All,
When I left the Chicago area in 1979 that trackage extended almost
all the way to the abandoned quarry. AT&SF would usually have it
stuffed full of tank cars. Sort of strange because this meant they had
to maintain a 4 lane grade crossing at 47th Street just for a place to
park cars.
Have an old map of Lyons Township that shows trackage around both
sides of the quarry and can vaguely recall ties along Ogden Ave.
between the fence and the hole. Before the Congress Street
Expressway was built that was the best route to drive downtown or
at least as far as Kostner Ave. where the first construction phase
ended.
At one time that quarry was called Riverside Lime and they had a
Plymouth gas-mechanical. Material Service probably replaced it
with the 0-6-0T.
Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Denny Anspach" <danspach@m...>
To: <BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 04 April, 2002 22:24
Subject: [BRHSlist] Re: Lyons Belt Rwy. and Riverside.
> Charlie Vik's queries on the Lyons Belt Rwy are certainly intriguing,
> particularly as they pertain to any original CB&Q connection around
> the current 1st Avenue crossing west of the Des Plaines River. I do
> not know the answer, but also never perceived remnants of any old
> roadbed in a long childhood of exploration of the Forest Preserves,
> that if memory serves, probably still divides much of first avenue
> from the Des Plaines River all the way south to Ogden Avenue.
>
> The limestone quarry to which Charle refers south of Ogden was
> railroad active until about 1950, as I recall, with tracks dividing
> Ogden Avenue from the steep sides of the quarry itself (Material
> Service Corporation- owned.controlled by the same family that also
> controlled the Rock Island RR). Now I presume that the Lyons Belt was
> the railroad that served the quarry (I would certainly like to know
> more).
>
> I recall in the forties a legion of tank 0-4-0s puffing up and down
> and around the quarry hauling out the rock, and for several years a
> tank engine and some side dumps were left derelict directly at the
> edge of Ogden Avenue at the very east end of quarry, only several
> blocks from Riverside/Lyons dam. At the time (c. 1950), I thought a
> number of times how neat it would be to fire it up and run it up and
> down that rickety track!
>
> The property originally constituting the Riverside engine terminal
> and layover tracks between the station and river were in the 30's and
> '40s a coal yard- the prime source for Riverside's residential and
> municipal heating.
>
> Denny
>
>
>
> Denny S. Anspach, MD
> Sacramento, California
>
>
>
>
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