Alvin, IL: C&EI + IC Union Station, Junction Tower and Two Old Grain Elevators

(see below for satellite image)

Mike Sypult posted
Alvin, Illinois Union Station after 1910 when the name was changed from Alvan to Alvin. Must have been after 1917, when the Alvin Power Plant was started. Notice the power poles. The double tracks are the C&EI running north & south. The Illinois Central "Punkin Vine" is running east & west. The Alvin Elevator is behind the depot. The Farmers elevator is up the tracks. To the left is the interlocking tower. The picture was taken from West Railroad Avenue.
Chris Wintering: I wonder what that spot looks like now?

Dennis DeBruler commented on Chris' comment
All traces of the IC are gone except for the connector track, but both grain elevators have grown.
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3083841,-87.6068431,294a,35y,2.9t/data=!3m1!1e3

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mike's post
1938 Hoopeston Quad @ 62,500

Saline C: Carrier Mills, IL: O'Gara Mine #15

(Satellite)

Roger Kujawa posted
Photo: Carrier Mills Illinois 1939 O'Gara Coal Company Mine Ruins

Barney Mitchell: Where was this located ?

Raymond Barr commented on Roger's post

Here is a photo of the mine in its prime.

- Photo from scrapbook of Dr. George Sokol and FB posted by Richard Glueck. -

Dennis DeBruler commented on Raymonds comment
Thanks for the "#15" information. O'Gara had a lot of mines in Saline County.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Barney's question
North of town, https://maps.app.goo.gl/FvHkVCz31uAfBWYbA. You can still see a treeline along the industrial spur that came up from the Big Four mainline. 1938 aerial photo, https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/saline/flight3/0bhc01036.jpg

isgs

1925/25 Harrisburg Quad @ 62,500

Montgomery C: Schram City, IL: (Hillsboro) Indiana & Illinois Coal Mine #11

(Satellite)

Judy Goby Oxtoby posted

Hillsboro, Montgomery County

A wonderful antique image displaying Illinois' mining and railroad history.

From the Dr. Geo. Sokol Collection

Charles Riner: They r hauling coal from Hillsboro to Springfield by truck daily.

Dennis DeBruler shared

Directory

isgs

By 1939, it looks like only a tailings pile or two was left.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Williamson C: Marion, IL: Peabody #3 Coal Mine

(Satellite)

Roger Kujawa posted

Antique Illinois Postcard MARION Peabody Mine No. 3 Coal 1907

Seen on eBay.

Directory

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post
https://wikiimage.isgs.illinois.edu/ilmines/moa_quadrangles/maps/johnston-city-2660.pdf
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7WrNACpzjF7tCqgG9

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post
C&EI had an industrial spur to the mine, and the Coal Belt RR went past the tipple.
1925 Marion and 1909 West Frankfort Quads @ 62,500

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post
1938 aerial photo with Cedar Grove Road along the bottom and IL-37 along the right side.
It looks like the tiple had been torn down by 1938, but the tracks were still intact.

Fairland, IL: Lost/C&EI Depot

(Satellite, based on the aerial photo below.)

Ted Kappes posted
Fairland Depot. Not sure what year. I don't remember ever seeing a depot in Fairland.
Jacob Hortenstine shared

Carol Erb posted
1967.      This is the Fairland Depot, C&EI line that went from Villa Grove, IL east through Fairland, Longview, Broadlands…….   This depot was demolished in 1967.

Chris Elston: The last train through Fairland was around 2008. The tracks terminate at the east edge of Villa Grove now.

Richard Fiedler shared

Carol Erb commented on her post

A C&EI depot. 1956/57 Villa Grove Quad @ 62,500 via Dennis DeBruler

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

West Frankfort, IL: Veterans Military Museum/C&EI Depot and Coal Miners Memorial Park

Depot: (Satellite)

Coal Miners: (Satellite)

Dennis Patton posted
NEW WEST FRANKFORT C&EI DEPOT CIRCA 1950s.
Richard Fiedler shared

Street View, Sep 2023

Across the tracks from the depot is the Coal Miners Memorial Park. There were a lot of coal mines in the area. I've written notes for Orient #1 & #2, Industrial Mine #18 & #11+#19, Old Ben #8 and Old Ben #9.

Street View, Sep 2023

Thomas Scoville posted
The Chicago & Eastern Illinois depot at West Frankfort, Illinois on March 29, 2017. Thomas Dyrek photo.
Richard Fiedler shared

The north/south C&EI route through town is their mainline. The other railroad routes are branches of the IC, MoPac and CB&Q to serve the many coal mines that were in this area. Note that those branches have yards because of all of the local railroad action. This map does mark the location of the C&EI depot.

1963/64 West Frankfort Quad @ 24,000

Longview, IL: Wood Grain Elevator Torn Down and Lost/C&EI Depot

Elevator: (Satellite)

Depot: (Satellite, a guess based on the aerial photo below.)

Don Webber posted
times up...Champaign County. Il.

Brad LaPayne: If it's that strong to hold up while being tipped over, there must be a lot of damn good lumber in it! Probably enough to build a house!

Danny Frye: The reason it stays together like that is the way the wooden bins are constructed. The planks laid horizontal, not vertical, in layers (like bricks) to form the bin box. The structure is then covered in metal to protect is from the weather.

Jerry Walch: What year did the demolition happen?

Don Webber: 2011

Don Webber commented on Danny's comment

Don Webber commented on his post
and it made it to the ground intact...then

That old elevator is not the only thing that got torn down. A current satellite image shows that all of the bins are also gone.

Google Earth, Oct 2010

The railroad was the Chicago & Eastern Illinois.

1956/72 Villa Grove @ 62,500

Carol Erb posted
Depot. Longview, Illinois

Dennis DeBruler commented on Carol's post
A C&EI depot. 1956/57 Villa Grove Quad @ 62,500

Feb 16, 1948 @ 28,400; AR1FO0000010065

Montgomery C: Witt, IL: Coal Mine

(Satellite)

Roger Kujawa posted
1909 Lithograph Exterior Of Mine #1 At Witt, Illinois. Montgomery County

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post
Thanks for including the county. That makes it easier to find the map. I'm assuming this mine is 196 instead of 335.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post
1938 aerial. The topo maps label the railroad as the Big Four. But most maps show it as a joint route between Big Four and C&EI.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2518665,-89.351026,525m/data=!3m1!1e3

Martinton, IL: Collapsed Concrete Silo

(Satellite)

Facebook Reel

Lee Hawthorne, Oct 2025

That silo is a small part of the elevator's storage capacity.

Satellite

Street View, Aug 2023

The elevator has a fall protector, but I don't think that siding has been used for a long time.

Street View, Aug 2023

Facebook Reel

Franklin C: Sesser, IL: Old Ben #21 and #26 Coal Mines

#21: (Satellite)

#26: (Satellite, we can still see where the loop of track was for loadout.)

This is #26:

Larry Joe Jenkil posted
Is this Old Ben 26?

Todd Stevens: Yup. The old plant.

Directory

Directory

Both mines were served by the CB&Q. The route north of #21 was a branch of the C&EI.

1975/77 Sesser and Rend Lake Dam Quads @ 24,000

#21

Apr 17, 1972 @ 24,000; AR1SWFO00010084

#26:

Apr 17, 1972 @ 24,000; AR1SWFO00010060

The two mines are under much of Rend Lake.

Map

Are they now mining the tailings for rare earths? Or are they just decontaminating the land?

Satellite

Street View, Aug 2024