Thanks Charlie
Pretty neat stuff as I didn't know about the Aurora-Joliet research, My comment about Earlville-Sheridan -Joliet was that in our time this was the line to Burgess. I simply suspect that several roads were looking for coal around coal city/Wilmington as the Streator/Ottawa stuff played out and it was my thought that the J simply got there first and given the limited amount of coal the Q decided not to go there.
Leo
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Leo-
IIRC Francis Edward Hinckley (the builder of the Chicago & Iowa) was involved in the early efforts to build a Aurora-Joliet road.
The CB&Q was not “outmaneuvered”, the correspondence on the subject seems to indicate they simply did not see a need for the line.
Charlie Vlk
Wonder who outmanuevered whom as according to Dorins "The Elgin,Joliet and Eastern" the year 1891 saw the Gardner,Coal City and Nothern folded into the EJ&E. The 1906 map shows the line complete from Plainfield(Walker) to So. Wilmington. By 1951 the line ends at Goose Lake.
Probably a good thing the Q didnt build east from Sheridan as the farther North in Illinois you go the less coal is in the ground.