Savanna, IL: Milwaukee Road Railyard and Roundhouse

(Satellite, the yard was the trees between the CPKC mainline and the BNSF/CB&Q yard.)

Satellite

Notes on the depot and 1911 flood

A railroad history of Savanna, IL

You can still see the land scars of some of the roundhouse stalls. According to the 2005 SPV Map, the branch that went south still existed south of Albany, IL and was shared by BNSF and ICE. But according to a satellite map, that is now the Great River Trail. Following the trail south, I see the branch does still exist to an industrial area south of Albany.

William Brown posted
A Postcard of the Milwaukee Road's Savanna, Illinois Roundhouse in the early 1900s.
William Brown posted
A Postcard with the Milwaukee Road Roundhouse in Savanna, Illinois.  This early postcard was from a photo taken between 1888 and 1903.  The CB&Q Aurora to Minneapolis Line is still Single Tracked with no Freight Yard.  The only CB&Q Structure appears to be the farthest buildings at the upper left.  The Roundhouse and the Coal Dumping Building.  The Granderson Hotel and the original Milwaukee Road Depot are on the south side of the Main Tracks.  They appear to be sited were the Car Department and Rip Track were located at the end.  The Roundhouse is at its full buildout.  The Brick Building in the center of the Postcard was the Rail Plant where Switch Frogs were built.  The Shed to the right of the Rail Plant is the Ash Dump for Steam Engines.  The building across the Street from the Roundhouse was a Bording House for the Train Crews.  I find it interesting that a large Wood Lot is behind the Rail Plant.

W. J. Manon Flickr

William Brown posted
A photo of the Milwaukee Road Roundhouse on Savanna, Illinois in late 1955.  From left to right.  The Coal Tower for loading Steam Engine Tenders.  Above it the Diesel Storage Tank.  In front of it a leg of a Wye.  It connected to the Milwaukee Road Branch Line to East Moline.  Tom Lampman turned the Savanna Cannonball on this Wye.  The building separated from the Roundhouse by the Fire Wall was the Store Department.  Next to it we're the four Stalls of the Roundhouse that survived to the End.  The Remaining Stalls were torn down shortly after the photo was taken.  The Building at the end of the Stalls was the Blacksmith Shop.  The Roundhouse Locker Room is behind the Stalls to be torn down.  Behind the Blacksmith Shop is the Savanna High School Football Field "The Smoke Bowl".  The circular structure below the Football Field was the Storage Facility for Coal Gas produced at the Power Plant further to the left. A very cool photo.  I would enter the picture in July of 1956.  Found on Facebook.

 

Trent Briggs commented on William's post
Lightly enhanced

Gary Sturm posted
Milwaukee Road roundhouse and water tank at Savanna, Illinois in July 1975.

Gary Sturm posted
Milwaukee Road's Savanna, Illinois roundhouse in July 1975.
Tom VanZuiden: How many usable tracks did it have in it last years - two, three, or??
Greg Brinkmeier: Tom VanZuiden 5 inside. 3 work tracks on the left. 2 tracks to the turntable. 2 fuel tracks 3 storage and make up tracks. 1 store department track
Tom Schultz: I hired out in 74 lay offs came and went I know the Savanna boys came East to Bensenville a couple years. Carman were in Ottumwa from Savanna. 80 may be 81.

 

Rick Shilling posted
2 undated photos of Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul and Pacific Railroad Roundhouse along Mississippi River in Savannah, Illinois.

 

Cory Drowns posted
Tripping through Savanna, IL. Was once home to a major railroad hub. This was the roundhouse. The land scars are still visible today and you can see the stalls. Most has been covered in concrete and businesses.
Dion Sunderland: Some early RR background on Savanna, IL
https://www.savanna-il.us/history/rail_road.php

Brian West posted
MILW H10-44 # 727 @ SAVANNA IL JUL 1974.

Bacon Keven D posted
Railroad Yards at Savanna, IL 1908

Bacon Keven D posted
The previous map that I posted of the rail yards in Savanna, IL was cropped from this larger map of the west side of the city from 1908.

The 1939 aerial photo that would have had the roundhouse has been lost. The Milwaukee Road had a pretty big classification yard in this town.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Update: I found a US Army Corps of Engineers photo that includes the roundhouse.

1927 Aerial Photo from ILHAP, rotated 180 degrees

  

William Brown posted
From the Savanna Historical Society Collection. A view of Savanna's CB&Q and Milwaukee Road Rail Yards during the 1965. The CB&Q Yard is on the right and dry. The Aurora Sub is slightly flooded. The Milwaukee's Nitrin Line is crossing the CB&Q at the bottom of the picture on five diamonds. This line had one turn five days per week. The boxcars in the bottom right of the picture are on the former Intrchange Tracks between the Milwaukee and CB&Q. These were active before the Aurora Sub was built. This is early in the flood as at it's peak the White Building(Milwaukee Road Depot) was completely surrounded by flood water.
Jeff LewisJeff and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicagoland Railfan. I had no notion of the extent of operations in Savanna before.
William BrownWilliam and 10 others are consistently creating meaningful discussions with their posts. Jeff Lewis In 1960 the Milwaukee Road Yard handled 1M cars.
Jeff LewisJeff and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicagoland Railfan. It looks nearly as large as Bensenville.

William Brown posted
Looking North from the Water Tank at the Milwaukee Road Roundhouse in Savanna, Illinois in 1908.  The locomotives are on the Roundhouse Outbound Tracks.  The black chimney is the Savanna City Electric Plant and Coal Gas Facility.  The three tracks next to the locomotives serve the downtown receivers on the Milwaukee Road.  The tall smoke stack in the background is the City Steam Plant.  This is where the Railcar Museum is today.  The next Track is the CB&Q Main Line to St Paul.  Track to the left is a passing siding for Trains bypassing the CB&Q Depot.  The left most track serves the Grain Elevator up River.  Both the CB&Q and Milwaukee Served the elevator.  This was also the Interchange Track between the Railroads.
William Brown posted with the same comment

William Brown posted with the same comment
William Brown posted with the same comment

Andy Zukowski posted
Railroad Yard and Trains in Savanna, Illinois, 1908
Thomas Whitt shared

Paul Schmidt: This was not even the yards but staging tracks and sidings looking north from the crossovers.

Chris Ness posted
Savanna, Il 1965 Flood
Every once-in-a-while I come upon one of my really old pictures. This was taken in April, 1965 during a flood on the Mississippi River about a third of a mile ahead. The tower is the one for the Milwaukee Road classification yard, not the one for the CB&Q crossing closer to the river. The Milwaukee dusted off one of their old steam engines to move the cars out of the yard since the diesel-electric engines don't do well in water.

William Brown posted
At the Milwaukee Road's Savanna, Illinois Roundhouse in the Fall of 1974, is a Milwaukee Road FP7A. The slide says it is 61C which which was built as 91C in May of 1950. It was renumbered to 61C in May 1959 and sold to PNC in April 1975. The building in the right rear of the photo is my Grandfather's Blacksmith Shop. The Water tank made it to very end and was knocked down with the Roundhouse in the 80s.

Gary Sturm posted
The Milwaukee Road roundhouse at Savanna, Illinois in 1975.

Mark Llanuza posted
Its 1984 westbound leaving Savanna IL