Towns and Nature: Mounds, IL: IC Railyard, Roundhouse and YMCA

Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook added two photos with the comment:

In my opinion one of the more intriguing towns along the Illinois Central Railroad is Mounds, IL, a small town about 10 miles north of Cairo. The town seemingly sprang up overnight, flourished as a railroad town for about 40 years, but then the rail boom came to a screeching halt (no pun intended). Today there are few tangible signs that Mounds was a major station along the IC.

When track gangs laid the IC’s rails through the countryside north of Cairo in late 1854, the town of Mounds didn’t even exist. In 1855 local businessmen organized the Mound City Railroad, which was to run from the town of Mound City (on the Ohio River) westward about 3 miles, and connect with the IC. That connection was made at a wide spot in the railroad called Mound City Junction, but by 1862 (and perhaps sooner) the station was renamed Mounds. However, Mounds was not incorporated as a town until 1908.

In the late 1880's the IC began construction of its bridge across the Ohio River at Cairo. Since the city of Cairo itself would be bypassed (along with existing rail facilities), the IC had to build new facilities. A new passenger depot was constructed just outside the city limits at a station called Cairo Junction; shuttle trains ran on a regular basis between downtown Cairo and the new station. Meanwhile, a new freight yard, along with a roundhouse and repair shops was built at Mounds.

As expected, business on the IC boomed once the Cairo bridge opened. Business boomed again in the late 1890's, when the railroad began laying a second track along the Chicago - New Orleans mainline. A railroad YMCA was built at Mounds in 1903 to house train crews. Rail traffic continued to grow and by 1918 the building had tripled in size. In 1918 a new 24-stall roundhouse was constructed, and the freight yard was enlarged.

But the track itself was ill-equipped to handle the traffic boom. Northbound trains faced a steep grade leaving the Ohio River valley, and many northbound trains required a helper locomotive between Mounds and Anna, a distance of about 28 miles. IC began buying larger, heavier locomotives such as 2-8-2’s and 2-10-2’s to reduce the number of trains that required a helper. But the 2-8-2’s were banned from the Cairo bridge until additional bracing was added to the bridge in the 1910’s. The 2-10-2’s were banned from the Cairo bridge until the bridge was rebuilt in the early 1950’s.

Much of the new traffic during the early 1900’s was headed to/from St. Louis. Initially, this traffic joined the north-south mainline at Carbondale. To expedite this traffic, a “new” route between St. Louis and Mounds (via Olive Branch) was cobbled together by laying new track to link existing trackage. This “new” route did enable the St. Louis freight traffic to avoid the steep grades around Carbondale. But the route was prone to flooding.

The weight restrictions on the Cairo bridge, plus the steep grades around Carbondale, combined to make southern Illinois a choke point on the railroad. IC’s executives explored several solutions to improve train operations, including adding a third track to certain segments of the line between Fulton and Edgewood, IL, and relocating other sections of track. The railroad even obtained plans from the War Department to rebuild the Cairo bridge with a second track.

Finally, on December 25, 1922, the IC announced plans to build the Edgewood Cutoff, a 169 mile line between Fulton, KY, and Edgewood, IL. The new line would cross the Ohio River via the Paducah & Illinois Railroad bridge at Metropolis, IL (which the IC acquired a one-third ownership) and was 22 miles shorter than the existing line through Cairo. Grades on this new line would be considerably less steep than via the existing line through Cairo, plus the P&I bridge could accommodate even the heaviest IC steam locomotive. Residents of Mounds bitterly fought the cutoff and even took the IC to court. By diverting rail traffic to the cutoff and eliminating Mounds as a crew change point, IC wouldn’t have a need for the yard, roundhouse, etc., at Mounds – and the hundreds of workers employed there. But the IC prevailed. The Kentucky portion of the Edgewood Cutoff was completed in 1927, and the Illinois portion was completed in 1928.

As expected, IC quickly scaled back its operations in Mounds once the Edgewood Cutoff was completed. New agreements were reached with unions representing train and engine crews, and the railroad quit changing crews in Mounds. Since trains were no longer changing crews in Mounds, the roundhouse was no longer needed, and the workers there were furloughed. The yard and car repair shop at Mounds was abandoned, and the switching that once was done in Mounds was moved to Fulton, KY. The yard and roundhouse were gone in a 1952 aerial photo.

Construction of the Edgewood Cutoff gave rise to Bluford, another town that popped up almost overnight. Bluford is about 127 miles north of Fulton and was established as a crew change point for crews working on the Edgeood Cutoff. A roundhouse, shop building, and other machinery necessary to repair and maintain the locomotives passing through the terminal were constructed. After the Edgewood Cutoff was completed, Mounds' population dropped noticeably. Many of the folks who left town probably transferred elsewhere on the IC, but I haven't seen any definitive numbers.

The line to Olive Branch was torn up decades ago, but the branch from Mounds to Mound City is still in place, serving two rail-to-barge terminals. A railroad car repair shop and an environment remediation company have set up shop on the site of the old yard. These two companies occupy just a small part of the old yard, but they help keep Mounds’ railroad history alive.