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| Jimmy Fiedler -> RAILROAD HISTORY BUFFS OF ILLINOIS CB&Q Turner Jct depot West Chicago IL |
Matthew's comment below explains why the depots were moved, and he provided this picture.
Matthew Edmund Covarrubias: West Chicago had a very nice RR Museum on Main Street with that station, CB&Q depot, a wooden caboose, a two ft gauge CNW steam engine model, and lots of other items donated by the C&NWRR and Burlington Northern RR.
The city thought condominiums would look better in its place and bulldozed the museum grounds and never built the condos on the grounds. It's still vacant 10 years later.
The following were Facebook comments for the Batavia depot, but they make more sense here.
James L. Ludwig: Turner Junction depot also survives. Inside this building is some of the furniture that was used by Mary Todd Lincoln.
Peter Zimmermann: Turner Junction is the old name for the crossing of the UP[former C&NW] and CN [former EJ&E], in the town of West Chicago.
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| Matthew comment |
The city thought condominiums would look better in its place and bulldozed the museum grounds and never built the condos on the grounds. It's still vacant 10 years later.
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| Patrick McNamara comment In 1975............................ |
James L. Ludwig: Turner Junction depot also survives. Inside this building is some of the furniture that was used by Mary Todd Lincoln.
Peter Zimmermann: Turner Junction is the old name for the crossing of the UP[former C&NW] and CN [former EJ&E], in the town of West Chicago.
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| Patrick McNamara commented on a post Here's Rick Burns's photo from 1961..... Another comment on that post: Thomas Whitt The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, the official name of the Burlington Route, started from humble beginnings February 12, 1849 in Aurora, Illinois. The Aurora Branch Railroad was laid with secondhand strap iron spiked to 12 miles of wooden rails. On September 2, 1850, the first train chugged its uncertain way over six miles from Batavia, Illinois, north to Turner Junction, and then eastward to Chicago over the tracks of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. The locomotive and cars were borrowed from the Galena line as their own equipment had not yet arrived. This allowed the Aurora Branch to be the second railroad to serve Chicago. |
To fill in some details, the depot still stands, it was removed from the 2nd location to the current 3rd location which is behind the West Chicago City Museum at 132 Main St. on Turner Ct., must access off one-way Turner Ct. or back of Library lot. I believe Jimmy Fiedler's picture is at that location. I have not tracked down the caboose. The scale C&NW Steam Engine is in a lot on the Southwest corner of Main and Wilson (Bridge over UP by PD). The depot looks empty on visit last week (8/21/20)
ReplyDeleteAlso to add or clarify Mr. Zimmerman's post, Turner who was an early official of the Galena and Chicago Union was the second name of West Chicago, and replaced the name Junction. Turner Junction was first the Junction of the G&CU and the Aurora Branch RR then the Dixon Airline, Iowa Line of the G&CU RR, this happened in the early 1850's. The EJ&E did not come through until late 1880's. To my knowledge, the EJ&E Junctions are/were JA- at the Belivdere line (removed) JB- at the Iowa Main line tower still there with JB signs, JC- at the Burlington CB&Q line (removed)
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