Galesburg, IL: Coaling Tower and Roundhouse

(Satellite, at least it is greenland instead of brownland.) 

See also the Backshop and Yard and CB&Q Depot.

In 1993, the coaling tower still existed in Galesburg, IL.

Marty Bernard posted
Precision National Corporation SD18 1811. I think she is nee Southern SD24. Can anybody confirm. Photoed in Galesburg, IL on September 30, 1979 by Larry Anglund.
John Karges: “PNC 1811 was indeed originally a SD24 built for Southern as their 2509 and eventually renumbered 6311. CNW bought a number of PNC SD18M's that were rebuilt from SOU SD24's; 1811 became CNW's 6628. After working for CNW and UP (who did not plan to keep them long enough to be given a UP number), several SD18M's, including the 6628, went to work for a short time at Pacific Harbor Line; 6628 was PHL's first #40. I assume it went to a scrapper around 2004 or so. Matthew”
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/index.php

 

Marty Bernard posted
BN Galesburg, IL slide only says June 1982 Larry L. Anglund photo, Iowa Chapter NRHS Collection

 

Marty Bernard posted
3. BN I have no information on this slide. It was taken at Galesburg, IL and the slide says June 1982.

Norman Schafer posted

Coal loading house-Galesburg, Illinois.

Large structure into which coal is loaded from the top by means of a conveyor belt. Railroad tracks run under the structure so that coal can be loaded into cars. (1948)

Marty Bernard posted
Saint Louis-San Francisco GP35 716 built April 1964 and photoed in Galesburg, IL on July 1, 1979 by Larry Anglund.

Bobby Carlson posted on Facebook

Raymond Storey posted
GALESBURG ILL

William A. Shaffer posted
Galesburg, IL Yard. (Winter, 1972)
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)

American-Rails.com posted
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy cab units sit near the coaling tower in Galesburg, Illinois while 4-8-4 #5632 has attracted a lot of attention at left, circa 1964. The Northern was still leading excursions at this time. The cab units include FTA #108-A and an FTB (with what appears to be two F3B's trailing) at left while an F3 A-B set is at right, led by #136-A. American-Rails.com collection.
Steven Kakoczki: Its 1964 and 136A still has her full skirting and a closed up pilot.....thats neat!
John Woolridge Jr: Is that a coal loading facility?
Dennis DeBruler: John Woolridge Jr If you mean a coaling tower to load the tenders of steam locomotives, then yes. But I normally associate the term "coal loading" as the facility at a coal mine that loads hopper cars.
Jeff Bichl shared
Edward Kwiatkowski shared

 

Marty Bernard posted
BN GP30 2238 built in July 1962 as CBQ 961 retired August 1985 at Galesburg, IL on August 21, 1976, Larry Anglund photo.
Matt Householder: WM F7B 7139 Built Dec. 1950 as WM F7B 63B.
William Nelson: There was a very short period of time when a number of Chessie system locomotives roamed the area.
There was an assortment of C&O and B&O Geeps Plus Western Maryland f units in both the circus scheme and the green.
It didn't last very long.
Marty Bernard shared

I'm surprised that the coaling tower does not show up very well in the 1940 aerial photo.

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

There was also a roundhouse further south.

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

John Lewis posted
The Galesburg coaling tower, January 1982. If structures could have talked ….. the clock was ticking.
[John thinks it was brought down sometime around 1983 when the yard was rebuilt. The depot was demolished in the summer of 83.]

Dave Kroeger posted
Southern Serves Galesburg. Sept 15 1973. Bill Kuba Photo Iowa Chapter NRHS Collection
[A glimpse of the coaling tower.]

Kevin Piper posted
CB&Q E7 9931B was renumbered to the BN 9912:1 in 1970. Retired in 4-72, it was among the last of this model still in service on BN. Galesburg, IL, 7-1-56. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN
]The coaling tower is skunked by the cab unit, but we can still see part of it. It also shows the base of the sand tower. It looks like there are four sand tanks near the bottom that have to be refilled on a diesel. I wonder if the tank car on the left is used to supply diesel fuel.]

Bobby Carlson posted, his best guess for the date is 1960s
None of the railroad structures still exist.
Mike Coker posted
Galesburg Illinois round house
James Myers This was after the Steam Engines were hauled away. Yard office is square building to left.
Carl Wilson Wow this is a great photo. Was it taken from the Water tower?
Terry Williamson posted
Mike Landers i see a gp 20 30 maybe a 35 and two 7s ! Nice !
Rodney G. Skinner EMD GP30 came out in 1962 & EMD GP35 in 1964.
John Czerwinski In Nov. '58 there was a ton of steam there 75-100 I was only 12 at the time but have a great memory.
Carl Venzke posted
Galesburg, Illinois CB&Q/Burlington Route Train yard and Roundhouse. (now BNSF)

William Frankey photo from Galesburg Public Library, c1950

Andy Zukowski posted
C. B. & Q Yards and Roundhouse
 Photograph shows the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railyards and roundhouse in Galesburg, Ill. Fuel tanks, numerous out buildings, rail tracks, freight cars, diesel engines and residential areas are also visible.
1950
Ralph Bell: Is that another wye in the upper right corner of this photo?
Only been to Galesburg twice and that was just passing through on my way to and from Davenport.
Love this photo.
David Dote: Ralph Bell bottom is the "coach yard" wye, top is the "Peoria" wye. New "Amtrak connection" goes through where the roundhouse was allowing trains to Quincy to leave off main 2.
Thomas Whitt shared

Marty Bernard posted
CB&Q 5632 turning at Galesburg, IL with 4960 looking on on May 17, 1964. This fan trip was a double header.

Railroad Glory Days posted
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roundhouse at Galesburg, Illinois. Here is the full story of my day there: http://railroadglorydays.com/cbq
Railroad Glory Days: Trent, if you look at the story link, you will see a photo of the scrap line at about that time.
Glen Brewer shared

 

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad roundhouse in Galesburg, Illinois. 1906
Thomas Whitt shared

Jerry Nolan: Wow... So many stalls the tracks overlap before they get to the turntable.

Andy Zukowski posted
C. B. & Q. Roundhouse Interior
Interior of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roundhouse. Various pieces of machinery can be seen including a device on wheels with a hose attached on the lower right. The stalls that the employees used to work underneath the locomotives can be seen in the center of the image on the floor. There are open doors visible in the center of the image. 1964
Location Depicted: Corner of South Kellogg Street, Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois
Ralph Bell: That "device on wheels with a hose attached" might be a sandblasting pot.
Thomas Whitt shared

Darren Ferreter posted

William A. Shaffer posted
Winter, 1972 at Galesburg, IL
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)
Paul M. McVey coaling tower still up, and Maytag still manufacturing washers and dryers in Galesburg.
Terry Spirek They Nock it down in 1973. It would have made a nice historical monument!
Dennis DeBruler The Burlington trailer caught my eye (as well as the coaling tower). I read a comment recently that wondered why the railroads were too stupid to get into the trucking industry. They tried, but the ICC told them they couldn't do trucking.

John Stell posted
George Culver who was in charge of the 250 ton derrick and my self in 1960 at Galesburg in the deadline of steam. My dad Alvin Stell took these slides.
Richard Fiedler: Some of those look to have been shopped before retirement.
Larry Hegstad: Everything in those frames are treasures today. Even the replacement FT's.
[Two more sets of photos taken of the deadline by Alvin Stell: 1 and 2.]

Nick Barman posted

Two CB&Q GP30s #957 and #965 lead a general freight into the Galesburg yard. 5/24/64

Unknown photographer

Nick Barman collection

Rob Roche: Wow, I have a bunch of Amtrac's I need to mount on flat cars....now I know what the cribbing looks like!

Dennis DeBruler: And a view of the coaling tower.

Was this smokestack here or down in their main railyard.

Marty Bernard posted four photos with the comment: "4960 and 5632 at Galesburg, IL on May 17, 1964.  They were on a Double Header Fan Trip which was turning back toward Chicago."

Marty also posted

1

2

3

4

Demolition of coaling tower

MKT okle Flickr 1980 Photo that includes the entire coaling tower in the background.

Nick Hart Drone photo that includes an A-B-A  consist in Cascade green. (source)

Mendota, IL: CB&Q Coaling Tower, Roundhouse and (MS) Tower

(Satellite, the roundhouse was in the southwest quadrant of 1st Ave and the tracks and the coaling tower was a block or two east of 1st Ave. The interlocking tower was further east.)

When I saw the following posted in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Fans group on Facebook, it occurred to me that a three track coal tower might be visible in a 1939 aerial photo.

1958 Dick Jenson photo from the collection of Ted Lemen, used with permission

Note that it also has a water stand so that both water and coal can be topped off. I spotted the roundhouse on the east side of town in the map so I zoomed in to the resolution of the photo. I believe the over-the-track structure on the right is the coaling tower. I included what looks like coal cars parked on the right side as more evidence that that structure is the tower.

1939 Aerial Photo

Below is an overview of Mendota to put the location of the engine yard in context. The engine service facilities are on the northeast edge of the town.

1939 Aerial Photo

And zooming out to include the entire town. Note the route between the Northwest and the South. That would have been the Illinois Central. The BNSF/BN/CB&Q still goes between the Northeast and the Southwest.

1939 Aerial Photo

Glen Brewer shared
In steam days, railroads provided huge coal and water facilities for servicing locomotives. This is on the main line at Mendota, Illinois on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. See http://railroadglorydays.com/cbq
Michael Riha This fan trip was somewhat after the "steam days..."
[Note the railfans climbing all ove rthe structure. It is not just the locomotive power that has changed over the decades. Concerns about lawsuits and security has also significantly changed.]

Raymond Storey posted

MENDOTA ILL........THE BURLINGTON

Rick J Brandenburg Sr. Looks like a Couple of the Burlington Roads 2-10-4's...!

Glen Brewer shared his post
[MS tower is in the right background.]

Big steam in excursion service on the Burlington. See my story at http://railroadglorydays.com/cbq/[I added a couple of the 1939 aerials as comments.]

 

Jeff Mathre posted with the comment: "Laverne Hudson collection, he worked during the 50-60's."

Dennis DeBruler: This must have been taken from the MS tower. This is the first photo of the coaling tower that I have seen that includes the water tower and coal cars being unloaded.

Mike Bartels: The passenger F3s although it wasn't the CZ.

Matt Glumac posted
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy M-4-A class 2-10-4 #6323 making a service stop in Mendota, IL in October 1956. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works as an M-4 in 1929. In 1935, #6323 was rebuilt as an M-4-A. The locomotive operated until it was retired in 1959 and was scrapped in 1962. #6323 was the last M-4-A class 2-10-4 to operate in revenue service on the CB&Q. (C) John Pickett.

Mike Gleason posted in Facebook

Mike's comment:

I guess it's only right that this photo of 4960, taking on coal, at Mendota should be on display at the Grand Depot Bar in Williams near to where the train departs, albeit with diesel power. The Mike operates on selected dates throughout the year.

Unfortunately, I could not find Williams in Google Map.

Marty Bernard posted
CB&Q 4960, 5632, and Train 11 the Nebraska Zephyr, at Mendota, IL in April 1962. Rick Burn photo

Mike Gleason posted
Chicago bound "Zephyr 9902," popularly known as the "Baby or Little Zephyr," running on the 'wrong' main past MS Tower at Mendota, IL. c.1949.
[Because the coaling tower in the right background is on the other side of the tracks, this interlocking tower is east of the coaling tower. Looking closer, I see the "MS" tower in the right background of Glen Brewer's photo above.]

Gilman, IL: My Photos

Gilman, IL, sets at the crossing of the CN and the Toledo, Peoria & Western railroads. The CN line is the former IC mainline between Chicago and New Orleans. Plus the IC had a branch from here that went to Springfield. Looking north and south from 3rd Street.

Photos of the large Cargill grain elevator and more photos of this elevator are in Gillman Grain Elevators.

20141013 0193

The grain elevator above, just tot he right of the left signal, is the Cargill elevator that you also see in the following photo that is looking north from the US-24 crossing.

A close up of the yard that has "Train 3" coming north on the IC mainline. The tracks curving to the right are the interchange tracks with the TP&W and go to the branch to Springfield. Note the brick building behind the grey building. That used to be the depot, but it is now part of the railroad yard that is in the area between the interchange tracks and the mainline crossing.

I drove down to 2nd Street to get a better shot of the depot, but it was still  bad shot.










So I drove around town trying to find a better view of the old depot. This view is looking west from the intersection of Front and Douglas. The two tracks in the foreground are interchange. The track further back in front of the new signalling equipment is the lead to the branch line.

ILHAP

Looking at an aerial photo of the yard area, the branch lead was closer to the depot and there was a small turntable and roundhouse in the yard area.

I also took a picture towards the south from Front and Douglas. Beyond the substation, you can see the Cargill grain elevator. The clouds are less than ideal, but at least it wasn't raining. I would hit torrential downpours north of Champagne.

Since an access road in the southwest quadrant was not posted for no trespassing and it looked like a road, I used it to photograph the old depot that was next to both mainlines.

And it looks like they are getting ready to replace the diamond.

Old and new signaling equipment. As you can see in the above picture that has a northbound train, the new signals are operational. I noticed that they left part of an old signaling bridge still standing because it was supporting some cables. Since cables are being replaced by fiber optics, I'm surprised that this equipment was not also removed.

Bill Molony posted

Update: A combination of Bill's and other comments established that this is Illinois Central Gulf GP38AC leading a mixed manifest freight in December of 1974 past the TP&W diamonds and depot. It is interesting that there are still train order signals standing in the 1970s.

A comment of interest:

Robert Thompson Gilman is where the line branches off that goes to mt pulaski. that line eventually comes into Peoria. we would use it at work for plastic shipments. it was slower than the 7 year itch and the railroad had it down to a science to screw up. one time our car of plastic didn't show and didn't show . we traced it. the car was in Springfield. your guess is as good as ours as to why.