S. Illinois Raifaning

[gabe]

I realize I should probably post this on the trackside guide, but this seems to get more readers.

I am getting ready to make my tri-anual Southern Illinois (anywhere south of Kankakee, so I am told) rail sojourn. Does anyone have any suggestions as for good places to look? I am most interested in the following three areas:

(1) I am NOT interested in major city railfaning. I find the congestion of places like St. Louis to take away from the relaxing experience of railfanning. I also think it more interesting to see a train out on the rails as opposed to in the city (I realize that is just a preference). Ergo, I like small towns that have many lines intersecting them, with a good vantage point.

Tuscola and Gilman are among my favorites. Centralia would get a mention as well, it is just that I haven't found a good place to view all that amazing action. Does anyone have any other towns that are similar to that?

(2) Does anyone know of any long stretches of highway along a rail line? In going from town to town, I try to select roads that go along the highway. The highway that goes along the TP&W is a particular treat for me. Alas, I wi***here were more like that. Any suggestions?

(3) I like shortlines. Particularly where shortlines either intersect or meet a larger railway.

Thanks for any help.

Gabe

[mudchicken]

(1) Mt. Vernon....NRE's Ex Precision National/ C&EI Shops complex (Home for Wayward Alcos & Other SH Locomotives)...UPRR Division Point and Engine Facility (ALCO is not dead in this town)[:D]

(2) Effingham...Effingham RR (http://www.efrr.com/), CSX & IC facilities

(3) Greenville (Illinois Western http://www.illwestern.com/) & CSX

(4) Decatur NS.... Shop Town & Division HQ, CSX & shortline Decatur Terminal

(5) Gibson City...Bloomer Line, IC & NS (+ Cargill/ADM switchers GE 45 & 65T)
http://www.trainweb.org/travelogue/bloomer1.html

(6) Iroquois Junction/ Beaverville....KB&S

(7) Danville: Vermillion Valley RR , CSX & NS
http://www.indianaboxcar.com/vv/vvr.html

(8) Minooka....RELCO, EJ&E, & CSX
http://www.relcolocomotives.com/

...and then all the industrials!

[gabe]

Mudchicken,

I am familiar with several of the towns you mentioned. Do you know if there are good places to watch trains in those towns? For instance, I know Decatur has a load of action, but I have yet to find a (legal) place to view that action.

What is in Minooka, Mt. Vernon, and Greenville? I seem to remember that CSX's line goes through Greenville, does anything else?

Thank you for your help.
Gabe

[Randy Stahl]

Try Thebes !!!! The ILMO bridge is awesome.
Randy
I wish I were going with you, there is a ton of history in S Illinois, Cairo, Ramsey, Du Quoin etc.

[gabe]

Randy,

Alas, Ramsey is no more (at least from a rail perspective). When I was 18 or so--roughly 8 years ago--I followed NS's old Nickle Platte line as far as it would take me, starting from the St. Louis side. To my absolute delight, the line was still intact past the power plant at Coffeen for roughly another fifty miles when it hit Cowden. There the line was chopped off. Unfortunately, it looked as though the line had absolutely no use past Coffeen.

Unfortunately, it and IC's old charter line that used to intersect Ramsey are no longer there. NS pulled it up about 6 years ago (I wish I knew when IC did, it apparently was before my time). That line was so beautiful (was narow gauge back in the day), too bad there was no traffic on it. However, I remember reading somewhere that Ramsey tower is preserved and NS was kind enough to leave a box car or cabose or something like that near the town.

[eolafan]

Gabe, from my experience just abou anywhere along the I55 corridor between Chicago and St. Louis is fine, with the Pontiac area being my favorite. I appreciate your point about the big city areas taking away from the joy of railfanning. The primary line along I55 is the old GM&O, SP, now UP line between Chicago and St. Louis. On this line you will see a moderate amount of UP freight action as well as a few Amtrak trains (the most will be north of Springfield...probably about six each day in each direction. This route is not nearly as busy as the metro Chicago BNSF or UP routes but may still keep your interest. One other area you may want to consider in No. IL is on Rt. 6 where the old Santa Fe (now BNSF) main line passes under the Rt. 6 overpass, you can sit under the bridge at the grade crossing and see A WHOLE LOT of BNSF mainline action. I was there on Tuesday at lunch with my Big Mac and saw five trains in about forty five minutes. The UP line is also just about a block away. Hope this helps.

[MP173]

Gabe:

The first thing i would do is get the Illinois DOT state map. It shows railroads and obviously the highways. Invaluable...in fact i get them for all states I travel thru. YOu can get one at any local State Police district office. Another good map is the Northern Illinois Road Map, put out by Milwaukee Map Service, featuring all roads and railroads. It covers north of a line across frm Champaign to Quincy.

I grew up on Southern Illinois, down around Effingham and I worked for years in sales in an area from Chicago down to St. Louis and often would combine work and trains.

Here are a few suggestions: (based on if I were doing it from my hometown in Northwest Indiana)

1. US 45 following IC (sorry but old habits die slowly with me). At Gilman there is a great old coaling tower north of town. The junction downtown features the TPW, IC mainline, and the Springfield line in an interesting junction.
2. There is an old switcher south of Gilman at the grain elevator.
3. US 24 over to Watseka and then south of town to Woodland Junction, where the UP/CSX lines split. Busy place.
4. Follow Illinois Rt 1 to Danville and check out the NS/CSX crossing and the yard at the south end of town.
5. County roads to Tolono. You can roughly parallel the NS line on a good blacktop road from Danville to Sidney. Checkout the junction with NS/UP where run thru trains are interchanged.
6. Tolono is a junction of IC/NS. I spent a day with the operator there in 1976 and had a blast. Got some great pictures and memories.
7. Down US 45 to Tuscola. Great junction there with the IC, UP, and CSX. I believe the tower still stands. It was there a few years ago and I got pics from inside it. Depressing, but necessary for me! I also got pictures back in December, 1975 of action during a BLIZZARD of huge dimensions which I should not have been out in. Ah, youth.

At this point you can either follow US 36 to Decatur or US 45 to Mattoon.
8. Mattoon has a great old depot...bilevel, for the days of NYC and IC action. The NYC is long gone, but the station should still stand. Amtrak serves Mattoon so plan accordingly. Take in the smell of the station. It smells like railroad buildings used to smell. I remember picking up an Illinois Central Employee timetable there when I was 16...thought I would get in trouble if they caught me!
9. Effingham, more memories! The depot should still stand. The double mains are probably gone (PRR and IC) but trains will run. CSX has a run thru train that loops to the south and joins the IC south of town at the yard. The IC branch to Newton heads east to serve the Newton power plant. (Very close to my hometown.)
10. I would continue down to Salem and see if there is anything on the CSX (they run about 10x daily. Also checkout the UP yard north of Salem. The CSX line is the old B&O mainline that ran from StL to Cincinnati and features the old B&O color position light signals. GET PHOTOS WHILE YOU CAN OF THOSE. They are honorary semiphore signals.
11. Mt. Vernon features the NS (StL- Louisville line) and the UP north south line. The aforementioned UP line is the old Chicago and Eastern Illinois line and is pretty busy.
12. Centralia is a dying railroad town. THe shops and yard on the IC are either closed or really down to the bare minimum. Check out the coal tower and the roundhouse. Downtown Centralia is pretty amazing with the IC, BN, and NS all running north/south. The BN line is an interesting line coming down from Galesburg to Paducah area. Quite a few coal trains on this line.
13. Up at Ramsey is a silent junction between the old NKP StL line and the original IC line that ran up from Centrailia to Madison Ws. The town has saved the tower and has a couple of old pieces of rolling stock.
14. Follow US 51 up to Decatur and checkout any action on whatever the line is called south of Decatur to Assumption. Lots of grain moves onthis.
15. Decatur is an interesting town with the main attraction being the NS yards. The 22nd street overpass gives birdseye view of the yard and operations. I believe the tower WABIC (Wabash, IC) has been torn down. It is towards downtown. While inthat area, go to GB's Music. It is on the main east west drag. If you like music and remember going into old records stores, THIS IS THE PLACE. They have all kinds of old CD's, records, tapes, bootlegs, etc. Across the street is a hot dog stand with the best hot dogs south of CHicago.
16. Springfield features quite a bit of action with a couple of towers standing and I believe Ridgely tower is still inoperation....UP and CIM crossing.

Had enough? or do you want more?

MP

[Anonymous]

being from chicago was nice to get out of dodge and relax in small[8D]towns in illinois. i have no favorite but favorites, being centralia 40 or more a day. tolono,40 or more a day. mt vernon 30 a day or more. effingham 30 or more. decatur looked too dirty to me(crime). villa grove may still be a crew change on up? i liked west ill. ft. madison, and galesburg ill.north ill. savahana,and east dubuque ill. i live in fla. now and go up to ill in peak traffic periods ie, month of october.God Bless[8D]

[gabe]

I just want to thank everyone, I am amazed at the contributions. MP, if you have more to contribute, I am very interested. I know a lot of what you refer, as I have vistited Tolono, Tuscola, Decatur, and Gilman before.

If you have more about that, great. But around your hometown areas holds more interest to me right now, as I am much less familiar with it. Salem, Olney, Newton, etc. may be more in line with the focal point of my visit. I am also trying to learn a bit more about west-central Illinois, where lines from St. Louis are directing traffic South rather than North. IC's St. Louis' line, NS, etc.

Does anyone know anything about the traffic on IC's branchline off of its' line heading South out of East St. Louis?

Thanks again everyone, really a big help.

Gabe

[MP173]

Gabe:

I grew up between the towns of Olney and Newton (MP173) on the Mattoon-Evansville line, which is now just a memory.

The Indiana Railroad runs over to Newton. That line used to be the Effingham - Indianaplis line of the IC. I have no idea of traffic on the Indiana Railroad.

At Olney the CSX (B&O line) runs thru. The diamond with the IC may still be around. A few years ago I passed thru and the IC south of the CSX was still in place and south of town was an old B&O jeep 7 or 9 used to switch a grain elevator. You might check that out.

Cant help much on the IC line out of St. Louis ... but I would think there is some coal traffic and probably a couple of manifest/intermodals a day.

I didnt really follow your comment about west central Illinois, where the lines divert south instead of north...unless you mean south of St Louis. I personally would not call that "west central" but "southern Illinois" but that is just me and how we referred to things geographically.

I know the UP line south along the river used to be very busy. As previously mentioned, the bridge at Ilmo would be worthy (personally never been there, but always wanted to).

A few other spots of interest:

1. Beardstown has an interesting bridge over the Illinois River and a sizeable yard. A few years ago the clerk in the office was very polite and helpful.
2. The NS line from Valley City (Illinois River to Hannibal) is scenic in an Illinois sorta way. The crossing at Hannibal with the BN features a tunnel, kinda like the IC/BN at East Dubuque.
3. Galesburg is hot, but I personally find Edelstein Hill west of Chillicothe very much worth the trip. Nice country and a pretty good run up the hill outta the Illinois River valley. There is a shortline operation thru Chilli.
4. West of Galesburg is Cameron where the BN and ATSF lines cross and there are connections. Pretty interesting.
5. Ft. Madison, Iowa is worth the trip. The bridge over the Mississippi River bridge was ( I hope it is still the same) interesting. It is a double decker drawbridge with highway traffic above the ATSF line. It is a toll bridge and the toll bridge person also controls the drawbridge. There is a CTC panel in there in which he knows when a ATSF train is coming. Ft. Madison is very interesting for other features, such as crew change and yard. The crews stay at the Super 8 and as I found out one night, they are a huge source of info. There is a computer in the lobby that the crews can access any info about any train. They can plan ahead and determine what their return trip will be. Worth a visit if spending the night.
6. I always wanted to railran the BN line north of Savannah, but never did. I drove it tho and it is spectacular. The Mississippi Palasades State Park looks intriguing.
7. Galena is a fascinating town, which some people would say retains the charms of yesterday. I know they are in it for the $$$ bringing all of those people from Chicago out for fresh air! But, the IC Iowa line snakes thru. A few years ago there was a wig-wag in service. Last time thru it was still there! It is just south of US 20 at the first street west of the Galena River.
8. East Dubuque is like a model railroad. Just go take a look. And cross over to Dubuque. What a pretty area of the midwest.


There you have it. I could go on and on, but dont want to bore everyone. If you have specific questions...let me know.

If there was one thing I would do....it would be go to Ridgley Tower in Springfield and possibly down to Lennox Tower in Mitchell, but that is my preference. Take those pictures while you can.

Good luck and give us a full report.

MP

[Anonymous]

Gabe,
I live in Vandalia,IL and there are a lot of train watching areas around here. The CSX line through here is moderatly busy at best, except from St. Elmo eastward where UP traffic joins there and they have trackage rights. There is a town called Kinmundy north of Salem where the IC crosses the UP, the crossing is located near private property but if you ask the owner I'm sure he will let you shoot there. Effingham is good also. Here in Vandalia there is a shortline(Vandalia Railroad) with an old switch engine and tower. There is a couple of cabooses also. If you come up this way, e-mail me and I can meet you somewhere. My e-mail is [e-mail]. As far as a lot of trains, then Galesburg is probably the best. Other places I recommend are Centralia, Salem, Tuscola, and Gorham. I hope this helps.[:)]

[Puckdropper]

If you go to Pontiac, make sure to stop at Baby Bull's restraunt. Right next to Big R. It's a family favorite. Enough about Central Illinois, though. (About 10 miles south of Decator turns in to Southern Illinois.)

If you don't want to see moving trains, you can stop around the Thompsonville overpass. The main business is coal, and you can probably get a few pics. Also, Eldorado is an interesting place to watch a crew switch the chemical plant there. (Don't waste your time, it's almost a bi-weekly thing.) I did it on bike when I was younger. (One time, and I lived there.)

Last I knew, UP was running a freight Sundays around noon through West Frankfort... If you want to see something kinda interesting, head over to Mount Vernon, Indiana. On the east side of town, there's an rail overpass where the trains go up a steep grade and over the highway. It's probably not busy enough to be worth the trip alone, but if you're out that way...

Note: This information is about 4 years old. The towns will be there, but I can't guarantee the trains will.