on 10/12/00 9:09 PM, kammfive@a... at 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?
>
>
>
>
>
Al and Others:
Based upon my observations and experience, I can state that as far as I
know, the Q and Milw did not interchange at Steward Jct. Also, the Q did not
have trackage rights on the Milw from Stewart Jct. to Mendota and a detour
movement seems unlikely. Before 1932, I believe, the Q had a branch from
Shabbona to Paw Paw, that line connected at Paw Paw with the Earlville -
Sterling branch. So, a Q connection, sorry Dave Lotx - no pun intended,
existed that negated use by the Q of the Milw Stewart Jct. - Mendota line.
I know the Q interchanged with the ICRR at Mendota, but am uncertain about
interchanging with the Milw there. I suspect not, but if someone knows for
certain, please enlighten us. I will have to do some research to determine
where the Q and Milw interchanged cars in that area.
The Milw headed south of Mendota toward the coalfields of Ladd and Cherry.
The crossed the Illinois River via rights on the NYC to Granville and headed
to Oglesby. One of the reasons the NYC connected with so many roads in the
DePue area was as a high and wide load route bypassing Chicago. I do know
the Milw delivered cars to the CRIP at DuPue. That is probably more than you
wanted to know! See Bill Raia' Morning Sun book (Milw Vol 1) for some shots
in this area.
Ed DeRouin
|