Harold J. Krewer I don't know about places with NO rail service but there are quite a few that once had 4 or more railroads/traction lines that are down to one now. Ladd, IL once had five roads (CB&Q, C&NW, MILW, NYC and LS&BC) but now only the ex-CB&Q is left as part of Illinois Railway.
Steve Drassler I worked for the NYC/PC out of Kankakee and I remember delivering cars to the other railroads in Ladd. I always thought it odd that that little place had five railroads. I had a brand new white t-shirt on one day and I was on the ground in Ladd when a Milwaukee Road locomotive went by me spewing oil out the stack and my new white shirt was covered with little oil spots. They never washed out. We would also use the CBQ Zearing branch to deliver cars to "The Q" at Zearing. Authorization the use the branch was a train register book kept in a shanty there at Ladd.We would tie-up at Zearing and take a taxi to a hotel at Princeton for our rest. This was in the old "16-hour" work days.
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| Excerpt from 1897 Map provided by Samuel Samara |
David Hahn posted the question: "What was up with so many railroads going to Ladd?"
David Hahn I know the Illinois Valley was a railroad smorgasbord because of the coal, sand, and zinc. But an inordinate amount of rr’s converged at Ladd. Milw, LS&BC, NYC, CO&P, CNW (I think) as well as a couple others. Simple interchange? There were several coal mines, not just the ones nearby.
Matt Overstake The Milwaukee needed it to supply their steam engines more than the revenue.
Roger Kujawa David Hahn The coal drove many railroads to certain areas and the ability to use trackage rights would save costs. The Milwaukee searching for coal could use NYC Line to cross the river to access other coal mines. Interchange was also important.
Dustin Holschuh For the NYC and later penn central it was a route for a lot of high and wide loads.
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| Matthew Linhart commented on David's post |
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| Matthew Linhart commented on David's post |
Jim Piacenti posted four images with the comment: "I don't know much about railroads but I collect memorabilia from Ladd and Ladd was a major railroad hub at one time. We had at least five railroads in the early 1900s come through here. The CB&Q, CM&StP, C&NW, Three-I, and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. I read that at one time Ladd had on average 20 locomotives and 1000 railcars leave Ladd daily. There were also two short line railroads The Bureau County Mineral Railway that was leased to the Milwaukee Road that went to Cherry from Ladd and the Depue Ladd & Eastern that ran from Ladd to Seatonville and was leased to the C&NW. The Illinois Valley & Northern was the first railroad through Ladd and was leased to the CB&Q. The map I pieced together from various other maps and shows the Illinois Third Vein Coal Mine and the rail lines coming through Ladd in 1911. Main Street is on the left and the Milwaukee Road roundhouse is in the top right corner. The BEV of the roundhouse was taken on June 30, 1940 by Leland Puttcamp. It was taken from the top of the dump facing east. The newspaper article is from the Bureau County Democrat on 5/8/1942. I has 1940 on the paper but it is a misprint. The other article is from the Bureau County Tribune."
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