The interurban came into Ottawa from the south west and headed east right at
the north end of the Sand Plant and connected with Madison St. There was no
interchange in Ottawa Until the Q built into the Sand Plant. The interurban
used Madison St to cross the Q main line and on east to Columbus were it turned
south to Main then back east to the east side of town. The Pioneer Tramway
used the interurban bridge untill the new Main St Bridge was built with dual
gauge trackage to haul clay into the brick yard which used to be on the water
front at the confines of the Fox and Illinois River.
Once the Q built into the Sand Plant the interurban had an interchange put in
between the two.
In 1929 the Ottawa Belt Line was built with the interurban using the Q trackage
for freight service only from the Shop Area west of Bridge St(now Boyce
Memorial) at Madison to the east side of Ottawa using the Tow Path of the
Illinois Michigan Canal. The Q had used it to get from the Main line to the
Sand Plant. Extra Levers were put in the Tower that protected the Q/RI
crossing to provide signal protection and a diamond was put in so the
interurban could go straight east on the Tow Path. The present girder bridge
used by the I&M Canal Path was the interurban bridge. The poles now used for
lights were used for the span wire. Standard practice was to operate only
freight on the Ottawa Belt.
The original Ottawa Q yard was north of the depot between Madison and
LaFayette. Until moved out north of town. There was a branch of the canal
which ran south to form a hydraulic basin with 18 Mills using the water power
along MILL St.
This was also the location of the Canal Yard, Gas Plant, and Electric Plant,
Brick yard and elevator.
There was also a branch off the Fox River Main at the north end of the Yard
east on Jackson St across the Lateral Canal which ran on along the east side of
Canal St. to Fulton St with a track south to Jefferson St. and north in Fulton
St. to the I&M Canal .
SJH
----- Original Message ----
From: Ed Carroll <ed.carroll@heartland.edu>
To: CASTLEROMEO@SCHATTL.COM; Mike Schattl <CASTLEROMEO@SCHATTL.COM>;
CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2008 9:59:16 PM
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Re: Street Running in Illinois
In Ottawa the Sanborn maps show the big curve from the switch that
crossed the team track at Jefferson St. and ran in the street and across
the corner and along infront of a lumberyard and two other businesses to
reach a large produce distributor. The distributor' s name escapes me,
but I have it in notes on all of these businesses somewhere. The track
ended at the distributors at the embankment for the Illinois traction
line, former Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria Railway trackage the western
(West of the branches mainline) portion of which the Q used to run to
the pickle plant and on out to Ottawa and Standard Silica and into LOF.
The trackage for the pickle plant also ran into the streets on the west
side through what I knew as Weatherby Construction in the 1950s and
1960s. (This was also originally COP trackage.)
Edward V. Carroll
Professor of History
Heartland Community College
1500 W. Raab Road
Normal IL 61761
(309) 268-8582
FAX (309) 268-7991
>>> "Mike Schattl" <CASTLEROMEO@ SCHATTL.COM> 01/03/08 4:20 PM >>>
> Could anyone please tell me if the Q did any street running/switching
anywhere in Illinois, whether it be Chicago or through downstate
villages' main or sidestreets? If so, are there any good visual sources
of what this looked like?
> Many thanks in advance,
> Steve Doyle
> Twin Cities
>
There's some "sorta street running" in Yorkville. The Ottawa branch
runs between a street and some downtown buildings in downtown Yorkville
IIRC. The line is very close to the street and the buildings. The line
is now the Illinois Railway.
Mike Schattl
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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