Gilman, IL: Coaling Tower

(Satellite)
Gilman was obviously a major division point for refueling steam locomotives as indicated by the coaling towers that are still standing. I see these coaling towers off in the distance from I-57. (Update: the division point was in Champaign. But an additional coaling station was needed between division points.) So when I took US-45 instead of I-57 to get pictures of grain elevators, I planned to also take pictures of these towers. But I learned that they are not close to US-45 either.

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So I found a dead-end county road that went past a cemetery and then became a dirt and grass road. This is the view from where the pavement ends.

I went down the dirt road, but I was still not close to the tower because the access road that went to the towers was in bad shape. (I shot this picture out the passenger window when leaving.)

So I put on my telephoto lens and took pictures as I continued north on a relatively decent road.

Satellite

It is now on my todo list to use Commerce Street to get photos from the west side. (Update: I did go up Commerce Street during a later trip, but it turns into a dirt (not gravel) road a few blocks before the tower, and I was not willing to risk driving it with my mini-van. If I ever take the 4-wheel down I-57, I'll try again.) A 1940s aerial view indicates the east tower was loaded with a conveyor belt from the west tower. You can still see the lead in the satellite photo on the west side where the loaded coal hoppers would be parked to feed the elevator. The rectangle on the left of the west tower probably housed the elevator. In the aerial photo, it appears the water tower was south of the coaling tower.

(Facebooked September 25, 2015.)

Update: Bob Finan posted a 2008 photo with CN locomotives with the towers from the southeast quadrant.

Keith Pokomy posted a 1999 photo with brand new "death star" IC locomotives from the southwest quadrant.

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[A view when it was still operational. The diesel must be getting sand. (Update: not at 90+ mph! Please read JohnP's comment below)]

Raymond Storey posted

Mike Breski posted

As Illinois Central Mikado 1457 stands in the clear with a local freight, E units flash past with the Seminole for Chicago. The location is the twin coal towers astride IC’s main line just north of Gilman, Ill., in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo
Mike Noble That’s the legendary “Trains Magazine” editor David P. Morgan (left) and an ICRR brakeman standing trackside. This photo appeared in an article, part of a series published in Trains Magazine, about Morgan & Hasting’s search for steam in its waning years. The series ran under different headings in different years..”Smoke over the Prairies” and “In search of steam” were a couple. They were compiled in book form in the 70’s, “The Mohawk that refused to abdicate, and other tales” was the title. It’s a great addition to any rail fan library, Morgan’s musings and Hasting’s lensmanship were a timeless contribution to chronicling an end of an era.

Scott Slager posted
IC 1015 and 1032 lead M371 past the old coal towers in Gilman. 7-27-17
Terry L. Hunt Nice shot! However, I really dislike running those 1000's. The control stand in relationship to the seat is uncomfortable and awkward.
[This saves me trying to get a shot from the west side. When I drove to the access road, it was too cruddy to attempt with my van. And I don't normally take my old Honda CRV that far out of town. Note only did Scott get great sunlight, he caught one of the few engines that still have the "deat star" livery. CN has been repainting even the old units.]

Mark Weg posted
here is a photo of Mr Carlson's painting of that place that is hanging on my office wall
[I presume "that place" was these towers.]

 

This photo of the tower in Dawson Springs also helps us imagine what these towers looked like.

Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook And Occasionally Other Railroads posted
Illinois Central 4-8-2 2613 pauses at the coaling tower at Dawson Springs, KY, on May 14, 1960.  Number 2613 is pulling a Louisville-Paducah "farewell to steam" excursion.  The blue skies with "Kodachrome clouds" yielded many great photos for passengers that day.  Wallace Henderson photo.

MP Rail Photography posted

Amtrak 58, the City of New Orleans, passes the former Illinois Central coaling towers at Gillman, on the CN Champaign Subdivision.

July 14, 2024

Gillman, Ill

Power:

AMTK 310 - SC-44

AMTK 333 - SC-44

Lonnie Smith posted four photos (two are in the comments):

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Howard Keil shared Christoph Traugott's post.
Everett Lueck Gilman was the coal and water stop on the Illinois Central between Chicago and Champaign.

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Andy Puch posted
We see plenty of photos of Illinois Central SD70s on the J, but not very many photos from Illinois Central trackage where they truly belong. A407 passes the Gilman coaling towers on the old Illinois Central mainline with the IC SD70 class unit leading the way. Gilman Illinois 7/21/19

 

Jim Kelling shared
Gilman, Illinois coaling towers (Illinois Central)

Albert Pope

Is that a tower on each side of the tracks? One for North Bound and one for South???

Dennis DeBruler

It looks like it may be local vs. North and South mainline.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/368187896998991/permalink/898114667339642/

Dennis DeBruler commented on Albert's comment

I never realized there were tracks on the west side of the big tower.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7876012,-87.9901878,136m/data=!3m1!1e3

William Hayslip commented on a post of a coaling tower in Glen Morgan, WV.
My uncle ran Alleghenies all through West Virginia. Before he passed away in 1971 we went to visit him. While the rest of the family was catching up he took me to the coal dock at Thurmond. I asked him why they weren't torn down and he said they were biult to last over 100 years. They attempted to tear one down but found out real quick they weren't equipped to do it. Those things are solid concrete with rebar for strength. So whenever they hit it with a wrecking ball it just bounced off. At the end of the day it was going to cost more to tear it down than it did to biuld the thing. They salvaged as much metal off of it as they could. So most of them are still sitting there. Waiting for locomotives that will never return. The Illinois Central still has two concrete coal towers at Gilman but they are conventional shaped. I attached a photo of my recent charcoal drawing of those I C. coal docks.

 

Johnny Hansen posted
CN A407 heads north on a haze afternoon with two IC SD70s, 1005 & 1022, and a CN NA scheme SD40-2W. They are seen here splitting the ancient Illinois Central coaling towers on the Chicago Sub at Gilman. 5/8/23.

Brad Brown commented on Johnny's post
February 23

Five of the photos posted by Steve Howard with the comment: "As seen today [Jun 10, 2023].      Gilman Illinois     Feel free to take these and share them.."

Trent Blasco: that was parked there almost 10 years ago when i last visited.

Douglas Drexel Mitchell: I used to see that plow a few nights a week working the Hoosierlift local.

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Roger Kujawa shared fifteen of his photos.

9 photos (shared)

Grayville, IL

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Grayville, IL was a river town until the Wabash River moved in 1985. Now what used to be the river is an oxbow lake. Note the five swans on the lake above the hood of the truck.

The Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Railway, which became part of the Illinois Central, ran by the town down by the riverfront.

The town has done a good job of preserving its railroad heritage. I believe the gravelly part in the foreground is where the mainline ran through town.










Because they have done a good job of preserving the depot, I took pictures from additional angles.



Note the "bay window" on the track side. This is typical of depots and allows the station clerk to see down the tracks. I looked in the windows and the building seems to be used for storage.

Looking north from where I took the above overview pictures of the depot and caboose, you can see that it has been abandoned for a while because there are no tracks in the road. Also note the hill to the left of the right-of-way. (Update: I learned from Abandoned Rails that the Big Four (CCC&StL) also went through this town. I'm  guessing the hill on the left was its right-of-way.)

Wisely, the town is built above that hill. The downtown is in the background at the top of this road next to IL-130. At first this surprised me because the road would not have existed when the town was initially established. Normally the downtown is close to the railroad depot. Then it occurred to me that they built their town "on top of the hill" rather than close to the depot. Since the depot is in the flood plane, this was wise.

Specifically, much of the land by the depot would have been below water April 1, 1913. And the oxbow lake is still part of the Wabash River's flood plain because they had another flood in 2002.















The first building on the hill caught my eye. Is this Romanesque Architecture?

The Wabash River is big so it would have been easy for boats to come up the river from the Ohio River. So this should have been a prosperous town in the 1800s. First with riverboat traffic, and then with railroad traffic. But as we have seen, both of these economic activities dried up. But it now has road side services for I-64 traffic and oil drilling services as an economic base. However, as I write this, the oil drilling services will be drying up again. It has at least a couple of restored Italianate Architecture buildings that I use as an indication of a "tech town."

Back when the Wabash was still close to the town.

Andy Zukowski posted
Flooding caused damage to the Illinois Central Railroad on March 31st, 1913, at Grayville, Illinois.

The city park has a M-60 tank on display.

Gilman, IL Revisited; Wide Load

My main notes are: Gillman Grain Elevators.

When I drove home Jan 19, 2015, I planned to stop in Gilman, IL, to get pictures from the east side of the coaling tower that is still north of the town. An oversize load that was stopping for some gas is worthy of its own post.

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I didn't get pictures of the coaling tower because when I got to the north edge of town, the pavement ended. Since I was driving our van, I decided the pictures could wait until I'm driving the 4-wheel drive. I did get some pictures of a couple of signalling work crews having a meeting the whole time I was in town. CN is evidently still installing the new equipment for Positive Train Control that all of the railroads have been working on the past year or so.

I also got a couple more pictures of the co-op grain elevator.