Depot: (Satellite)
Freight House: (Satellite) |
| Bill Molony posted The Illinois Central station at Paxton, Illinois - 1958. The IC tracks through Paxton were depressed in a 1923-1924 improvement project. Cliff Downey: The NKP bridge was removed when the line was abandoned in the 1980s or so. About 15 years ago a new street bridge across the tracks was built in the same spot. As a side note, the Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society's headquarters are in Paxton, a block from the IC tracks. ICHS is housed in the former NKP freight house, which has been restored. Albert J Reinschmidt: I've been told that this moraine was a helper district before the improvement. Bill Molony posted again Bill Molony posted again The joint Illinois Central - NKP depot at Paxton, Illinois - 1958. The IC tracks were depressed in a joint ICRR/LE&W 1923-1924 improvement project. This depot used a water powered elevator for express and baggage wagons. From the Blackhawk collection. |
The bridge in the background was NKP's Lake Erie & Western division.
This looks different from the 1915 photo above. How many depots did Paxton have before the tracks were lowered?
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| Bill Molony commented on this post This is later photograph of the Illinois Central station in Paxton, dated June 17, 1973. Bill Molony posted again The Paxton, Illinois depot as it looked on June 17, 1973. John Mitchell It was not a "union station". It was a "joint agency". A joint agency is where one railroad owns the depot and the agent serves both railroads. A union station was where the depot is owned and operated by a third party. The third party operator is owned by two or more railroads using the depot. A small difference, but let's be correct when we can be. |
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| Bill Molony posted Amtrak's City of New Orleans, passing through Paxton, Illinois behind two new EMD F40PH locomotives - circa 1980. |
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| 1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted I love collecting old postcards, both railroad-related and non-railroad. This is one I bought off Ebay several years ago. It is of the long-gone Union Depot at Paxton, IL. The IC ran north-south and was crossed by the east-west Nickel Plate. In 1918 the IC relocated its tracks through Paxton in a deep cut and a new union station was built. Both the "old" and "new" union station are long gone. Paxton, as many IC fans are aware, is home to the Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society, which has a wonderful archives/headquarters/museum in the former NKP freight house. Postcard from the collection of Cliff Downey. Skip Luke: It had an interesting elevator, needed to get the baggage wagons to and from the IC level. Hydraulic operation. Slow, but worked. It was at south end of station-level platform. When you lowered it you could heat the liquid sloshing through the mechanism. I never found out if it was water or hydraulic fluid. Guessing hydraulic oil, otherwise it would have frozen. Paul Jevert: Quite a handsome station and it appears to be the travel and social center of Paxton probably marginally more than the local saloon or watering hole ! |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted IC's Paxton, IL, depot on a cold, snowy, Jan. 29, 1915. This photo was taken several years before the tracks through town were lowered into a trench. Photo by an IC company photographer, Cliff Downey collection. Mark Herring: Why were the tracks lowered? Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook: Paxton is near the crest of a hill (yeah, it's odd to believe hills in this part of Illinois). As trains struggled over the hill they frequently blocked grade crossings. Skip Luke: The fill that was removed was hauled to Champaign, where it was used to build the elevated mainline through town, eliminating many grade crossings. Paul Jevert shared |
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| Patrick Finn posted Former freight house on the former Nickel Plate line Paxton, IL . (2021) |
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| Ted Lemen posted
I've published a wider version of this picture before, but when I found the article about the "Cut" in Paxton IL, I trimmed it a little to better show what the story talks about. June 1992
Excerpt from the Paxton (IL) Record - 150th Anniversary Issue, July 22nd, 2015.
A railroad cut had been dug through Mattoon in 1914, but the Paxton “Cut” posed more problems. In order to create the gaping trench, many changes to the surrounding landscape had to be considered in addition to the basic task of excavating: a bridge would have to be built for the L.E. & W. railroad which ran East and West across the Illinois Central; a new connecting line between the two railroads
would need to be built; and the freight house, train depot, and water tower would all have to be relocated.
Despite these daunting challenges, the decision to excavate through Paxton was agreed upon, and within four months, the work began. The railroad had agreed to pay for the construction of five traffic bridges, and Paxton agreed to provide the funds for two pedestrian bridges at Franklin and Orleans streets. Articles in the Paxton Record during this time depict first-hand the excitement as well as struggles hat went into completing Paxton’s railroad “Cut.”An article printed March 29, 1923 in Paxton Record proclaimed that the work on the
railroad cut was about to begin:“Mr. Mitchel, from the firm of Smith & Mitchell of Kansas City, Missouri, is in Paxton making arrangements for the excavation which will be necessary to lower the I.C.R.R. tracks through Paxton. Mr. Mitchell is engaging teams which will be used to make the grade for the temporary passing tracks. Mr. Mitchell remarked that the equipment for the project is now on the way to Paxton, and within the next three weeks, he hopes to have a big steam shovel at work. The Company owns four small locomotives and a large number of dump cars which will be used in conveying the dirt from the cut. One of the steam shovels which is being brought to Paxton is a monster and will remove two and one half yards of dirt with each operation.
The Paxton Record reprinted an article on November 23, 1923 that had been published in the Bloomington Pantagraph, explaining the progress of the excavation: The big grade reduction job on the Illinois Central which will end the grade crossing menace in this city is progressing rapidly. The actual work of reducing the grade began in April and is expected to be finished January 1 and that trains will be
running through the cut by Jan. 15. This grade reduction extends from about one mile south of the Nickel Plate crossing here to about one mile north, making a cut of two miles. It is estimated that 385,000 cubic yards of earth will have been removed by the time the job is finished. Much of this has been hauled to Champaign for use in the track elevation through that city. The deepest portion of the cut will be at the Nickel Plate crossing, where the Central tracks will be depressed 24 feet. The cut provides for a double track, and it is 47 feet wide at the bottom for the entire distance. The station, a very attractive brick building with a tile roof, was moved 27 feet east in order to make room for the cut. As in the case of all improvements of this nature, there are some objectors. One man said that he felt sure that the city would be deluged with smoke from the engines going through so much below the surface while another objected that the two streets at either end of the improvement would be closed. As a general thing, however, the citizens are vary favorably impressed with the improvement. |
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| James Boudreaux posted, cropped Illinois Central Depot...Paxton,IL...Nickel Plate RR tracks under semaphore...M.Saldeen photo,date unknown. [This photo is a better version of the one posted by Bill.] |
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| Derrick Babbs posted Illinois Central Railroad, Paxton (Before the CUT) Mike Sypult shared Paxton, IL before the cut on the IC. |
This looks different from the 1915 photo above. How many depots did Paxton have before the tracks were lowered?
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Derrick Babbs posted
Illinois Central Railroad, Paxton (Before the CUT)
Mike Sypult shared
Paxton, IL before the cut on the IC.
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Speaking of different, this looks like a third "before cut" depot.
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| Larry Foht posted Illinois Central Railroad Depot With Passenger Train Paxton Illinois Larry Foht collection : |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Larry's post I can't reconcile the above photo with this 1915 photo copied from this post: https://www.facebook.com/.../a.13794448.../1611134019107334/ Cliff states in this post, https://www.facebook.com/.../a.13794448.../1397758017111603/, that the tracks were lowered in 1918. I presume Larry's photo is a predecessor to Cliff's photo. |
Dennis DeBruler posted three photos with the comment:
Three Oct 2016 photos of a static display in Paxton, IL.40°27'47.6"N 88°05'49.3"WThe former NKP freight house used to house the headquarters of the IC Historical Society. I see on a satellite image that the baggage car is no longer there.
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| Greg Druschel posted, cropped Nickel Plate Line Terminal in Paxton currently owned by the Monticello Railway Museum. Unfortunately they don’t staff it and have no plans to do so. Would make a great restaurant. |
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