I went out to the Trains magazine 60th Birthday Party in Rochelle last
Saturday. On my return trip I decided to follow the C&I back towards Aurora,
having not driven along the line before.
The first town on the way back is Steward. Entering town from the west, I
noticed several older elevator structures that once had obviously been served
by rail. They are considerably west and south from the C&I line. I thought
perhaps there had been a spur into the area from the Q.
Returning home, I referred to my trusty reprint of the 1948 Rand McNally
railroad atlas. In it, I noticed a Steward Junction south of Rochelle with a
Milwaukee Road line going south to Mendota. This line must have passed near
the elevators I saw on my drive. From the atlas, it appears that the
Milwaukee used the Q's Rockford branch to reach first Rochelle and then
Steward Junction. From Steward Junction to Mendota they had their own line.
I know in Mendota the Milwaukee used the IC tracks to cross the Q and then
had their own rails going further south. The Rand McNally atlas is a little
vague south of Mendota. It appears that the Milwaukee headed towards Peoria
but never quite made it.
One question I have from this rambling analysis is: Would the Burlington
have used this Milwaukee line to move trains between Rochelle and Mendota?
Or (second question), would the Q and the Milwaukee have interchanged cars at
Steward Jct or Mendota to move between the two lines? Or would this
interchange have taken place at other points on their respective systems?
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