Original US-66: (Satellite)
Depot: (Satellite? I could not decide which smudge on the aerial photo was the depot.)Grain Elevator: (Satellite)
US-66 Overview
Google Maps labels this the Former Elkhart Gas Station. That is what clued me in that today's "Old Rte 66" is not the original route and cause me to find the original pavement above.
The original Route 66 pavement with two more generations of Route 66.
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| Street View, Aug 2013 |
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| Andy Zukowski posted The Chicago & Alton Railroad Depot in Elkhart, Illinois.12/14/1915 The Chicago and Alton Railroad, which ran the main line between Chicago and St. Louis through central Illinois. Elkhart sat on that line, so it had a small passenger/freight depot typical of rural stops. • The depot likely dated from the late 1800s, when the town developed along the railroad. • It served passengers, mail, grain, and local freight for farms and businesses. • After passenger service declined in the mid-20th century, the building eventually fell out of use and disappeared (demolished or replaced; no intact historic depot survives in town today). • The line itself later became part of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and ultimately today’s Union Pacific Railroad route. Richard Fiedler shared |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Andy's post MP 168.4 Chicago-St Louis Line; back in 2008 Amtrak zoomed straight through town since there wasn't anymore depot |
Heritage 2?
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Larry's comment And it includes the grain elevator's locomotive on the left. Obviously, it was a former BNSF unit, https://maps.app.goo.gl/fBdvCv1BjQLXTPaU9. |
Google Maps labels this the Former Elkhart Gas Station. That is what clued me in that today's "Old Rte 66" is not the original route and cause me to find the original pavement above.
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| Street View, Apr 2025 |
On the track side, the grain elevator has grown through some generations of slip-form silos, some jump-form silos and some steel bins.
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| Street View, Apr 2025 |
And there is another row of bins and jump-form silos on the street side of the elevator. I don't know what the two bins and ground pile on the left is all about.
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| Street View, May 2025 |
The advantage of a local elevator is that a farmer needs to by just a grain wagon rather than a truck to take his grain to market. Note that he is hauling in grain in May. And the elevator has a rather big grain dryer.
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| Street View, May 2025 |
While looking to the location of the former depot, I discovered that Route 66 already had a bypass by 1940.
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| 1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
This 1913 map shows the original route went straight past the town.
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| 1913/50 Lincoln Quad @ 62,500 |
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