This week’s excerpt is from Chapter Six, which covers the Milwaukee Road’s D&I mainline across Illinois from the Mississippi River at Savanna to Davis Junction and Chicago, including a detour on the Ladd line: “With a crew change complete, Milwaukee Road SD40-2 #182 eases away from the platform at the Savanna depot on April 17,…
Some snow to distract from the mind-numbing heat, an excerpt from my upcoming book, Rails Around Northern Illinois: Taken from 18th St in an iconic Chicago skyline shot that cannot be repeated, northbound ICG train #P50 from New Orleans loops southwest for the new IMX intermodal yard on morning of January 31, 1987 behind two…
Rails Around Northern Illinois will feature a lot of action in and around Chicago, with views such as this which aren’t always as recognizable today. On October 7, 1977, Rock Island’s Peoria Rocket departs LaSalle with just two coaches. The Rock Island would discontinue the train the following year, with the last run on December…
In writing/researching my upcoming book, Rails Around Northern Illinois, I developed a fondness for the then-rural areas northwest of Chicago. Tonight I offer this excerpt from Chapter 7, which covers this corner of northern Illinois: The Soo Line’s depot in Grayslake was on the west side of the mainline north of County Road A27. A…
The former NKP roundhouse in Frankfort, Indiana is currently being torn down after years of sitting abandoned. In honor of its memory, here are a pair of shots of former NKP 2-8-2 #587 at the roundhouse in June 1991. She would power excursions to Muncie the following weekend. A second volume of Rails Around Indiana…