Whitton, IL: Moved?/CB&Q Depot and US Savanna Army Depot

Whitton: (Satellite, evidently, the depot has been moved. But I could not find its current location.)

US Savanna Army: (Satellite)

Thomas Scoville posted
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy depot from the ghost town of Whitton, Illinois, on April 7, 2026. Thomas Dyrek photo.

Given the 2026 date of the photo, the depot must have been moved because it looks like it was a little south of Depot Road.

1946 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

The army base stored (stores?) ammunition.

1953/56 Green Island Quad @ 24,000

The part with the larger storage buildings is still intact.

Satellite

I noticed that some of the spurs had cuts of tank cars. Then I noticed the TLC Rail Services label.

Photo, Jul 2020

tlcrailservices
"In addition to cleaning, repair, and storage, TLC Rail Services offers transloading, inspections, scrapping, hydro vac excavation, environmental consulting, renewable services. "

Fort Atkinson, WI: Lost/C&NW Depot and Freight House

Depot: (Satellite, based on the topo and aerial photo below. Robert Street was extended to Janesville Ave. after the depot was removed.)

Freight House: (Satellite)

Trent Briggs posted three photos with the comment: "Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 1947."

Jim Kelling shared

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1961/64 Fort Atkinson Quad @ 24,000

1937 Aerial Photo from WIHAP

Genoa, WI: Lost/CB&Q Depot and Genoa Power Station 3

Depot: (Satellite, based on the aerial photo below. WI-35 did not exist back then.)

Power Station: (Satellite)

CB&Q Depot

David Nelson posted
Here is a 1952 photo of the CB&Q depot in Genoa -- again not a very good photo and I did what I could with it.

1939 Aerial Photo from WIHAP

Power Station 3

Bojidar93, Mar 2017

Photo, Jan 2020

Because this plant is going to soon be closed, I saved a satellite image.

Satellite

I zoom in on the barge traffic because I was shocked to learn that this 1969 plant was designed to use Powder River Basin coal delivered by barge. [PowerMag]

Satellite

Barge access to this plant is no mystery since it is on the shores of the Mississippi River. But how do you get barge access to the Powder River Basin? A quick check of the Fort Randall Dam shows it has no locks. That doesn't surprise me since the dams on the Upper Missouri River are supposed to be for flood control. (I say "supposed to be" because in 2019 they favored recreation use instead of flood storage and many farms and towns downriver paid for that decision.) So do they use railroads to get the coal to Sioux City, IA, then shove the barges 734 miles down theMissouri River to the Mississippi, and then shove them many more miles up the Mississippi River to Genoa? [USACE] A quick look at a map shows that is about three times the distance as the Sioux City to Genoa distance. And that distance is less than half the distance between the Powder River Basin and Genoa.

South Whitley, IN: Junction Tower: Nickel Plate vs. Pennsy

(Satellite)

Matthew Ditton posted
In this before and after we're looking northeast down the Penn Central Eel River line at South Whitley Indiana. The first photo was taken by Craig Berndt in the early 70's with the tower still in place. The current photo was taken by me on 4/26/2020 with the Eel River line completely gone. The line in the foreground is the Norfolk Southern Chicago District and is still active with regular service.

Caleb Briggs commented on Matthew's post
Still plenty of trains till this day!

This is the feed mill in the background of the posted photos. So Craig was looking northeast.

Street View, Jun 2023

If  I turn about 180 degrees, I see the old feed mill is closed because it has been replaced by a much larger mill. Note the siding and fall protector on the right side. It appears that it gets carload rail service from the Class I railroad NS. 

Street View, Jun 2023

1962/63 South Whitley West and East Quads @ 24,000

La Porte, IN: Allis-Chalmers/Rumely Factory

Plant: (Satellite, as of Apr 2026, there was a lot of literally brown land.)

Museum: (Satellite)

Allis-Chalmers entered the agriculture business in 1914. In 1931, A-C bought the struggling Rumely company and aquired a dealer network as well as a large factory in La Porte. [AllisChalmers]

I recognize Rumely as the manufacture of the Oil-Pull Tractor.

J and L Videos posted
All Crop Harvesters on the assembly line at the Allis Chalmers La Porte factory:

RumelyAllis

Marker at Madison Street and Lincolnway.

in
"Meinrad Rumely (1823-1904), a German immigrant, founded a blacksmith shop here 1853, which grew into a dominant company through reorganizations and acquisitions. Rumely companies in La Porte benefited from available rail transportation plus German and later Polish immigrant laborers. Products included a wide variety of agricultural machines."

in
"Rumely's prizewinning thresher later became one of the earliest powered by steam. Thousands of OilPull tractors sold worldwide 1910-1930. Rumely companies were at the forefront of mechanization of American and world agriculture and had significant impact on La Porte. Allis-Chalmers acquired the firm 1931 and closed La Porte plant 1983."

There is now a museum in La Porte concerning Rumley and A-C's ag business.

MichiganCityLaPorte

Jeff Watt, Jun 2022

Street View, Jun 2024

A display by a private collecter near the musem was stolen.

wstb

The red cross is the location of the marker near the top of these notes. I'm guessing that the plant started down by Lincolnway and expanded north to the buildings that were west of Clear Lake.

AllisChalmers_page2

AllisChalmers_page3

Wallace Junction, IN: Monon vs Monon Junction, Depot and Coaling & Water Towers

(Satellite)

Once again, this depot must have been for passengers that were transferring from one train to another at the junction.

Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society posted 25 photos with the comment:

Here are some great photos of a little place on the Monon called Wallace Junction. 

Wallace Junction is the next stop south of Cloverdale on the Monon’s mainline and is where the Indianapolis and Louisville Branch ran off south west to Cataract and beyond. The I & L Branch came to be known as the Midland Branch, as Midland was where it ended. 

Wallace Junction’s depot served both passenger and freight. The depot had a large platform that surrounded the east, west and south sides of the building. There was a water tower, a pump house, an ice house, scale house, tool house, coal tower, supply house and office, rip track, repair man’s office, end car repair shop, sand house, hostler’s house and shanties, and it’s not shown on the map but there was an engine house and a small yard as well. 

Wallace Junction was built in 1906. By the 1940s the Monon was considering abandoning it  but new mines opened and traffic increased. By the late 60s, the junction was still there but the Midland turn was being run out Bloomington or Lafayette. 

The photos shared are all from the MRHTS archives. The oldest pictures date from the early 1900s up through 1971. 

In addition to all the photos, in the archives we have also found a 1929 engineer’s map of Wallace Junction’s wye and layout of buildings. 

While I was researching online I found a newspaper article about Wallace Junction from 2001 shared on another facebook page (The People and History of Quincy Indiana) and I have included it because it shows a wonderful aerial view of Wallace Junction and its wye, taken in the early 1970s. 

You will also see a stylized Monon map with all the stations, rivers and the rail lines the Monon connected to. (I really love that map!) 

And for completeness sake, I’ve shared the google earth map of Wallace Junction and Quincy area that I posted previously, showing the Monon marked in red and the Midland (I & L) in purple. 

Hope you enjoy! 🛤️ 🚂 📸 🗺️

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1949/49 Quincy Quad @ 24,000