According to the Steam Powered Video RR atlas, the Milwaukee Road
south of Mendota went through Peterstown, Fitchmoor, and Ladd. From
here on there are a few rail lines and the atlas is not that clear.
It
may have continued to Howe, Hennepin, Granville, & Oglesby. I can
not
tell if it went through LaSalle or Peru.
--- In BRHSlist@egroups.com, kammfive@a... wrote:
> 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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