Charlie:
to what post number are you replying?
Ed DeRouin
--- In BRHSlist@y..., "Charlie Vlk" <charlie@k...> wrote:
> Interesting subject!
> The IC had a hell of a time getting their Iowa line into Chicago.
I think
> one of their VPs got fired over the delays in getting the line all
the way
> into the city limits. What information do you have on the IC
Operation into
> Chicago (from Forreston, Illinois????).
> One of my areas of interest is "Ghost Railroads of Cook
County" and, while
> they were actually built, the "Chicago and Northwestern
Cut-Off" (a track
> pre-BRC that ran up to the C&NW California Avenue Yard about
1870) and the
> "Harlem and Riverside" are so little known that they fall into this
> category.
> Also, more on a CB&Q topic, does anybody know anything
about the early Lyons
> Belt? I have some research showing ROW connecting to the Q
around Hollywood
> Station. This could have been wiped out when the grade was
raised to allow
> the Q to cross over DesPlaines Avenue, probably before East
Grossdale
> (Hollywood Station) was built in 1884. I think the line may have
connected
> to the Q prior to the AT&SF coming into Chicago. The same
grade change
> wiped out any evidence of the old Lyons station (probably on
the west bank
> of the Des Plaines right about where Des Plaines Avenue is?
> Also, was there a track to the south at Congress Park prior to
the Chicago,
> Hammond and Western (Indiana Harbor Belt predecessor)?
Early photos of
> Brookfield show a pretty substantial yard west of Prairie
Avenue with
> freight cars in it; too much track to be layover for Real Estate
Promotion
> Specials and too many cars for construction materials for the
sparse
> settlement of Grossdale.
> BTW, I have found proposed alignments for what became the
IHB that would
> have run diagonally through Brookfield to the northeast so my
house on
> Forest (at Salt Creek and 31st) would have been on the ROW!
The line would
> have crossed the Q about where it does today but would have
connected to the
> "Harlem and Riverside" (the IC line that ran north from the
Chicago, Madison
> and Northern to the C&NW west line).
> This line actually followed the proposed alignment (partially
graded?) of
> the proposed Hamilton, Lacon and Eastern.....which in turn
was probably the
> reason the Chicago, Millington & Western 3 foot narrow gauge
followed the
> route it did along 26th Street.
> Charlie Vlk
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