Towns and Nature

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Elmhurst, IL: CA&E and CGW Depots

Marty Benard posted
Elmhurst, Illinois is Rick Burn's hometown. He took this slide of Chicago Great Western 101C (F3A built Oct. 1947) passing the Elmhurst Depot in about 1960.

Andy Zukowski posted
A brief history of the Chicago Great Western. Here, an operator provides a roll-by inspection as F3A #111-C leads a long freight westbound past the little depot at Elmhurst, Illinois on August 14, 1962. A Roger Puta photo.

Bill Latimer posted
Parallel to the Chicago Great Western main at Elmhurst. Our Depot and water tower at left, share the shot at York Rd with this Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Interurban This appears to be the early to mid 1930's Photo from the Van Dusen Collection.

The skinny tower in the middle of the photo would be the watchman's tower at York Street. They controlled the crossing gates.

The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban was south of the Chicago Great Western Railway so this train is westbound. Note the cars are using third rail power. I guess that means the cars had to coast across the road crossings. I wonder if they had batteries or if the lights also went off across roads.
(Update:
Debbie Boers The C&AE( the roarin' elgin) had multiple car consists to deal with the 3rd rail gap at crossings. An unusual sight would be a short electric loco on a work train and could rely on inertia to glide over crossings but am unsure what they relied on if stuck on a gap.
Gary Sprandel IIRC the CAE freight jacks had some limited battery ability for working off company current so in the event of a stall in a gap I would have imagined that would be the solution.
)

Andy Zukowski posted
Dennis DeBruler: This one is easy to locate because it has been preserved in a park, https://maps.app.goo.gl/dA6JEgM8XQAW2JbG6
Andy posted again

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

I added a green rectangle around the CA&E depot and a blue rectangle around the CGW depot. It looks like the CGW depot might still be standing. The Illinois Prairie Path was built on the CA&E RoW. The water tower is on the right side of the aerial photo.

Fourth photo posted by Marty Bernard
CGW station in Elmhurst, IL in January 1960. Rick Burn photo.
Cruz Martinez Elmhurst station is maybe the last CGW station near chicago that is preserved.

20170305 7990

I grabbed the camera and headed north on York Street to check if the CGW depot has been preserved. It has!
(Update: Tom Podraza It's been preserved since 1976 when the park district bought it and refurbished into a community building.)

South elevation. Sure enough there is a bay window under the eave, a passenger door on the left, and a freight door on the right.

Since there was a couple setting on the south side, I walked around the depot to get another angle. The trees were too close on the northeast corner, so this is a view of the northwest corner. The number under the sign is 511. I do not know the significance of that number. (Update: Tom Podraza indicated it is the street address 511 S Yord Rd.)

A view of the southwest corner. They preserved a signal mast as well as a baggage wagon.

The couple left so I got a view of the southeast corner. The signal mast is the pole in the foreground.

The tracks may be long gone, but the two power lines in the photo still exist. They built the parking lot around the poles of the southern line.

(Facebook comment)

Jimmy Fiedler shared
Today's Throwback Thursday features a 1971 image of the old Chicago Great Western Railroad, which once crossed through Elmhurst just a few feet north of where the Prairie Path is today. The CGW merged with the the Chicago & North Western Railway in 1968, resulting in the abandonment of most of the former railway's tracks.

Update:

Tom Podraza posted
1969 aerial view of York Rd and Vallette in Elmhurst Illinois the CGW ROW is to the right photo from the Elmhurst historical society.

Mark Llanuza posted
Its the year 1976 the rails were removed at the Elmhurst station. Looking East.

Mark Llanuza posted
The former CGW station in Elmhurst IL looking east 1969 taken by [unknown photographer ] by this date only one round trip was running on this division and by Nov 1969 the Chicago yard was closed and no more run through freights . I went back in Nov 2018 tried to line everything back again .The station had been re-stored at the park

Marty Bernard posted four photos with the comment:

CGW Elmhurst, IL Depot Details

In January 1979 Roger Puta took two shots of the details then walked back and took an overview. I'm adding a shot of his from August 1962 when the CGW still ran for comparison.

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard

3
Jack Morgan I wonder where that signal came from. Probably from the IC diamond to the west (after it was removed) if I had to guess, that is an IC signal.

4
Jerry Hund When was the last passenger service to this station?
Ray Weart About the Spring of 1957.

Jack Dempsey Track looks ruff even back then when did they take rails out.
Tom Podraza before 1976 when we moved to Elmhurst they were gone by then but not for long.
Jeff Lewis That's how right of ways looked in that era. Today they are so built up and sterile not even weeds can take hold. And that's the whole point.

Lou Gerard Unusual lashup for the CGW with a Geep in the middle of the F's.
Marty Bernard Yep. They had only 2 Geeps.

Alexander Mitchell This is an utterly remarkable photo for the era: Color, nicely exposed and lit, shows the whole scene and not just the power, a secondary RR few seemed to bother with............ we historians KILL for shots THIS good!

Patrick McNamara posted

Chicago Great Western Railway 

Elmhurst Depot - 1941

Harold Selonke

Comments on Patrick's post

Paul Musselman posted two photos with the comment: "Restored CGW depot in Elmhurst on York Rd..."

It is always interesting to see what views other photographsers capture.

Greg Kozlick posted five photos with the comment: "The Chicago Great Western Railway depot in Elmhurst, Illinois. The depot served the railroad from it’s founding in 1887 until service was discontinued in 1968. In 1971, Elmhurst’s Park District purchased the depot and part of the right-of-way and developed it into Wild Meadows Trace. July 27, 2023."

Friday, March 3, 2017

Lenzburg, IL: Illinois Central Coaling Tower

Mike Yurgec posted
ICRR coaling tower at Lenzburg, Illinois.
Rich Linder I don't remember that but there was a shaft coal mine in Lenzburg in the 30's and 40's. From that photo, looks like maybe the mine tipple could feed coal directly into that coaling tower.

Looking at a satellite image, there was also strip mining southwest of the town.

Freeburg, IL: IC Depot, Mulberry Mine, River King Mine and Big Paul, The King of Spades and B-E 3850-B

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central Railroad Depot in Freeburg, Illinois. 1912
Richard Fiedler shared

Jeffrey Smythe commented on Andy's post
1895

Jeffrey Smythe commented on Andy's post
1977, just before it was torn down.

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central Railroad Depot in Freeburg, Illinois. 1965

Jeffrey Smythe commented on Andy's post
Freeburg Depot being razed in 1980's

Mulberry Mine

In the ISGS directory for St Clair County, I did not find an entry for Mulberry with these dates.

Rager Kujawa posted
Mulberry Mine & Railroad Tracks Freeburg Illinois IL 1907-1915 seen on eBay

River King Mine

Mike Yurgec posted
BIG PAUL - River King Strip Mine at Freeburg, Illinois.
Brian Weber Was Big Paul electric?
Mike Yurgec Yes.
Jason Smith Dad ran one for Midland Coal Co. in Victoria. When I was a kid, I would go up in the cab and sit on his lap when he was operating. Don't think OSHA would approve nowadays.

James R Griffin Sr. posted
I ran across this and I have racked my brain on the location, the shovel has "King of Spades" on left back. That is what was put on the Eagle 5761S when fired up. I don't know how I obtained the photo but someone should be able to know something about it?
James Stine: James R Griffin Sr., this is the 5761 at River King Mine after it was moved from Eagle Surface. If you look closely, the Krupp Wheel is behind the 5761. When the 5761 was moved to River King, they never put the sheet metal back on the gantry.

James R Griffin Sr. posted
Peabody Coal River King Prep. Plant, Freeburg, Illinois 1965.

James R Griffin Sr. posted
River King 3850-B in 1966 in 1st pit with two loaders trying to keep up.
Roger Kujawa shared

Stine James posted
Shown here in this photo is the 5760 Marion shovel "Big Paul, The King of Spades". This shovel went to work at the River King Mine near Marissa, Illinois in mid 1957 and captured the title of world's largest shovel with a 140 ft. boom and a 70 yd. dipper. In 1964, the shovel was moved to the Hawthorn Mine in Indiana. Photo courtesy of Coal Age.
Bill Odle: Big Paul was located at the River King in Freeburg, IL in 1957. My Dad was a cat operator at the mine when it went in to service. There was a BE 3850B built at the Lenzburg - Marissa mine, but it never had a name.
Stine James: When the 3850-B took over as the principle machine, Big Paul was moved to Hawthorn and the 1054X was moved to the Northern Mine. Once the 5760, or Big Paul, was placed into operation at Hawthorn, it was never re-named. Records indicate that it had the unofficial name "Big Greasy"
Stine James: If you get a chance, ask around about that fire. The 2570 was built in 1979. The story is this on the 5760, the machine caught fire in the collector ring area, the center pin area, which was more common than most can imagine. After the fire, the shovel did not run up to snuff, so to speak as the upper deck was warped from the heat. The did repair it, but it did not run well after that. How much longer it run, I don't know. I have this story from one person, I need to hear that from someone else to put it in the book.
Dane Schmeiderer: Went into the River King pit #6 when I was a young kid and had a tour with dragline-shovel operator Poly-Eye. I'm sure people from the mine remember him. I even Knew him after he retired and was a metal scrapper. Very good guy and enjoyed being around him. I believe he pulled a Guniness world record of amount of dirt moved in a days time. Whether true or not I don't know.
Donna Kern: Bill my dad Russ Kern was one of the operators on 3850B. I will have to ask him about the "poly-eye record" as well.
Bill Odle: I believe Mr. Schmeiderer is referring to Jim Pagliai (polieye) who was the day shift operator on the 3850B. I remember him as operator on Big Paul as well as the 3850B, and he was a pretty decent person. When did your Dad start operating the 3850B? I may have met him at least once if he were there in 1967 to 1968 time frame.
Donna Kern: Russ said he was on Big Paul and went to 3850B when it was built . He also stated that the record is not true on poly eye
Chance Duensing: My Great Uncle Paul Duensing was the master mechanic that built this shovel which they named after him.

Mining #Shorts posted

The first Bucyrus-Erie 3850-B, built in 1962, was deployed at Peabody’s Sinclair open-pit mine in Western Kentucky, nicknamed “Big Hog.”

Its bucket capacity measured 88 cubic meters, with a main arm length of 64 meters and a total height of 67 meters.

The machine weighed 8,165 tons and had a total installed power of 12,180 horsepower (8,950 kW), operating at 7,200 volts with a one-minute work cycle.

Primarily used to remove overburden, “Big Hog” could excavate 76,460 cubic meters of earth and rock per day, reaching an annual output of 27.53 million cubic meters.

At the time, it was the largest excavator in the world, four times larger than similar machines.

Transporting its components required 300 vehicles over 11 months. Its chassis included a walking mechanism with four sets of eight crawlers, and the machine ran on 52 motors ranging from 0.25 to 3,000 horsepower. “Big Hog” remained in operation until 1985, with its parts retained as spares for its sister machine, “River King.”

The rest of the machine was literally buried on site.

Another unit enters the picture...

The second 3850-B, delivered in 1964, earned the nickname “River King” and worked at Peabody’s River King Mine in Southern Illinois.

Its bucket capacity was 107 cubic meters with a hollow boom rod diameter of 2.14 meters, enabling it to move more than 200 tons per scoop.

The shovel weighed 8,482 tons and featured onboard operator facilities including kitchens. Its rotation acceleration reached 0–40 km/h in 8 seconds, decelerating in 4 seconds.

Daily excavation could fill 1,700 railcars over 25 kilometers, with an annual output matching Big Hog’s 27.53 million cubic meters.

Over its lifetime, River King removed 558.9 million cubic meters of material, equivalent to two Panama Canals.

It ceased operations in 1992 and was dismantled in 1993.

Though eventually surpassed by the Marion 6360, River King remains one of Peabody’s most impressive engineering achievements in terms of size, weight, and excavating capacity.

Herve Exca posted
Moving a mining machine requires good expertise given its load and weight... generally it requires strengthening the ground with large plates to best distribute the load on the ground, we see here 2 INTERNATIONAL 560 loaders equipped with forks that move the plates and two MICHIGAN pushers that are used to adjust and tighten them together...
Exca
Daniel Krähenbühl shared
Joe Clark: Is this a picture of the 3850 at River King?
Mark Behrens: Joe Clark yes
Art Hale: Those are wood mats, very common when working around stripping shovels.
Jay Wilson: Lot of times the shovel picked the mats and moved them front to back. The endloaders tightened them up and also moved them.

A Flickr Photo of the wheeled excavator

HiveMiner

Museum Of The Coal Industry posted three photos with the comment:

Peabody Coal Company
River King Mine
St. Clair County, Illinois
Peabody had two mines with 3850BE shovels, the 2nd largest ones in the world. The one shown here, and another at Sinclair Mine in western Kentucky. River King produced 2-3 million tons of coal per year.
In southern and western Illinois in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, it was said you could drive down any road and see the booms of shovels and drag lines every direction you looked!

Joe Schimansky: as long as they reclaim the land, build a nice pond .Picnic area for all to enjoy. I am 68 years young when I was young man ,The coal strip jobs would dig the coal out and just leave, Equipment and junk all over the sight. the Reclamation Act that we payed for, To cleaned up the places that were abandoned. It was a mess and dangerous.

The pits by Freeburg are just a tip of the iceberg. This mine was so big that it was in two counties and near several towns along an Illinois Central route. I could not find any tipples for this mine.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Chicago, IL Depot: B&O 76th Street Depot

David Schnell posted two photos of a depot that was along the B&O Brookdale Spur:

The consensus of the comments is that the caption was wrong and that this depot was in a little triangle of land on the northeast corner of Euclid and 76th, and it was cleverly called the 76th Street Depot.

David Daruszka commented on the above posting
1923 Sanborn Map

In the following aerial, I indicated where the depot was with a red rectangle. The yellow rectangle shows the position of a diagonal building that still exists and the RoW behind it still belongs to nature.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Satellite

Rochelle, IL: CB&Q Depot

(Satellite, the northwest quadrant of Main Street and the tracks.)

Andy Zukowski posted
C. B. & Q Railroad Depot, Rochelle, Illinois. C.1910
Richard Fiedler shared

Steve OConnor shared James B. Woods's photo.
CB&Q RR depot back in 1975 prior to the arrival of the American Freedom Train.

I tried getting a link to Jame's posting, but I could not get a permanent looking link.

When I visited the gift shop at the railfan park, I asked the lady about the depots. She said the UP/C&NW depot still existed, but the CB&Q one was gone. And a comment on this posting indicated it had been torn down. But after studying various old aerial views and topo maps for where it was, I discovered that the building still exists, and it is rather well preserved. It is just not owned by BNSF. (Apr 2024 update: not any more.)