Subdivision identification

[power58]

Looking for information on 2 track railroad from Mazon IL. MP 66.14 to Coal City IL. MP 57.86, track diagram, location of failed equipment monitors ect.

Thanks

 

[MikeF90]

This appears to be part of the BNSF Mendota sub. A little persistent searching should yield links to older employee timetables.

BTW welcome to the Trains mag forum!  Can you provide any further context - historical research, trackside railfanning or .........

[diningcar]

BNSF has 'Track Charts' for this Subdivision that have been reprinted and are available. Many Santa Fe Railway Historical Society members have them. These track charts will furnish the information you seek, but you will want recent issues.

[power58]

Thanks for the replies, I looked up BNSF Illinois division time table 1  year 1996 and time table 3 for the year 2000 could not find Coal city or Mazon listed. I did a search on Mazon Ill. M.P.  66.14 and got the Grade Crossing Inventory page. It listed Mazon on the Chillicothe Sub. Back to the time tables and Chillicothe sub has Pequot MP 57.2 and Verona MP 70.8 skipping Coal City MP 58.2 and Mazon MP 66.1 thats why I could not find the sub. I guess they were not important enough. It's all fun, discovering new things. Have only been a Railfan since August 2014, can't believe what I have been missing. Involved in electronics and mechanics for last 45 years. Great site, and great people, looking forward to 2015.  

[Deggesty]

A belated welcome to the forums, power58 . You are coming in at a wonderful time in which it is comparatively easy to find answers to questions--63 1/2 years ago, when I began to learn more about railroading, there were not many resources available to the teen-ager who wanted to learn, and I was delighted to discover Trains magazine the following spring.

Employee timetables do give information about the roads--and each road has its own idea as to what all is covered.

I have found that the atlases published by Steam Powered Video (www.spv.co.uk) are quite useful in providing information as to what railroad goes (and, went) where.

Enjoy!

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

These are all on the line that runs from Joliet, IL to the southwest and then westerly to Streator (except Pequot, which I couldn't find using Google Maps - about 1 mile NE of Coal City ?).

At this very "granular" level, the detailed "Map of the Month" in the April 2014 issue of Trains may be of interest and useful:

"Two Ways - Chicago to Galesburg, Ill. - Your guide to BNSF Railway's two main lines between the Windy City and its Midwest hub". 

http://trn.trains.com/issues/2014/april-2014 

It's available for $5.99 plus shipping, etc. - see:

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/trn140401.html 

- Paul North. 

[Deggesty]

Paul_D_North_Jr

These are all on the line that runs from Joliet, IL to the southwest and then westerly to Streator (except Pequot, which I couldn't find using Google Maps - about 1 mile NE of Coal City ?).

At this very "granular" level, the detailed "Map of the Month" in the April 2014 issue of Trains may be of interest and useful:

"Two Ways - Chicago to Galesburg, Ill. - Your guide to BNSF Railway's two main lines between the Windy City and its Midwest hub". 

http://trn.trains.com/issues/2014/april-2014 

It's available for $5.99 plus shipping, etc. - see:

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/trn140401.html 

- Paul North. 

 

Paul, you made a good guess as to the location of Pequot--the ETT for the Eastern Lines, Illinois and Chicago Terminal Divisions No. 1 (10/27/85) shows it to be 1.0 miles east of Coal City. SPV's Great Lakes West atlas indicates that it is about two miles NE of Coal City. Incidentally, the UP and BNSF tracks between Joliet and Pequot are used by both roads.

[mudchicken]

power58

Thanks for the replies, I looked up BNSF Illinois division time table 1  year 1996 and time table 3 for the year 2000 could not find Coal city or Mazon listed. I did a search on Mazon Ill. M.P.  66.14 and got the Grade Crossing Inventory page. It listed Mazon on the Chillicothe Sub. Back to the time tables and Chillicothe sub has Pequot MP 57.2 and Verona MP 70.8 skipping Coal City MP 58.2 and Mazon MP 66.1 thats why I could not find the sub. I guess they were not important enough. It's all fun, discovering new things. Have only been a Railfan since August 2014, can't believe what I have been missing. Involved in electronics and mechanics for last 45 years. Great site, and great people, looking forward to 2015.  

 

Mazon and Coal City have been long demoted as stations, finding themselves as "tracks between stations" for years. 2002 and 2008 Employee TT's show them buried in the back of the pages of the TT for that sub. They are lucky to have blind siding signs, if even that. If not important to the dispatcher or the operating/revenue side of the railroad, they vanish quickly. Railroads could care less what the locals call some place in the timetable. Political boundaries do not matter in an Employee timetable. Can think of multiple small town that call themselves something different than what the railroad calls the same place.

[power58]

Thanks for your reply and the map info. Will check them out.