In Galesburg, ice was indeed harvested off Highland Lake which was the first steam engine water reservoir for the Q located in what is now East Galesburg. I don't believe the Q was directly involved in this endeavor as I have a Sanborn map showing an ice house operated by the Glenwood Ice Company to the east of Highland Lake and another run the same company located west of the lake near Purington Brick Yard No. 3.. Perhaps the Q had a business relationship with Glenwood Ice Company. See attached for the Sanborn map as well as a postcard image of Highland lake showing the water tank for the Q's Purington branch as well is the pump house that pumped the water to the yards.
Ice was also harvested off of Lake Rice (the second and larger Q steam engine water reservoir). I have a Sanborn map of this ice house showing the owner as Glenwood Ice and Coal. This ice house was below Lake Rice dam and was served by a spur off the Q's Purington (East Galesburg) branch line that went under the Santa Fe main near Santa Fe's Court Creek viaduct. This spur also served the pumping station that pumped the engine water to the yards. The Court Creek viaduct is still there just east of the Main St viaduct -- it lost its 1887 dated keystone 2 or 3 decades ago - it may be laying in the creek. The only trace of the spur to the ice house and pump house is a grade and some rotting pilings where the spur crossed Court Creek north of the Santa Fe embankment. See attached for the Sanborn map.
All of this near and dear to my heart as I grow up within a few hundred yards of these places and used to tramp through the woods and old brickyards as a teen and adult to find these industrial archeological relics.
--
Rick Woods
New York Central Kankakee Belt (aka "The Streator Connection")
East Troy, WI
<Galesburg+Apr.+1918,+Sheet+20 Rice Ice House.pdf>
<Galesburg+Apr.+1906,+Sheet+21 Pur 3 HP Ice Hse.pdf>
<Highland Lake Photo with Water Tank and Pump House.jpg>