There are a bunch of late 1960's CB&Q slides and photos posted on eBay right now from Chicago to Sugar Grove. I am hoping some of the locations can be better identified.
The following photo on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144606279416 is marked simply as "Kane County, IL", which includes Aurora, IL. Does anyone recognize this spot? Might this be the C&I around MP 39 where the two westbound lines that come out of Aurora merge together to single track?
This photo simply says Aurora, but wondering if anyone can identify where and whether this train would be headed toward Galesburg or Savanna?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134146815756 Hoping the curve and bridge in the background might give this one away. BTW, track chart AU101 indicates the line to Galesburg would be three tracks and the C&I would be two tracks, so I'm leaning toward this being the line to Savanna, but I am not from the area.
This one at
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134148711598 is of the NCL, so I have to believe this is at the place where the C&I splits from the Galesburg line. Track chart AU101 shows three tracks headed to Galesburg and two tracks to Savanna. There are clearly three tracks in the foreground, which agrees with AU101.
This photo
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134145552176 of the Empire Builder seems to be at the same place as the NCL but from a slightly different angle. There are three tracks in the foreground to Galesburg and you can see the signal bridge which according to the AU101 and AU74 track charts would have been just beyond the bridge over the west fork of the Fox River. Correct?
The train at
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144606326197 is labeled as Aurora, but this looks like single track to me, at best double track, not the triple track. Might this be also on the C&I, perhaps even west of MP 39 where the twin track goes down to single track?
Speaking of where the westbound track goes from double to single, this shot at
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134146800205 of the NCL seems to be at the actual switch. Correct?
This one,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144599871248, is a bit harder to identify, but I'm thinking it is the single track C&I between MP 39 and 40. The track chart shows a 1 degree curve not too far before where the eastbound single track splits into two tracks.
Finally, there is a shot
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144666086716 at Naperville of a train with a Q GP40 177 in the lead followed by three NYC units from 9-1968. I know this is probably a long shot, but were the NYC units still heading out to Lincoln and Denver at this late date or would this probably be a Mpls-StP pooled train? It's a pretty cool consist.
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Tom Mack
Cincinnati, OH