rail Group continues to be excited about the opportunities in Danville."

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I put this photo here instead of Evansville because it catches a view of the backshop.

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted
A new Dodge maintenance of way truck photographed at Oaklawn Shops in Danville. The truck will be assigned to Evansville as indicated on the door.
[According to the comments, it was painted orange and blue.]

Burlington, IA: CB&Q Depot and Railyard

(Satellite, it appears the depot has been replaced by an Amshack, but the railroad yard is still used)

Jim Arvites posted
Postcard view of the CB&Q passenger station and yards at Burlington, Iowa circa 1900.

Dan Wagner posted three photos with the comment: "The Burlington Iowa Raul yard today May 2 [2019]"
Dan Wagner Back in 2014 they raised the main lines to be out of the water up to a river level of 26 feet or 11 feet above flood stage. The level when these pictures were taken was about 23 feet.

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River Gauge

Cairo, IL: IC Depot and River Wall

We can still see where the roundhouse was, so the depot must have been a few more blocks downriver. It looks like Ohio Street had tracks on it and the river wall was closer to the river.

Paul Turner posted
Very hard to find image of the Illinois Central passenger station on Ohio in Cairo, also known as Union Depot.  It was replaced by a new depot at North Cairo in 1936, negating the time-consuming move in and out of Cairo proper.  From an 87 -year old negative I recently had printed.  GM&O built their own Art-Deco style passenger station at North Cairo, and the station pictured here was unfortunately razed.
The famed Halliday Hotel adjacent to the south.

David Cantrell posted
Cairo, IC Terminal

David Cantrell posted
Cairo IC Maintenance Yard

Dave Cantrell posted
Illinois Central, Shipping and Levee on the Ohio River at Junction of the Mississippi, Cairo Illinois, 1917. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018647693/.

PICRYL

It took me a while to realize that the river wall is what those guys are sitting on. It is a lot taller today. You can see that it is about as tall as a caboose.

20161126  6766

That is my van in the background. The town is really desolate. There is no problem finding a parking spot or fighting traffic.

The CN/IC embankment for their Ohio River Bridge is part of the levee system.

After US-51 goes through the arched overpass...

...you go under the flood gate. So how do people get in and out of town during a flood? Do they use Washington Avenue up to Kessler Road?

(Facebooked)

David Cantrell posted

After excessive levee overflows at Cairo, IL in 1912 and 1913, a "subway" was constructed that allowed cars to pass under the railroad and enabled gates to be installed when flood waters threatened the city.

-- Illinois Central Magazine

David Cantrell posted
[There are several informative comments in this open group.]

Doug Rogers posted three images with the comment: "Cairo Illinois."

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East Peoria, IL: TZPR/(PPU+NKP) Railyard and staging windmill parts

(Satellite)

TZPR = Tazwell & Peoria Railroad

PPU = Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, CR-IC-NS-UP joint, later TZPR

NKP = a LEW branch of the Nickle Plate

Jason Myers posted
Railfanning from a Blackhawk helicopter. On April 28th my son Dakota snapped this shot of the TZPR yard from the helicopter he was on.
Alex Sansone: That’s a serious yard
Harold J. Krewer: Alex Sansone. that empty area at lower left was once another yard just as big. Used to have "A" yard and "B" yard.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jason's post
It appears the NKP(LEW) terminated in this yard.
1950 Peoria East Quad @ 24,000

Braytin Friedman posted two photos with the comment: "Anyone know who’s yard this is?"
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Tazewell & Peoria RR.
Braytin Friedman Where’s TPW yard?
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Two miles east.
Andy Zemlicka Did they takes tracks out sometime or why is the big void there.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Andy Zemlicka P&PU had a contractor remove half of B Yard in summer 1990. Space has served various purposes since then, most recently for storage and staging of wind turbine components. A Yard (in the distance) is intact, though I believe some tracks are out of service.
Then-Illinois Central president Edward L. Moyers, having been P&PU's marketing director (1977-1985), knew of P&PU's overcapacity and had much unused track removed and sold for scrap. More than one P&PU employee told me they wished they had the capacity when BNSF-NS interchange got heavy in 1995-1999. I guess having nine Long Tracks (A-33 to A-41) might compensate somewhat these days.

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Because the Transporting Windmill Parts notes were getting so big and because these postings concern the staging of windmill parts in Yard B, I moved the Peoria related material to these notes.

David Jordan posted two photos with the comment: "Looks like new business, albeit temporary, is coming to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad in East Peoria. Cranes being set up where half of B Yard had been until 1990 are used to load/unload wind turbine components." (Update: these are being staged for the Sugar Creek Wind project, southeast of New Holland.)
David JordanGroup Admin I'm assuming this may be related...    https://www.windpowerengineering.com/.../100-wind.../
David JordanGroup Admin http://www.sugarcreekwind.com/
Rob Woodrow Towers are built in Clinton, but most likely will go by truck to any site in Illinois.
David JordanGroup Admin Rotors (blades) and nacelles/hubs will probably come by rail then.
Dennis DeBruler shared with the question: "The name is on a slant, so I assume the red crane is a Manitowoc. Which model is it?"
JR Keller My triple 9 I'm assembling for wind mill parts to be off loaded here.

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JR Keller posted seven photos with the comment: "She is all together and ready to work. Bring on the windmill parts." This is the Manitowoc 999 that is being assembled in David's photos.

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David Jordan posted
The wind turbine train is sitting in TP&W's East Peoria Yard as of 1430 hours. There appear to be about 34 flat car loads of Vestas towers. Vestas North America manufactures these at a Union Pacific-served plant just south of Pueblo, Colorado, so that is where these may be from.
Gary Talsky Is the old RIP shed not used anymore or just accidentally empty?
David JordanGroup Admin At the start of 2014, TP&W car repair went to Watco Companies' facility at the TZPR's East Peoria Yard.

Nick Kneip posted
I thought I would share a picture I took of those windmill parts everyone has been talking about recently.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Cool...looks like the outbound D49 train on A-41 (note Komatsu chassis load).
Walt Lied According to my maps, you might have been in restricted air space. Like the picture though.
Nick Kneip Odd because I never once got a message on my OS and I checked using AIRMAP before I took off too.
Walt Lied Nick Kneip i use AirMap. Too. Says most of that part of EP is restricted. Hey, the gotta catch ya
Nick Kneip Walt Lied maybe I need to look into that

David Jordan posted two photos with the comment:

Wind turbine towers were being unloaded at TZPR's East Peoria Yard this afternoon, February 27, 2018. Eighteeen loaded flat cars can be seen on a track which I believe is called "B-19." A number of towers have already been unloaded.

It looks like a tandem pick and carry. Note the greenish safety vest at the end of the tower being carried. That gives scale as to the diameter of the towers.

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And now the blades are coming to town. Jan Smith posted seven photos with the comment: "UP Wind Turbine blade train in Peoria, Illinois 03-03-18."

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Jan appears to have a railfan blog.

(new window) Please access David Jordan's posting of this video to see my comments concerning the mounts and the "fins".


John Woodrow posted two photos of a second train of blades that went to this staging yard.

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2, cropped

JR Keller posted fourteen photos with the comment: "Triple 9 series 3 very nice and smooth clean rig."

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This is a posting that another train of tower segments with 70 flat cars is headed to the yard on 3-12.
David JordanDavid is an administrator in this group. Train may be held in the TP&W yard until the most recent [second, I believe] blade train is unloaded.

David Jordan posted three photos with the comment: "Wind turbine blade (and tower) unloading at TZPR's East Peoria Yard this afternoon."

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Facebook Resolution

Tim Holmes posted four photos of another tower segment train with the comment: "Here is my take on todays windmill train today 3-22-18."

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TP&W 5010 climbing the hill at Secor, IL A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Just west of Secor, IL. A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Just east of Eureka, IL A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Cruger A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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David Jordan posted four photos with the comment: "Early afternoon Thursday - wind turbine components unloading at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard."
Ryan Mcgill Were are them gonna be built at?
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Ryan Mcgill Western Logan County.   http://www.sugarcreekwind.com/

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JR Keller posted two photos:
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Looks like that 999 is keeping busy.
JR Keller Yes it is. Burning a tank of fuel a day.
Dave Seiter What do those nacelles weigh???
JR Keller 158000 [79 tons]
Justin Scarborough Nice to see some Vestas stuff moving. [JR works for Vestas.]

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David Jordan posted three photos with the comment: "The staging area for wind turbine components at TZPR's East Peoria Yard is getting crowded. I shot these views this afternoon."

John Proefrock Apex Energy said yesterday that they will be trucking parts in when they start construction next year.
Tyler Perry Heard from a very reliable source that these are all going up north. west of Naperville. They are going to a wind farm named Walnut Grove or Walnut ridge.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. http://www.mortenson.com/.../walnut-ridge-wind-project

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David Jordan posted two photos with the comment: "All trains cleared out of the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard's Long Tracks on Sunday. These views (particularly the top one) offer an excellent view of the nine Long Tracks, A33-41."

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Comments on David's post
David Jordan: Also notice in the top photo that the A Yard's short tracks are pretty full. A cut with two or three Caterpillar loads on the head end may be Monday's outbound D49 (NS).

Comments on David's post