Interchange Information

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jimkantor

Paul, thanks for your info and interest. Send me an e-mail with your address and I'll be happy to fill you in on the requested data.

Jim,

I cant get the send email feature to work correctly so I'll just give my address to you here:

[e-mail]

Later...

[Anonymous]

Paul, thanks for your info and interest. Send me an e-mail with your address and I'll be happy to fill you in on the requested data.

[orsonroy]

Hi Jim,

Quick answer: Good luck! I'm modeling central Illinois circa 1950 (Peoria to Bloomington on the NKP), and have been trying to answer the same question you've asked for the past three years.

The Nickel Plate irregularly issued a Physical Characteristics booklet for the entire system, and I have a copy of the 1953 edition. Along with other tasty tidbits like where every water penstock was online, it noted interchange traffic for every interchange, by road and by delivered/received. This gave me a pretty good, if VERY basic, idea of interchange between roads (117,766 cars in Illinois in 1952, or 323 cars a day).

Railroad interchange reports are a better source of "real" data for interchange traffic, since they list each individual car and loading. You still have to figure out what KIND of car it is (by looking up the car number in the ORER), but car number and loading is actually more precise. Unfortunately, most of these interchange reports have been lost to time. The ICHS has some at their Paxton museum, but the collection has yet to be cataloged. I believe the NKP lists are at the Cleveland State University archives, but they're virtually inaccessable. Most surviving RR paperwork is like this: either in private hands that no one knows about, or in a "public" collection that's realistically inaccessable, unless you volunteer to catalog, sort and preserve the material (NOT just dig through it looking for stuff).

Most of the colleges in central Illinois have good collections of RR data (Bradley in Peoria has most of the old P&PU paperwork, for example, in addition to lots of other road's info). The larger public libraries down there (Bloomington, Decatur, Champaign) have extensive collections in their local resource collections. However, most of these facilities do NOT know what they have. It's up to you to dig through each location's collections, which can take years of time (just ask me!).

Don't be afraid to join online discussion groups either. The vast array of Yahoo Groups may seem intimidating, but it only takes a couple seconds to delete an email, and a couple years worth of looking to find some information that's been sitting in their archives for awhile. I've been a member of the PRR Lines West group for two years, and have only found 4-5 emails of any worth, but they've been VERY helpful in my research. For your interests, check out the Peoria Area yahoogroup, the Decatur RR group, and several others (it might take awhile to ferrett them all out), as well as any groups that deal with your target railroads.

Believe it or not, haunt Ebay. It's been the single best research tool I've found for my studies. Not only has it allowed me to collect important documentation, but I've found many individuals who knew something about what I'm interested in, which in turn has led me to other sources of information. It's all about networking, and the more places you go, the more people you talk to, and the more helpful you are, the more you'll find.

Research takes TIME, and lots of it. There have been thousands of books, articles, etc., printed about railroads, but very few of them deal with anything more than personalities, corporate history, motive power, and passenger trains. To find out the details of how a RR actually made money will require a committement in time and a little money. Instant gratification this isn't!

Once you collect all the data you need, consider compiling it into a privately published research document. Donate a copy to various railroad historical societies and public libraries. Or, if it's good and complete enough, get it published. In any event, you've done the research; don't let it go to waste!

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jimkantor

I'm modeling 1968 in Illinois. Where can I find information on interchange traffic at locations like Streator,IL (ATSF, CB&Q, WAB, GM&O, PC); Wenona, IL (IC, GM&O); or Beardstown, IL (B&O, CB&Q). Quantity of cars would be a start, types of traffic and/or loads emptys would be even better. Thanks

Jim,

I'm modeling 1969 in Illinois!

Off the top of my head I would suggest you look into the various historical societies of the roads you have mentioned above . . . and don't forget many/most/all may have email groups on Yahoogroups.com where you can ask questions and usually get answers.

One such group is run by the Burlington Route Historical Society. You do not have to be a historical society member to join the list and ask questions. The other lists may be similar. lThe group homepage is at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/

Just had the thought if you join the group, don't forget to look through the message archives there as a lot of the info you are seeking dribbles in over time...years!

Another Illinois location which had a lot of interchange was at Ladd. I believe there were five railroads there at one time. Also Mendota, IL ...Burlington (CB&Q) had a small yard there at one time and the Milwaukee Road and IC were in town, too.

I'm curious what railroad you're modeling and how much room you have for the layout, your ops plan, scale, locale, etc. Is there a site for the layout or pics or a trackplan I could look at out of curiousity?

I am modeling a small section of the CB&Q Burlington double track mainline (HO) between Chicago and Galesburg, IL "somewhere" out in a rural area. Since I basically live in that type of area, (Peru, IL along the Illinois River), I figured it would be easy to just go out and look at scenery, farms, elevators, etc. when needing scenic or other related area info for my modeling. I haven't built any benchwork yet as I am in the room prep stage of getting the basement ready. The layout area will be roughly the better part of 24 by 38 feet. Oh, the double track part runs along three walls and the fourth is staging. The rest of the area will be a proto-freelanced fictional brancline of the 'Q called the Illiniwek River Branch serving rural towns and a coal mine.

The layout will be single deck, but I am toying with the idea of making part double deck. This lower deck will be the Rock Island RR with a small town, rock quarry, a couple industries, and will eventually interchange with the Burlington.

Looking forward to reading more on your plans. Hope you get more responses, too. I have lots of info I've picked up over the years, but it's all packed away in boxes and buried in the basement!

Take care,

[Anonymous]

I'm modeling 1968 in Illinois. Where can I find information on interchange traffic at locations like Streator,IL (ATSF, CB&Q, WAB, GM&O, PC); Wenona, IL (IC, GM&O); or Beardstown, IL (B&O, CB&Q). Quantity of cars would be a start, types of traffic and/or loads emptys would be even better. Thanks