RE: [CBQ] Re: Q man made lake for steam engine water ?

["'Charlie Vlk' cvlk@comcast.net [CBQ]" <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>]

Joe and Leo-

Thanks for the additional information.   I was a little surprised when researching this early history to find that the IC was so late in getting built…..even the Michigan Central beat the IC into Chicago on IC rails!!!

The story of the Q and the IC is not well known and the Chicago & Iowa makes it even more interesting…..the IC traffic from Iowa came into Chicago first over the C&NW before the line through Freeport was connected to the main line; then over the CB&Q through Mendota, and later over the Chicago & Iowa to Aurora and then over the CB&Q.   It wasn’t until the IC’s Chicago, Madison & Northern got into DuPage and Cook County that they used other routing (CGW) but even then there was a connection at La Vergne as the final segment into Chicago didn’t get built until the 1890’s. 

Charlie Vlk

 

From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CBQ@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2016 10:25 AM
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Re: Q man made lake for steam engine water ?

 

 

The CBQ date on my part is a mistake, I was thinking it was the 1880s before the line was built.

Looks like the IC line from LaSalle to Mendota opened November 1853, and Mendota to Freeport February 1855... so both lines were built in Mendota in roughly the same time frame. 

A short Mendota history here:

http://genealogytrails.com/ill/lasalle/town/mendota.html

 

Joe

---In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, <qutlx1@...> wrote :

Based on the various sources I used for BRHS bulletin 51 the "Q" reached Mendota in 1852. So by 1945 it had been there 93 years. The line between Aurora and Mendota was completed in October 1852 based on the sources I researched. The original Illinois charter to the Q's predecessor's stated to connect with whatever line was then building North from La Salle.

I do not have info. On when the I.C. Charter line reached Mendota.

Leo Phillipp

 

On Feb 18, 2016, at 6:11 PM, 'Charlie Vlk' cvlk@... [CBQ] <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Joe-

I am researching the early days of the Aurora Branch, Chicago & Aurora and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and have to wonder about your statement (presumably about Mendota).   I am not exactly sure about the dates of construction of the IC line to Galena, but from trade journal reports of the time I don’t think the IC made it through the area that became Mendota much before the CB&Q reached the area.   In fact, some reports suggest that the IC had not named the town nor laid it out before the Q reached that point.   I will have to delve into the history of the IC to find out how long it was before the IC made it to Mendota.   I do know that the line to Galena was not completed until well after the Aurora Branch was in service as the IC from Freeport to Dunleith (East Dubuque) was operated by the G&CU and their trains operated into Chicago over the G&CU and this lasted for a couple of years.

Charlie Vlk

But by 1945, the IC had been in town ~90 years and the CBQ ~60 years, so a lot of things could have changed.

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Posted by: "Charlie Vlk" <cvlk@comcast.net>

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