Butler, IL: Big Four Depot

Bill Edrington posted Montgomery County link
Another view of the Big Four "Old Line" at Butler, looking west toward Litchfield. The older gentleman looks like he is about to cross what is now Illinois Route 127, while a girl stands on the depot platform. Photo courtesy of the Historical Society of Montgomery County.

I normally don't bother with one railroad towns, but there was considerable discussion about the unusual turnout in this photo. The current best theory is that it is a Wharton switch. I also learned that one-way low speed (OWLS) diamonds are now also called rollover diamonds. And that Roundout now has one. I assume that Metra is the high-speed side and EJ&E is the low-speed side. That gives me more motivation to travel that far north to see that junction. I wonder how many freight trains CN still runs that far north. I know they are pulling out of Waukegan