Thanks for this explanation of some of the operations. I lived near the line
but that was well past its heyday. I think the only active industry is the
plastic plant at the very end of the line these days. Any other info would be
great. Are there any maps that show how the track made its way to
Batavia/Geneva.
Dan
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-----Original Message-----
From: qutlx1@aol.com
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:07:45
To: <cbq@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [CBQ] Barber-Greene
Barber Greene was the "break" spot on the Irish Mail. We'd pull over the
main xing(Charles St?) with the engine and help ourselves to the employee
cafeteria coffee. After a bit the loading foreman would show up with the
details.
The company was started by the 2 aforementioned individuals one of whom had
been an employee of Stephanson-Adamson(SA),(see Aurora Centenial book) the
other huge plant on the line to Geneva/West Batavia just a few blocks
south of B-G. The Irish Mail was a 16 hr hog law job for many decades
performing all the switching at these two mamoth plants and others along the
line
and on the east bank of the River as far as North Aurora. According to my
father in law(aretired SA employee) SA and B-G made similar fixed conveyor
systems and would sometimes compete on orders and sometimes co-ordinate to
fill an order. B-G had the blacktopping equipment locked up for many decades.
Switching the loading dock at B-G with an SW1(9140) required the brakeman
to stand on the left side of the box on the front porch to pass signs to the
engineer due to the sharp radius curve between the various docks which
actually curved around the buildings for more than a city block or two (hows
that for first hand knowledge?!). What radio ?
Then we'd set the loads to the measuing tracks out over the xing and shove
the mtys back in. The rip track truck from Eola was sometimes at B-G while
we were there and we would get clearance on the loads. If not they would
hold outside the plant until the next day or until we turned at the cooperage
to come back. This entire area with 3 plus tracks was blacktopped. In fact
the main was blacktopped in front of the B-G office for a block.
Inbound steel plate went into the plant at the North end and actually part
of the plant was the old car barn for the CA&D interurban. By the time I
worked the job there was no inbound coal but the spur next to the loading
docks was still there.
Scrap also was pulled from the north end. The Aurora Greenhouse spur came
south from Illinois Ave almost to B-G but thats another story.
Maybe an article someday on this job/line. I even have the Q drawings for
doubling the sidings at C&E Refractories at Illinois Ave that never
happened. The amount of industry that existed and is now gone is mind
boggling.
But then again I think thats true of most of the USA.
Just to see if anybody read all this: who knows what Blanchford was and
where was it located ?
Leo Phillipp
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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