Towns and Nature

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Gibson City, IL: NKP 526 (GLP9), Depot, disposition of LE&W's east/west route

Photo from Robert Daly's posting

Charlie Whipp posted three images with the comment:

Two photos today of the old Lake Erie and Western RR's Gibson City, IL depot on the old Peoria Division which ran between Frankfort, IN and Peoria, IL.
I used to try to remember to take at least a depot slide or two when visiting places like Gibson City, train or no train. Little wooden stations like this one were disappearing fast from the railroads as local freight agencies closed and the buildings became surplus. The tracks didn't have long to go before abandonment when I took these.
LE&W once had a main line that stretched from Sandusky, Ohio on Lake Erie all the way through central Ohio, Indiana and into Illinois. It was once an vital part of the Nickel Plate Road, which acquired it in 1923 from the New York Central. 6-1989

Richard Fiedler shared

A Roger Puta Photo
Marty Bernard: Nickel Plate Road (NKP) 526 (GP9) swtching way freight at Gibson City, IL on November 24, 1962.

I first learned about the Lake Erie & Western when I researched why I saw NKP 426 in Tipton, IN. LE&W had both a north/south and an east/west LE&W route through Tipton, IN. The east/west route is still owned by Norfolk Southern between Lafayette and Portland, IN.

Today's operation of the segments of the east/west route of the LE&W. The colors define the segments on the map below.

NS (blue): East Peoria to Gibson City
Abandoned (red): Gibson City to Cheneyville, IL
KB&S (yellow): Cheneyville to Lafayette, IN (It must have shared trackage with the Big Four between Templeton, IN to Lafayette.)
NS (blue): Lafayette to Portland, IN
RJ Corman's Western Ohio Lines (RJCW) (orange): Portland to Lima, OH
NS (blue): Lima to Fostoria
Abandoned (red): Fostoria to Sandusky

Rails and Trails plus Paint

Stanton, TN: 1877 Lost/L&N Depot

If you are here because of "Farmer City, IL: IC Depot," then you need to go there.

(Satellite, based on the topo map below.)

Andrew Waldo posted

Stanton, Tennessee: Passenger & Freight Station, Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The L&N Passenger & Freight Station at Stanton was estimated built in 1877. It was photographed on 15 November 1917.

Credit: National Archives & Records Administration, ICC Engineering Field Notes, Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Tennessee. Digital Image Collection of Andrew Waldo.

David Kaplan commented on Andrew's photo
Less exposed

1952/76 Stanton Quad @ 24,000

Farmer City, IL: Junction Tower: CN/IC vs. Aban/Conrail/.../Big4/P&E and Depots

Tower: (Satellite)
NorthAmericanInterlockings: 1969 1980 CR train 1982

The photos show that both depots were close to the tower.

IC Depot: (Satellite)

Big Four/P&E Depot: (Satellite)

The P&E depot must have been removed before 1969 or we would be seeing it in front of the tower in this view. The street on the other side of the IC depot is John Street.

Robert Daly commented on his photo from his posting
This is Farmer City, Oct 69.
[Looking along the IC with the tower in the background amd IC's depot in the foreground.]

1941 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Update:

In this photo we can see better see the roofline of the IC depot.

1960 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

1952 Arrowsmith and 1943 Monticello Quads @ 62,5000

Robert Daly posted
IC station and IC/P&E crossing at Farmer City, October 11 1969

Dave Durham posted
Peoria & Eastern, Farmer City

Dave Durham posted, Mike Sypult edited and commented: "'ca 1901, Farmer City, Illinois Water Station of the Peoria & Eastern Railway.' Looks like just east of the crossing with the IC. Things sure have changed quite a bit in the last 118 years! "
Peoria & Eastern, Farmer City

Judy Goby Oxtoby posted

Farmer City—c1917—C.C.C. & St. L. Railroad Station

source: personal pc collection

Gibson City, IL: IC Depot

(Satellite, Street View)

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central Railroad Depot, Gibson City, Illinois. 1987

Christopher Severin: Nickel plate tower in distance

Richard Fiedler shared

Paul Jones: Drug a few 115 car trains by here to and from the Bloomer, they still do .

Andy Zukowski posted again with the same comment.

John Yoder: Tower in the distance? NS junction?

Paul Jones: John Yoder used to be; the levers are now part of Stair tower at the Monticello Railroad Museum.

Andy Zukowski posted again with the same comment.

Connor Bounds: No offense, but i feel like this gets posts too much.

Photo from Robert Daly's posting

Brandon Mc Shane commented on Robert's posting
The IC station survives.

It is not clear if CN still owns this.

Fort Wayne, IN: Horton Washing Machines

(3D Satellite)

But Newton, IA became the "washing machine capital of the world.

Kenneth Childers posted eleven images.
Emil Indrecc Then they made 40mm shells during ww2.

Photo from Kenneth Childers' posting

The above looks primitive until you see pictures of the earlier models. And in the 1800s, manufacturing companies didn't always make just one product. Here we see they also made hand corn planters.

Photo from Kenneth Childers' posting

Greg Michell commented on Kenneth's posting
4 Nov 1923 Ad from Journal Gazette
[If you save the image from the Facebook posting and look at it in full resolution, it is readable.]

ACGSE Pinterest
1890 ad for modern washing machine from Horton Manufacturing Company Fort Wayne, Indiana from Time Travelers - come back in time on Facebook.
[This is a reminder that factories were still using line shafts (water or steam powered) because small electric motors had yet to be developed.]

Becky Osbun posted
"Can be operated by hand in event of power failure"! 😏 Horton Manufacturing Company, Fort Wayne, 1882-1953. - ACPL Community Album
Craig Leonard It was actually an existing business that was started in Bluffton by Dr Theodore Horton. A group of Ft Wayne investors bought it in 1882 and moved it to Ft Wayne.
Russell Rider Built on Osage Street, near the late lamented Nebraska School.

John Claus Peters not only help found Horton, he had other businesses in Fort Wayne including the Indiana Road Machine Co.

Sharing is Caring posted
Jay Krajcovic shared

Pamela S. Bonner Dunn posted
[Actually, 71. This is what I remember my Grandmother and Mother-in-law had. I think the lever on top reversed the direction of the rollers. If you got something too thick in the ringer, you had to back it out. I think the blue bar is the emergency stop. Some of the comments are about people remembering they got their arm caught in the wringer as a kid.]
Leslie Wachel Kofron My Auntie Rosie had one. But now that I am looking at it, how did the clothing get rinsed of the detergent?
Donna Martin Leslie Wachel Kofron You wrung it out into a sink of water. Swoosh around, then wring again into a 2nd sink,then wring out again to hang outside.
Leslie Wachel Kofron Donna Martin thank you! I didn’t watch what my Aunt did after she put it through the wringer the first time. So she put it through the wringer 3 times? Then hung it outside to dry?
Donna Martin Leslie Wachel Kofron Some people only rinsed once.I was taught twice. Yep,and then the hanging!
[When we bought our 1920s house in 1976, a double tub was still in the basement. The wringer can be turned on the top of its "post." The machine would be in front of the right-side tub. Turn it 90-degrees, and the winger is between the two tubs. Turn it another 90-degrees, and it is between the left-hand tub and a laundry basket you place next to the washing machine.
You would fill up everything with water, and use the same water for all of the loads. You started with the "delicates" and ended with the dirtiest overalls, etc.
Now with have a high-efficiency washer, and I miss being able to pour the clothes from the laundry basket into the old agitator washer. Now we have to carefully pile the clothes one handful at a time around the edge.]

Fort Wayne, IN: Tokheim Gas Pumps

(3D Satellite)

The gasolene pump was first manufactured in Fort Wayne, IN. It went on to become the "Gas Pump Capital of the World." Tokheim was one of the manufactures that made gas pumps.

Don Jones posted
1947. Tokheim gas pumps were also made in Fort Wayne Indiana.

posted from Kenneth Childers (3D Satellite)
330 Old Tokheim water tower, from corner of Anthony & Wayne Trace, looking east [Childers 2017-09-05] 2

posted from Kenneth Childers, cropped (3D Satellite)
470 Neat old industrial bldg near old Tokheim water tower [Childers 2017-09-05] 2
Gregg Schmitz I started my manufacturing career on that loading dock in July 1975. We used to ship gas pumps and other parts when I worked at Tokheim.
Julie Morrison My father in law Ron Morrison was a 'high up' guy at Tokheim. Ron moved to Washington, IN to lead that plant. He passed away before they closed.

posted from Kenneth Childers
480 Old Tokheim outbuilding on Wayne Trace [Childers 2017-09-03]

posted from Kenneth Childers
560 A&E [Adhesives & Equipment] courtyard off of Wayne Trace [Childers 2017-09-03] 2
Gregg Schmitz Large Pump Assembly used to be on the other side of that wall.

posted from Kenneth Childers
565 'General Office – Tokheim Corporation' photo dated 2017-05-26 [from Greg Michell in You are positively from Fort Wayne...] Probably on Wabash Ave, per Greg Michell.

Update:

James T. Billings shared
Gregg Schmitz That's a 785 pump. I assembled a lot of them 75-84 at the Wabash Avenue plant.
[Back in the 60s I know a dollar would buy a few gallons. But the comments indicate this was the 70s, the peroid of the oil embargo. I can't remember if a dollar would still by a gallon at the end of the 70s.]

James T. Billins shared a post

Shawn Van Pelt posted

Becky Osbun posted
June 10, 1970. "Tokheim meets anticipated demand for pumps and gauges to handle gasoline without lead." - News-Sentinel, via ACPL Community Album
Keith E. Hanson Tokheim's bankruptcy was a financial fraud and a scam! They gave out over $20 MILLION in "PREFERRED STOCKHOLDERS DIVIDENDS" and then filed for bankruptcy claiming $18 MILLION in debt!!! I did not hold enough shares to get attention....but I tried. A few of their Officers and Directors should be in jail. At one time it was an honorable company.
Becky Osbun The worst part was how badly it hurt the pensioners, one of whom was a friend & neighbor. The 'disappearance' of the Pension Fund greatly altered lives. Shameful.
Ben Guthrie Keith E. Hanson in the last 3-4 years before closing, the execs used to walk up and down the production lines in the last week of each quarter and crack the whip. Not sure if their motivation was bank covenants or just their own contract bonus terms, but we'd pull in orders from a month ahead in order to pump up the quarter, then lay off and slow way down for the next month. Seemed like a big distraction from an improvement environment.
Philip Davis Can anyone give me a short answer as to what happened to Bowser - - and why Tokheim and Wayne Pump moved to Fort Wayne. Did they get some of Bowser's top personnel? Just wondered.
[I've wondered about this also.]

Adam Griebel Photography posted seven photos with the comment:

Fort Wayne has a rich industrial history, at one time rightfully being able to claim the title of "Gas Pump Capital of the World".  Tokheim Corporation played a big part in that.

Founded in 1901 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it was purchased by businessmen in Fort Wayne and moved here in 1918 and grew to be wildly successful becoming the world's largest producer of gasoline pumps.  Unfortunately, the company fell on hard times in the late 90's, and filed bankruptcy for the first time in 2000.  The Fort Wayne plant was closed in 2006. Today, Tokheim is a part of Dover corporation.

John J. Tokheim was a prolific inventor; it's interesting looking through his many patents: https://patents.google.com/?inventor=John+J+Tokheim

A few worthwhile links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokheim
https://www.encyclopedia.com/.../poli.../tokheim-corporation (this one was written right before things went south)
https://www.kpcnews.com/article_ddc4aa8a-00ef-55ab-adfd...

#fortwayne #FortWayneLandmarks #Tokheim #gaspumps #manufacturing #drone #rustbelt

Adam Griebel shared

Comments on a post

Monday, October 2, 2017

Fort Wayne, IN: Courthouses

Tom's history (Tom considers the current courthouse building to be the fourth one whereas Kenneth's posting below implies it is the fifth.)

(Update: Kenneth Childers also posted 57 postcards including some interior views. Many of the views of the Lincoln Tower also include at least the dome of the courthouse.)

Third Courthouse

Tommy Lee Fitzwater posted
1880 Courthouse
Nancy Parker 2nd or 3rd??
Debra Switzer Bercot This is the 3 rd...
Craig Leonard 1861 courthouse, designed by Indianapolis architect Edwin Way, who also did the present State Capitol.
Craig Leonard The closest surviving May courthouse in design is Hamilton County(Noblesville) Others remain in Greensburg, Decatur County and Vincennes, Knox County.
Craig Leonard The central cupola of the 1861 building was visible out the windows of Wing & Mahurin's first offices on Calhoun Street. They copied it on a large school design that they built several times. The only known survivor is now a community center in Valparaiso, IN.

Fourth Courthouse

Kenneth Childers posted
THE FOURTH COURTHOUSE.
The brick building which was torn down in 1897 to give room for the erection of the present Allen county courthouse was built during the war of the rebellion and dedicated at a time when the people were weighed down with anxieties and sorrows and excited over political dissensions. The cornerstone was laid May 1, 1861, and the building was accepted by the commissioners July 23, 1862. The complete cost was $78,000. The structure stood in the center of the public square, surrounded by a grass plot and shade trees. It served the county for a period of thirty-five years.
[Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana by B.J. Griswold]