Osage, IA: Sulfer Explosion, Wood Grain Elevator and IC Depot

Sulfur Storage: (Satellite)

Wood Elevator: (Satellite)

IC Depot: (Satellite)

Feed Mill: (Satellite)

Oct 17, 2026, 7:36am fire engine dispatch:

wcfcourier
"The Osage Fire Department stated on its Facebook page that the structure may smolder or burn for the next couple of days. If smoke becomes an irritant, residents are advised to keep their windows closed."

Once again, we see that supplying fertilizer is an important service provided by a co-op. The building that burned is near the top of this image.

Satellite

The elevator has grown a lot, but it still has its wood elevator core. This former-IC route is still owned by CN, and it is obvious that CN provides rail service.

Street View, Oct 2024

I think potash is another fertilizer.

Street View, Oct 2024

I recognize this L-shaped building as a classic IC-depot design. Since it is still close to the tracks and well maintained, I presume that CN now uses it as an office.

Street View, Oct 2024

The concrete silos peaking above the depot in the above view are part of a feed mill. Feed must be heavy because the trailer has three axles.

Street View, Oct 2024

Actually, I noticed that the rear axle is not touching the ground. So its purpose is not to reduce road impact but to accommodate soft gravel driveways on farms. The augur is mounted on the front of the trailer, normally they are on the back. This mounting makes sense because the driver doesn't have to backup to the farmer's feed storage, and the driver has a good view of the end of the auger as it approaches the feed bin. 

Street View, Oct 2024

A different street view driver caught three feed trucks. Again, they have extra axles that normally don't touch the road.

Street View, Aug 2021

You know you are in a rural town when you have to stop for a combine.

Street View, Oct 2024

The concrete silos for the feed mill would have been a grain elevator along the CGW. That route is now abandoned.

rail.guide

Oto, IA: 1904 Wood Grain Elevator and Old Sinclair Gas Station

(Satellite)

Street View, May 2024

Street View, May 2024

Jerry Krug posted

"Revisiting Oto, Woodbury County, IA.

Westbrook-Gibbons Grain Co. Built in 1904. Bushel capacity unknown."

Photographed on 7/5/2026.

Photo and information courtesy of Wesley Peters.

I presume the round slabs are for bins that have been removed.

Satellite

I noticed this old gas 1920s or 30s gas station.

Street View, May 2024

It appears this is a preserved, rather than a typically restored, Sinclair station. I think those pumps are from the 1970s or 80s.

Street View, May 2024

The railroad was the IC. It was gone on the oldest map I could find, 1954.

rail.guide

Wheeler, KS: Wood Grain Elevators

Abandoned: (Satellite)

Still used: (Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2024

Street View, Jul 2024

Street View, Jul 2024

Bob Kisken posted six photos with the comment: "WHEELER KS NOT USED MY FAFORITE."

1

2

3

4

5

6

This IC route is still owned by CN.

rail.guide

Saline C: Eldorado, IL: Sahara/O'Gara Coal Mine #10

(Satellite, north of the IC tracks and below Eldorado Street.)

Andy Zukowski posted

O'Gara Coal Mine No. 10 was a major underground coal mine located in the Eldorado Quadrangle of Saline County, Illinois.

The mine was initially developed and operated by the O'Gara Coal Company(1905-31). During this multi-decade run, it produced 6,944,854 tons of coal. 

In 1933, operations were taken over by the Sahara Coal Company, which operated it as Sahara No. 10 until its permanent closure in 1941.

Dennis DeBruler: https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/2026/09/saline-c-eldorado-il-saharaogara-coal.html

Directory

ilmines

The L&N and Big Four had routes through town while the IC had a branch that went to the town. The IC branch served the Dering Mine as well as the O'Gara #10 Mine.

Since the mine operated until 1941, it is in this aerial photo. It is just north of the IC tracks. Also, it looks like Big Four has an industrial spur that comes over to the mine.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

To my surprise, it is just the IC branch that still exists.

rail.guide

Monroe, LA: CPKC/IC Railyard and Backshops

(Satellite, the railyard is now used for some storage.)

Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook And Occasionally Other Railroads posted

An unknown photographer snapped this aerial view of the Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific shops at Monroe, Louisiana.  The exact date is unknown, but is believed to be from the late 1920's.

As its name indicates, the VS&P ran between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana, and had ambitions of reaching even further west.  The VS&P was chartered in 1879 to take over the North Louisiana and Texas Railroad.

The VS&P and the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway were under common ownership, and it wasn't uncommon for locomotives and rolling stock to be swapped between the two roads.  In 1926 both the roads were leased to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley (an IC subsidiary).  In 1959 both the VS&P and A&V were formally merged into the Illinois Central Railroad.

All of the shop buildings seen here have been razed, but many of the concrete foundations can easily be seen on satellite photos.  The old VS&P mainline was spun off to Mid-South Rail in 1986, and then in 1994 was taken over by the Kansas City Southern and became part of the "Meridian Speedway" linking KCS and Norfolk Southern.

Photographer unknown, Cliff Downey coll.

Keith Peeples: Looks like you can see the Missouri Pacific crossing in the top right hand corner.

1957/58 Monroe North Quad @ 24,000

It looks like at least one of the roundhouse pits has not been filled in.

Satellite

rail.guide

Newell, IA: Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2025

The yellow fall protector implies that this elevator gets rail service. Since CN still owns this IC route, that means a Class I railroad is servicing an elevator that can't handle unit trains.

Wesley Peters posted five photos with the comment:

Newell, Buena Vista County, IA.

Newell Cooperative Elevator. Headhouse built in 1954, Tillotson Construction Co. 150,000-bushel capacity. West annex built in 1967, Barton Inc. Bushel capacity unknown. South annex built in 1970, Younglove Construction Co. 780,000-bushel capacity.

Photographed on 6/28/2026.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

1

2

3

4

5

Ronald Ahrens commented on Wesley's comment
Tillotson Construction Co. built the 150,000-bushel main house, identifiable by the signature rounded cupola, in 1954.
Wesley Peters: Yep I just realized I screwed up the order in my post. I thought I was missing something. Thanks for pointing that out. So the west annex was built by Barton Inc. in 1967. That is the one with the builders plaque.

Bob Summers: Wesley Peters Borton Inc. was the successor to Chalmers & Borton after Mr. Chalmers died in 1960.

The concrete silos are in the upper-right corner of this excerpt. I noticed that the town has some additional elevators further west. Cruising around the west side with street view, it appears that the elevators on the west side are feed mills.

Satellite

Warren, IL: IC+Milw Depot

(Satellite, according to the Sanborn Map below. I could not find it on the aerial photo below.)

This town is on the original IC charter line between Freeport and East Dubuque. Because the Chicago, Madison & Northern route was built by IC to connect Freeport to Chicago, this CN/IC route to the West still exists. The Milwaukee route is abandoned.

Dave Martens posted

Here's a Sanborn map from 1898 showing the shared Milwaukee Road and Illinois Central facilities at Warren, IL. The Mineral Point RR built from Warren, IL to Mineral Point, WI by 1856. Warren was the MPRR's only connection to the outside world at that time. 

The Milwaukee Road purchased the MPRR in 1880 and the MILW then built west from Monroe, WI to Gratiot and Shullsburg. The MILW connection from Monroe to Gratiot rendered the Gratiot-to-Warren connection redundant because the MILW did not want to give traffic to the IC at Warren instead of the MILW keeping the traffic for itself through to Milwaukee or Chicago. The MILW abandoned the Gratiot-to-Warren line around 1923. Part of highway 78, south out of Gratiot, is on the former MILW Gratiot-to-Warren roadbed.

The turntable seen in this map was for turning MPRR/MILW locomotives. The depot at Warren was an IC design but was used by both railroads. Recent research uncovered that the MILW paid the IC about $300/year for use of the IC's facilities in Warren.

1946 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

The topo maps for the area don't have good coverage at the same scale.

1923 South Wayne @ 62,500, 1902 Mineral Point @ 125,000 and 1937 Lena Quad @ 48,000

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