Forreston, IL: IC and CB&Q Depot

Gary Sams -> Illinois Central Charter Line

Sam's Facebook comment: "Forreston, Illinois IC and CB&Q Depot." Looking at a satellite image, there is an east/west railroad north of town. Looking at some other maps, I determined it is CP/Milwaukee. On that satellite image, you can see the land scars of the IC on the north and south side of towns. But I could not find any traces of the CB&Q branch that came in from the southeast from Oregon except for the segment that still exists from Oregon to Mt. Morris. I looked at a 1912 Sanborn Map and got confused. So I backed off to a 1905 Sanborn Map. The excerpt below includes the seal and the Water Facilities because they remind me that the original purpose for these maps was for fire insurance agents to determine insurance rates. And because it included the location of the water tower.

1905 Sanborn Map, Sheet 1

So IC was on the westish side of the station and CB&Q was on the eastish side. Note that there were separate buildings, which you can see in the background of the photo, for passenger baggage and express freight that shared the passenger train platforms. The IC freight house had its own sidings. A filling station building now sits about where the depot was.

1912 Sanborn Map, Sheet 1

This is from a 1912 insert labeled "second railroad addition." So did the Milwaukee spur from the north use the eastish or westish side of the passenger facilities?

1928 Sanborn Map, Sheet 2

Looking at the 1928 map, it looks like CB&Q arranged trackage rights with IC and sold its Forreston tracks to Milwaukee. Also note that the freight house is no longer labeled ICRR. Maybe one reason why CB&Q moved to the westish side is that they also wanted better freight facilities. Furthermore, it appears that Milwaukee gave up on service to Forreston.

I've learned that even a small town can have a rather complicated railroad history.

Dave Zeke Zellers posted
Depot, Forreston, IL.

I've learned that after WWII, IC replaced many of its depots with standardized designs.

Dave Zeek Zellers commented on his post

Dave Zeek Zellers commented on his post

Paul Jaenicke posted
Forreston , Illinois along the old mainline between Centralia and Freeport (Gruber Line) was a source of ballast for the IC for many years. A large gravel pit was located here.From a 1950 Condensed map of the Amboy District.

Michael Zettle: I live in Forreston, this area is called North Forreston. Developed from the pit and the interchange with the Milwaukee Road. The old guys that worked for the railroad said that no one could remember when the pit was first started but they knew it was used as a ballast pit from when the railroad was first chartered. I been told that "Gruber" is german slang for "Pit" and was thought that this pit was why the line was called the "Gruber". As looking at the map the pit at the top was the IC pit. back in the day it went all the way to what is now highway 26 to the west of this area. They hit water in the pit and water filled it. The railroad bought a bucket dredge and used it to continue to moved gravel out along with a steam shovel that ran on a independent track along side the sidings. In 1948 the man running the dredge brought the bucket in too heavy and fast and the dredge sank. It is still in the pit lake to this day. When they abandoned the pit the entrance track to the pit was kept and called the high line where they stored cars. The foreman's house was at the entrance. The pit at the bottom of the map was McGrath Sand and Gravel. This pit also had a dredge but one that ran off of suction. A gravel washer was erected here also. The gravel for I55, I80, I88, Rt72, Rt64, Rt30 the colosseum at U of I The wing dams on the Mississippi and Fort Knox came from here. At it's height, it was producing 200 cars a day in the 50's. My wife's Grandparents lived in the foreman's house for 30 years.

William Kammer: The IC Employees Service Club members could obtain keys to the gate of the pit area so they could fish in that lake... I was able to convince my father to take me fishing there a few times.... Must have been before 1950 as I remember needing a driver to get there from Freeport. Never figured out the Crappies in that lake, but I'm much better at Crappie fishing these days. Very tranquil in the evenings.