This is one of those junctions that is out in the country. That is, there is no town to include in the title.
Gardner, Coal City & Northern no longer goes south of this junction.
Frank Smitty Schmidt posted three images with the comment:
Mazonia tower on the C&A in 1900, between Gardner and Braidwood.The tracks crossing the C&A is the EJ&E.In 1891 the EJ&E bought the Gardner, Coal City and Northern. It extended from Coster (just east of Gardner) to Minooka. This became what we know today as the Illinois River line. At one time under J ownership, it extended south and serviced coal mines near South Wilmington. There was also a mine east of Mazonia that was serviced by the J.The map is part of an 1893 EJ&E system map that I cropped to show the IL River line.The aerial view is from 1940. By then the line had been cut back to Coal City but the right of way is still visible. If you notice the pier in the middle of the Mazon River, I've been told that if you hike back along the river, the pier is still there, under cover of trees today.Michael Steffen: I take it that C&A employees manned the Tower? When I started on the J the River Line had already been cut back to Clay Pit where the J serviced A.P Green clay products.
Frank Smitty Schmidt: Yes, C&A. From chicagorailfan:
MAZONIA
Mechanical interlocking installed 1889
Closed 1960, remotely controlled by CTC dispatcher
Junction of main line and Pequot Subdivision, and former crossing with Elgin Joliet & Eastern Illinois River Subdivision, abandoned 1935.https://www.chicagorailfan.com/towercab.html
Tim M. Hickernell: Cool. I knew of the C&A bypass that ran from south of Joliet though Coal City to Mazonia, because I've been on it when Amtrak used to detour that way before they abandoned it and cut the rails. But I did not know another railroad crossed at Mazonia. What a lot of history for Mazonia, especially when you add in the historic suspension bridge that used to carry US66 across the Mazon River there. https://bridgehunter.com/il/grundy/braceville/.
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| 1 TrainMasters TM posted From the archives: Mazonia, Illinois around 1905. Originally the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Gregg Gary Look at the right side of the picture...Someone back then had the idea to cover the pipeline to the switches against the weather. Jimmy Fiedler shared Andy Hughes Mazonia was a future junction of the Alton’s Pequot line that utilized trackage rights on the Santa Fe from Pequot Jct on into Joliet. This photo predates that as the C&A is double track. The line crossing is the EJ&E’s South Wilmington branch which is just a few miles to the south. They hauled locomotive coal back to Minooka on their main line for distribution system wide. This is indeed a rare photo! Chris Hunley I see water tower and there is coal tower too! Hmm..... Frank Smitty Schmidt The cross track is the EJ&E South Wilmington line. The photo is a Detroit Publishing photo from about 1901 if memory serves me correctly. It's in the Library of Congress and it's in public domain. Frank Smitty Schmidt The original photo: https://cdn.loc.gov/.../4a20000/4a20000/4a20200/4a20228v.jpg |
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| Frank Smitty Schmidt commented on his posting This is from a 1930 plat book. This shows the area between Coal City and Mazonia. Those spurs going out east to nowhere actually went to some of the old coal mines there. I can easily recall the big piles of trailings that looked like mini-mountains on the west side of US66 near Central City. |
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| Frank Smitty Schmidt commented on his posting This one from that 1930 plat book shows the detail around South Wilmington a little better. Where the EJ&E and the Kankakee & Seneca met was Coster. |
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| Frank Smitty Schmidt commented on Jimmy's share I took the first image in TIFF format, enlarged it then cropped it back down in JPEG format so you can see more detail. |
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| Frank Smitty Schmidt commented on Jimmy's share A closer look at the coaling station: https://cdn.loc.gov/.../4a20000/4a20000/4a20200/4a20226v.jpg |
A different exposure of the coaling station.
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| HS House Camping posted Circa 1901. "Coaling station and water tank, C. & A. R.R., Mazonia, Illinois." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. Richard Fiedler shared Richard Fiedler shared Richard Fiedler shared |
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