Danville, IL: NYC/BigFour/P&E Hillary Yard

(Satellite)

The Big Four used to have the Kankakee Belt north of here and the Egyptian Line south of here and the Peoria & Eastern east and west of here. The north/south routes shared a route through town with the east/west route. Most of these routes no longer exist.

According to a Jun 2023 street view, the yard tower is gone. Although it looks like the yard was empty by 2007. Conrail abandoned the P&E west of this yard to Champaign. This P&E remnant is now a NS industrial spur off their Wabash route.

Street View, Sep 2007

Thomas Dyrek posted

Randy Grindley

I lived near Hillery Yard and was there almost daily from 1977 until moving to Urbana in 1990.

The new yard office opened in early 1981 and the yard was rebuilt around 1987 to handle anticipated Diamond Star traffic from Normal.

A lot of traffic moved through the yard. Very sad watching it decline in the early 1990s.

With GM's closing the Tilton foundry and the abandonment of the P&E west of Hillery was a death sentence for the yard with CSX closing several years after the Hillery crew worked the yard before all operations were moved to Brewer Yard.

1950 Danville NW and 1951 Danville NE Quads @ 24,000

According to a satellite image, the tracks still exist in this yard. I'm surprised that NS doesn't use the tracks for storage.

Hazlehurst, MS: Preserved/IC Depot

(Satellite)

Street View, Jun 2023

Jim Arvites posted
Postcard view from a bygone era of the old Illinois Central passenger depot at Hazlehurst, Mississippi circa 1910.Paul Jevert shared
Hazelhurst MS

Are they repainting the caboose with a proper livery because the old paint job didn't look too bad.

Street View, Jan 2016

Cooksville, IL: Lost/IC Depot

(Satellite, the depot is gone.)

This town was on the southern branch of the Kankakee & SouthWest (K&SW).

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central Depot in Cooksville, Illinois. 1971

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
According to the 1957 Colfax @ 62,500 topo map, it was in the southwest quadrant of the tracks and Koch Street.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
There used to be a wood grain elevator just west of the depot. https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/.../000x3a035.jpg

The grain elevator has gone through various stages of expansion.

Satellite

This route was abandoned by ICG. It went between Otto Tower, which is south of Kankakee, and Bloomington, IL. It has also been abandoned by the Bloomer Line. It is the route highlighted by the green line on this map.

Dennis DeBruler

The grain elevator grew significantly, but the town hasn't grown much.

Satellite

Divernon, IL: Preserved/IC Depot

(Satellite)

I couldn't find any grain elevators in this town.

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central Depot in Divernon, Illinois. 1973
Chris Goepel: Nice view of the IC Type A depot!

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
Is this antique a spreader? If so, what did it spread? https://maps.app.goo.gl/ka5JaErr64TmvjoB8

Oshkosh, WI: C&NW Depot

(Satellite)

Mark Llanuza posted
Bill Fretschl: Looking north from Washinton St
Dennis DeBruler: Bill Fretschl Thanks. That made it easy to find it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5dkpScqQHaVVyb5z6
Jeff McElroy: I was a signal maintainer there at that time that truck in the distance was mine.

Adam Bunkelman commented on Mark's post
A bit of a different time, yet the building remains standing watch. A southbound CN train rolls past with BNSF power on point. 11/18/23

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mark's post
Mark Llanuza, the little building is north of the depot and the depot is west of the tracks, so I believe you are looking North. https://maps.app.goo.gl/fK8xntuXKf7YxUhb6

The rectangle to the right fo the "Roe Park" label marks the station's location.

1961 Oshkosh Quad @ 24,000

Autstin, MN: Milwaukee Depot

(Satellite)

I did not find any grain elevators in this town. It does have a SPAM museum.

Mark Hinsdale posted
Austin MN (Milwaukee Road)
Fred Leif: Austin looks quite modern and clearly a facelift.
I see at least one biz occupies. So, accurate restoration or were there big time liberties taken?
Mark Hinsdale: I think Austin has been kept largely intact for the most part.

Street View, May 2018

The east/west Milwaukee passenger trains would have to do a backing maneuver to stop at the depot.

1954 Austin Quad @ 62,500

Delmar, IA: Museum/Milwaukee Depot

Museum: (Satellite)

Grain Elevator: (Satellite)

The museum includes a veterans memorial.

Street View, Sep 2013

Mark Llanuza posted
Its Aug 1979 westbound coming into Delmar Iowa station .Shortly after they removed the main line we went back in 1989 to match up my older photo .today the station is a museum.

Njeil Huss commented on Mark's post
This was the Delmar depot during my visit back in 2017. There was also a MILW caboose on the grounds as well.
Bernie Wagenblast posted
Historic train museum expanding in Delmar

Eric Nohr commented on Mark's post
This was the Delmar depot during my visit back in 2017. There was also a MILW caboose on the grounds as well.

 

Mark Llanuza posted
Its Nov 1979 westbound Milwaukee Road train 107 passing past the Milwaukee road station at Delmar Iowa [by photographer John Dziobko ] I went back in 1989 to try to match up his older photo.
Andy Hughes: Mark, how fast/slow was that guy going abt?
Mark Llanuza: Andy Hughes 10 Mph
Jim Kelling shared
Delmar Iowa (Milwaukee Road)

 

Mark Hughes commented on Mark's post
This is a photo of the Delmar Depot taken recently. It's now a museum open on weekends.

Street View, Sep 2013

According to a topo map, they not only removed the overpass, they removed an embankment on the east side of Main Street.

Street View, Aug 2016

Stratford, IA: Lost/C&NW Depot and Old Grain Elevator

Depot: (Satellite, the bank is on the former depot's land)

Old Elevator: (Satellite)

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
This photo was first posted here in January 2017 but it is so "railroady" that we want to do it again. Stratford is located northwest of Ames, Iowa. It was on a C&NW line which once ran from Jewell, Iowa west to toward Wall Lake, Iowa. It is fascinating to note that this once active rail center is now a non rail hamlet of about 700 citizens.
Aaron Grace shared
All gone.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
The Security Saving Bank now sets on the depot's land and the grain elevator's land is part of a fertilizer supply company. 1950 aerial [ARA000700060255 @ 70,0000]

I started with a 1963 aerial because it has better resolution. But the depot was gone already. It looks like there were a bunch of small bins south of Commercial Street on the west side of town.

EarthExplorer: Dec 3,1963 @ 17,000; AR1VAUD00010096

Looking at a route map, it makes sense that the route would have been abandoned so early because it is so close to the main route to Omaha. That route was not redundant when it was built in the horse & wagon days, but it did not even need interstate highways to make it redundant, paved roads were good enough to make it redundant. Stratford is too small to be on this map. Stratford is between Dayton and Stanhope on this map.

Pierre Leonard posted via Dennis DeBruler

 

1978 Stratford Quad @ 24,000

These are some of the biggest wood grain elevators I remember seeing, even in photos, for a rural town.

Street View, Jul 2021

It has grown even though it lost rail service.

Street View, Jul 2021

Receiving and applying fertilizer is as important as shipping grain.

Street View, Jul 2021

Jacksonville, FL: 1919 Union Terminal, ACL Freighthouse and Headquarters

Depot: (Satellite, the headhouse remains as the eastern part of the convention center. 2,866 photos)

Freight House: (Satellite, see topo map and aerials below)

Beaver Street Tower: (Satellite)

Roundhouse: (Satellite)

"MA" Tower: (Satellite)

Headquarters and Tech Center: (3D Satellite)

In 1960, the headquarters was moved from Wilmington to Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Terminal was owned by the Jacksonville Terminal Company, and that company was owned by the railroads that the company served: Atlantic Coast Line (ACL), Seaboard Air Line (SAL), Southern (SR) and Florida East Coast (FEC).

Street View, Oct 2019

safe_image for Jacksonville Terminal in the 1940s (source)

3D Satellite

C. Mark Sublette posted
Colorized linen post card of Jacksonville Terminal. Opened 1919, closed 1974, the final Amtrak operations on 3 January 1974. Fortunately, Jacksonville Terminal was NOT torn down, being converted into the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, which opened on 17 October 1986.

The Union Terminal is out-of-frame to the right. I selected this photo because it has a good view of the ACL freighthouse and the terminal railroad roundhouse.

RailfanGuides, Photo by John C. Henderson
Because Amtrak had to back their trains into the station and because ridership was way down from the 100,000 during WWII, Amtrak built their own station and left this one in 1974. "The headhouse became part of the Prime F. Osborn III convention center in 1986."
[This webpage also has photos and a track diagram of the MA Tower.]

Three photos from TheClio. They are also on MetroJacksonville.

1, "The Black waiting room in 1921"

2, "The main waiting room in 1921"

3, "The concourse in 1921"

The concourse is now a lobby.

FlemingsBond

In 2023, there are plans to spend $72m to renovate the 1913 Union Terminal Warehouse. "In less than a year, the Union Terminal Warehouse will begin a new renaissance as a home, business and entertainment cornerstone for the growing bold city." [news4jax]

Street View, Jan 2022

C. Mark Sublette posted two photos with the comment: "Beaver Street tower on the former ACL A line, Jacksonville, Florida, Sunday 8 February 1998. The tower was razed the following year for a widened W. Beaver Street (U.S. 90) overpass with Beaver Street Interlocking now CTC controlled."

Michael James Young: Wouldn't Beaver St have been technically located on tracks of the Jacksonville Terminal Co?

Walter Green: Michael James Young I would say yes. It was at the SAL crossing, Everett Subdivision to Savannah via East Port.

1

2

I had accessed a topo map to understand how the tracks got to Union Terminal. I expanded the excerpt to the east to see how the tracks got to the warehouse. The track across the top of this excerpt is the St Johns River Terminal Railroad.

1950 Jacksonville Quad @ 24,000

EarthExplorer: Jan 1, 1963 @ 24,000; AR1VAOM00010104

I zoomed in to help locate the towers and the roundhouse. Beaver Tower is near the upper-left corner and "MA" Tower is near the lower-right cornder. The roundhouse is west of the freighthouse.

Digitally Zoomed

Bonus: the ACL Docks.

Michael Stamey posted
ACL Docks Jacksonville, FL June 1953.
Mike Smith: Do any of those still exist?

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mike's comment
They filled in the slips and used some of the land for the headquarters. This 1963 aerial catches the transition. [AR1VAOM00010104]

Speaking of headquarters:

John Sullivan posted
Postcard of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad headquarters building at Jacksonville.

Michael Stamey posted
Purple Palace 1961
So nicknamed and known by ACL crews on the system as the "Purple Palace."
Marshall Ellis: I'm a charter member of the new building. The ACL headquarters moved from Wilmington to Jacksonville in July 1960. It was quite a change from the old buildings. I worked on 3rd floor for a while, then to 8th floor (Traffic) and then to Miami Sales in 63.

Note the reflection of the bridge in the headquarters.

Street View, Nov 2016

Purple was the ACL's color back then.

Warren Calloway posted