Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Springfield, IL: Iles Junction: GM&O/Alton vs. Wabash

Randy James posted
Iles tower, Springfield Illinois, GM&O

Mike Breski posted
From the collection of Gary Thompson of Normal, Illinois, comes this photo of a southbound freight train crossing the diamond at Iles Tower, south of Springfield. F3 unit 800B leads a four-unit consist that includes two GP units, dating this photo to some time in the 1970s, but the photographer's identity is unknown. Richard Leonard's Rail Archive.
  Larry Grzywinski I see two F3’s and one GP9.
Bill Edrington Yes, there’s only one “Paducah rebuild” trailing the F3s. This is definitely a post-ICG-merger shot (after 8/10/72).
Edward Miller Now Between the UP and NS No Diamond anymore just 2 lines converge and then separate again
Edward Miller The Eagle and all the St Louis Regional Trains all pass through this point.

Cathy Sallenger shared
My G Grandfather worked at Iles Tower in Springfield. He had served in WW1 in the Signal Corps & upon coming home worked for Wabash RR. He worked his entire life as a Telegraph Operator for Wabash.
As a kid I was always told that tower was where he worked. Probably a dumb question, I just always wondered what exactly his job was?
Dennis DeBruler I'm not a railroader, and I don't know the history of this particular tower, but I can provide some general information about what a tower operator did.
One job was to receive train orders with the telegraph and type them using carbon paper to get multiple copies. He would then use hoops to give a copy to the engineer and to the conductor. Note on the right side of the photo there is an "ironman" that was used to hold the hoops.
https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../hooping-up...
He would also set up routes through the junction by changing the position of turnouts, locks and signals. If he started early enough in this century or if this tower was obsolete enough, he would push and pull long levers that were mechanically connected to the appliances. An interlocking machine would ensure that he moved the levers in the correct order so that he would not create a dangerous situation. For example, giving green lights to more than one route through the junction at the same time. "Armstrong" levers were later replaced with controls that activated electrical and/or pneumatic control of the appliances.
There is an example of armstrong levers near the bottom of the following notes.
https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../75th-st-or...
This is an example of a tower using more modern equipment. The big towers would have assistants to help manipulate the controls.
http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../c-lake-tower...
They would also note on a sheet every train that passed the tower. They, along with station agents, were the eyes and ears of the dispatchers before Centralized Traffic Control was developed.

The Wabash used to cross the GM&O here and follow what has become the Wabash Trail to a remnant of their mainline that now ends at Robbins Road. Now the Wabash joins the UP/GM&O and goes south with KCS, UP and Amtrak to Hazel Del where NS turns west and later curves north to join its original mainline. That new route now also carries KCS traffic into town. The KCS route was originally a C&A branch. to Kansas City. The Wabash route through Springfield is a branch to Kansas City that left the St. Louis route in Decatur, IL. Some railroads that had connections to St. Louis also built direct routes to Kansas City to avoid the monopoly rates charged in St. Louis to cross the Mississippi River. The St. Louis area terminal railroad charged high rates because it owned both railroad bridges across the Mississippi.

The junction tower was in the southwest quadrant so the above train was southbound.
1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP
Update:
David Harris posted
A northbound bumps across the NS/NW/Wabash at Iles Tower in April 1986, before the big changes.
Ronald Rice Nice! I've seen several pictures of the old tower, but this is the first one that was taken from the north side.
Brian Spoke posted
GM&O GP35's #618 leads sister 621 and GP30 #518 at Iles Tower in Springfield, IL - Date & Photographer unknown. Brian Sopke Collection.
[The GM&O is northbound. And a train on the Wabash route needs to stop for train orders.]

Stan L. Maddox posted
Iles Tower, Springfield, IL. Facing East alongside the old Wabash/N&W main. Date unknown, but during the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway (CM&W) era for sure, based on other photos I took that day.

Richard Schroeder posted two photos with the comment: "In the spring and summer of 1994 I was a Consultant Project Engineer for the relocation of the former Wabash Railroad line on the west side of Springfield, IL. For almost a year the contractors had built the new roadbed around the south part of the city and then laid the new track from the west side of town, near I-72, to Iles tower located on the south edge of town. For 7 days we made cutovers with the last day, August 23rd, being the cutover at Iles. Here is the tower July 12, 1994 with the outside covering still in place. The other photo is the day the tower was fallen across the former Wabash line, which was already out of service.  My photos of a sad time for a tower lover."
Steve McMullen: They just pushed it over ‽ Wow
Richard Schroeder: Actually you can see a cable across the track, there was a dozer on the north side out of the picture and they pulled it over. I did not post the pile when it was down.
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Monday, January 30, 2017

Newport News, VA: C&O Coaling Tower

(See below for satellite information)
Mark Hinsdale posted
"Bright"
In Octoberr 1983, two Chessie System General Electric B30-7's can just about illuminate the entire yard by themselves, as they begin the process of putting Train #93 together at Newport News VA.
I see a coaling tower in Mark's photo, and it still exists.

3D Satellite

Bruce Baker posted four photos with the comment: "C&O RR locomotive service facilities and yard, Newport News VA, 9-24-87.  Looks like most of the motive power was out making a living the day I visited!"
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Sunday, January 29, 2017

Lockport, IL: Metra/GM&O Depot

Bill Molony posted
The Lockport railroad station on West 13th Street was constructed of locally quarried dolomite limestone in 1860, by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad.
Today, it is owned by Metra and leased to the City of Lockport. 
The passenger waiting room at the north end of the station is used by Metra Heritage Corridor patrons.
The remainder of the building is occupied by the Midwest SOARRING Foundation's Cultural Center.
Street View
One problem with building with stone is that it looks like they could not afford to build a bay window office for the station agent.
Update:
Bill Molony posted
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio station on West 13th Street in Lockport, Illinois as it looked in 1969.
This station was built in 1860 - when James Buchanan was our president - by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, using locally quarried dolomite limestone.
Today, it is owned by Metra and leased to the City of Lockport for use as a scheduled stop for Metra's Heritage Corridor service.
It is the oldest station in the Metra system, and one of the very oldest stations anywhere in the State of Illinois.
From the Blackhawk collection.
Brian Falasz: All of the buildings at the old Chicago and Alton shops in Bloomington, IL were also made from this beautiful stone. Unfortunately, the only building left is the old freight house. All others were razed in the early 1990’s.
Bill Molony shared
 
Peter Zimmermann posted
Lockport Illinois[Will County].
This depot was originally constructed in 1860 for the Joliet & Chicago Railroad, a company that opened the railroad here in 1856 and was leased by the Saint Louis Alton & Chicago Railroad in 1858.
The most notable train to pass was the funeral train of slain president Abraham Lincoln in May 1865 as it headed from Chicago to Springfield. Today the depot serves 6 Metra trains per day and sees numerous Amtrak regional trains as well as several freights each day from primarily Union Pacific but also a CN local. The line is owned by the CN Railway[ICRR] as their Joliet subdivision.

Bill Molony posted
A northbound Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad passenger train going past the station on West 13th Street in Lockport.
[It looks like it still has coal smoke residue on it.]

Bill Molony posted two photos with the comment:
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad depot in Lockport as it looked circa 1950.This depot was built by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad in 1860.Today, it is owned by Metra and is being used as a stop on Metra's Heritage Corridor Service between Joliet and Chicago.
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Bill Molony posted
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio depot at Lockport, circa 1950.
The depot was built in 1860 by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, using locally quarried dolomite limestone.
Today, it is owned by Metra and is a stop for Metra's Heritage Corridor Service operating between Joliet and Chicago.
It is the oldest depot in the entire Metra system.
Jimmy Fiedler: I think this depot is the oldest still in use east of the Mississippi river?

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Bill Molony posted
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad's depot in Lockport back in August of 1953.
John LaRochelle Like the lower quadrant train order signal indicating no orders in either direction.
Bill Molony posted
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad depot on West 13th Street in Lockport, about 1950.
Bill Molony posted
These two photographs of the station on West 13th Street in Lockport are dated November 14, 1981.
It was constructed in 1860 by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railway, using locally quarried dolomite limestone.
Today, it is owned by Metra and serves as Lockport's stop on the Heritage Corridor service between Joliet and Chicago.
J.J. Sedelmaier commented on Bill's posting
Nice shots ! Tweaked exposure...
Bill Molony posted
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad depot on West 13th Street in Lockport - 1969.
Note the box car on the house track behind the depot.
This depot was built in 1860 by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. Today, it is owned by Metra and is a stop on Metra's Heritage Corridor service.
Dennis DeBrulerYou and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicago Railroad Historians. Thanks for pointing out the team track. I would have missed that. As with other towns, the parking lot close to the depot used to be team tracks.

Bill Molony posted again
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio depot on West 13th Street in Lockport as it looked 50 years ago, in 1969.
Note the box car on the house track to the right behind the depot.

David Daruszka enhanced an image posted by Bill Molony
This August 1953 article on the staff at the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio station in Lockport is from the Joliet Herald-News.
Bill Molony The Lockport station was built in 1860 by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, Today, it is owned by Metra and is a stop on Metra's Heritage Corridor Service.


Sycamore, IL: Junction Tower: CGW vs. C&NW

Jamie Snyder posted
(Satellite, the concrete company has erased the tracks of the C&NW. A tree line marks the CGW.)

Jamie's comment: "CGW westbound passing the future Anaconda plant in Sycamore il. Late 1930s...courtesy of the Joiner history room in Sycamore."

This is one of those tough crossings to find because all of the railroads have been gone for a while. Because of the tree lines and grain elevator, it is pretty obvious that the CGW mainline went along Page Street. Both CGW and C&NW had routes between Sycamore and DeKalb.
South of Bethany Road, you can see the tree line of one of the routes to DeKalb. That must have been C&NW because it continues to the UP/C&NW branch that still goes south of Earlville and connected with the C&NW mainline.

1938 Aerial Photo
from ILHAP
The tower was just north of Sacramento and Page Streets. Sacramento Street was the C&NW route through town. It continued across what became part of the Anaconda plant and left town on what is now Brickville Road.

The CGW branch curved south to parallel Ellen Street. It then curved its way east to parallel the C&NW route south to DeKalb. A power line now follows the old RoW. Stark Avenue still parallels the old RoW.

The Anaconda plant closed in 2004 (Topix), but it appears that it has been repurposed.

A Flickr photo of the 1887 depot includes a history of the CGW depot.
1968 Sycamore Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

A Harold J. Krewer enhancement of a photo posted by Bill Latimer from NIU
We're at Sycamore, Il. on August 15th, 1939 awaiting some CGW activity, as a C&NW train passes Great Western tower.
Conrad Baker I think, but am not 100% certain that the track in the foreground was the CGW's DeKalb branch. Interesting how this ended up being the surviving piece of trackage in Sycamore for a few years after the mainline was scrapped in the summer of '82.

William Shapotkin posted three photos with the comment:
An often-overlooked interlocking was in Sycamore, IL -- where the CGW mainline and the C&NW Northern Illinois x/o one-another. Additionally, the CGW DeKalb-Sycamore line (which offered thru Chicago-DeKalb suburban service until circa 1915) diverged here.
1. A S/B (timetable E/B) C&NW trn is about to x/o the CGW. View looks N/E.
2. View of xing/tower looking N-N/E.
3. A W/B CGW frt x/o the C&NW. View looks north.
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Cairo, IL: Remnants of Big Four Railyard

Joe Crain posted eight photos with the general comment:
EXPLORING THE FORGOTTEN RAILS IN MY HOMETOWN -- Here's a look around at the Big 4/NYC yard in Cairo, Illinois this weekend. The 2.5 miles of trackage around town is owned by Pioneer Rail Corp, but there's no longer any on-line customers to serve and Pioneer has only used Cairo for car storage the past few years, and even that business seems to be non-existent lately. At one time in its history, Cairo was served by FIVE class 1 railroads -- IC, GM&O, Big 4/NYC, MOP and Cotton Belt!
1: Looking north out of the yard -- building in the distance was built in the 1980s for a car cleaning company that was in business for about 15 years
2: Looking south into the yard -- the distinctive switch stand has either fallen over from neglect or vandalism
3: Another view looking south into the yard
4: Closer view of the large shed for the now-defunct car cleaning operation
5: A view of some of the concrete platforms that were constructed in the late 1980s for use by the car cleaning operation -- mainly covered hoppers and tank cars.
6: A close-up view of the switch stand, complete with "CCC&STL" Big 4 markings -- the switch stand is probably 100 years old, if not older!
7: Another switch stand in the yard
8: Don't think anyone will be calling anytime soon

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Joliet, IL: EJ&E's Depot and Freight House

(3D Satellite)
Frank Smitty Schmidt posted two photos with the comment: "EJ&E station in Joliet, and the same building today, Joliet Fire Station 1." The colored Sanborn Map below shows that the cut-stone south end was the passenger depot and offices and the rest was the freight house.

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Bill Molony posted
Bill Molony posted

Bill Molony posted
The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern depot in Joliet - circa 1936 or so.
Jessie Marsett I believe that is currently Joliet Fire Station #1

Bill Molony shared
Michael Bose The 2-ton truck with the semi-streamlined cab IS an all-new-for-1934 White Model 700, which was redesigned with a really streamlined cab for 1936 by Count Alexis de Sakhnofsky, who also styled the Checker Model A taxi of 1939-41.

Bill Molony shared
Bill Grenchik Looks like they are loading something from the second story on a ramp.
Keary Henkener It’s the fire department headquarters now.
Ken Luzbetak If you blow up that 1936 photo, the truck says EJ&E RR Co. on the side. I'm wondering if this was the year they gave up the office space. What year did it become Fitzgerald's Furniture?
John Govednik 1944
https://www.theherald-news.com/.../elgin-joliet.../a891osa/

Bill Molony posted
David Castleberry posted

Bill Molony posted

Bill Molony posted
Bill's comments:
This 1900 fire insurance map shows the exact locations of the Santa Fe passenger station and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern station in Joliet.
The EJ&E station is to the east and the AT&SF station is to the west. The cross street is Clinton Street. 
Update:
Bill Molony posted
This photograph was taken on the Santa Fe tracks looking railroad east (compass north) in 1960.
On the left is Joliet Union Station, constructed in 1912. 
On the right is the Rock Island Railroad's UD interlocking tower, constructed in 1913. 
In the background, just to the left of UD tower, is the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern depot, constructed in 1892.
Bill Molony posted
When the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad's depot in downtown Joliet was built in the 1890's, The EJ&E still operated scheduled passenger service between Joliet and Aurora.

John Smith commented on Bill's posting
1898