I was trying to follow the Illinois Railway/CB&Q/IV&N route west of Peru, IL. I knew the route goes up a valley that is inaccessible by road. But I was wondering if I could find something on the other other end. I did not. But I did find a caboose on display at the edge of a parking lot. (CB&Q called them waycars, but I deal with the history of a lot of railroads, so I think of them as cabooses.)
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| 20150808 3925 |
As you can see by the caption above, I took the photos over five years ago (Aug 8, 2015). But recently I came across the backstory.
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| Roger Kujawa posted Where do they keep the power on the Zearing Line? I did see this Caboose in Spring Valley. Kevin Mengoni: Power is kept in Peru, using a BN caboose as a Field Office. All off Plank Rd near old CNW ROW. Burlington Northern donated this waycar to the city of Spring Valley in the early 1980s when the railroad was purging its waycars. It was delivered to the city in BN colors, Cascade green. The city placed the car in a park on st. Paul Street, right next to a building. As the city approached its Centennial in 1986, the car was in desperate need of paint. I believe it was the Centennial committee, who contacted Spring Valley resident, Marion Brasher, who is a railfan and also a fan of the Northern Pacific. Mr. Brasher advised the committee of the authentic colors for an NP waycar. The car was painted in Tuscan Red with an NP logo; on the 3 accessible sides. Sometime after the Centennial, the car became unused and neglected. I do not remember what year, but the city did not want to keep the car in the park. The city either gave or sold the car to the Verrucci family who have a wonderful Italian restaurant at the corner of 3rd and Greenwood Street. The way car sits at the edge of the restaurant parking lot. It is painted a bright red; not NP colors. Coincidentally, the car sits very near to where the CNW spur ran from the yard near Spring Creek out to the #3 coal mine at the West end of town. Eric Skretteberg: The rare caboose that class 1's use now, for transfer or r/c movement, which I was qual'd for, are welded shut. Pretty sure injuries back in the day from slack. |
The original location of the caboose next to a building explains why the backside of the caboose is so plain. I took 3/4 photos of all four corners plus a closeup of a truck with friction bearings. Here are the remaining photos.
In terms of the power storage, I don't see a locomotive, but I do see a cut of cars. The cut is on the right side of this excerpt that includes the former C&NW route on the left. The locomotive is probably out on the line working when the satellite passed over.
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| Abandoned RR Map |
This except shows the C&NW spur to mine #3 that Kevin mentioned above.
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| Abandoned RR Map |
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