Galesburg and Ridgely, IL

[Anonymous]

[:)] Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am a Canadian hoping to go to Illinois soon to do some train watching. I sure don’t want to break any laws or trespass, so would like to know where safe (for me – I am an old guy – and the railroads) places to watch from.

I am going to the Galesburg area to watch BNSF. Good spots?

In the July TRAINS “Map of the Month” UP traffic shows heavy traffic between Nelson, IL and Ridgely, IL. I have been unable to find Ridgely on any of my maps. I am assuming it must be hear Springfield. Is there a good spot in Nelson or Ridgely or in that corridor?

[MP173]

Ridgely, Il is a tower in Springfield. It protects the junction of the Chicago and Illinois Midland and the UP (ex Gulf Mobile and Ohio line from Chicago to St. Louis).

As far as I know, the tower is still in operation. It was a few years ago. I am going to St. Louis tomorrow and probably should stop in to see if it is still operating. If you have an interest in towers, by all means go there. However, there will not be a large number of trains. The UP line to Chicago sees Amtraks and a few freights. There is some coal traffic on the CIM line and the Nelson line. The UP coal trains used to manuever on the CIM line to access the St. Louis line, but it has been years since I have been there.

If you are looking for big numbers of trains, go to Galesburg. A more interesting locale would be Chillicothe, about 45 minutes east on the Illinois River. Used to be a pretty big terminal there, perhaps crew change...memory isnt quite what it used to be. Go west out of Chillicothe and you will encounter Edlestein Hill which is a nice grade. There is a nice sweeping curve that is pretty photogenic in the afternoon.

Fort Madison, Iowa is an interesting railroad town. The river bridge controls barge traffic, rail traffic, and highway traffic. For the toll (50cents) it is worth it. Plus the crews change at Fort Madison....there is a Santa Fe steam locomotive, and the usual terminal activities.

I used to stay at the Super 8. That is where the crews stayed. There was a computer terminal which gave them info as to the trains and they could figure out their next outbound trip.

Good luck, enjoy yourself, and be safe. The sun is at very low angles these days and that makes for very dramatic opportunities...if the sun is shining!

ed

[scotttmason]

Galesburg also sports a small museum, static display steam locomotive, baggage car, mail car, caboose next to the depot (active service by Amtrak) on East end of their huge yard. An access road follows yard to south (views limited to first track rolling stock, this is the flat-lands) BUT a highway overpass cuts right over the engine service area and has wide shoulders for stopping.
Find a Delorme's Gazetteer for Il, service stations sell them, and you will have all the rail lines along with detailed road maps. Makes navigating the backroads much easier. I noticed that the old Il Central signal targets are disappearing fast...

[Anonymous]

When I was down there a week ago I spent several hours at a grade crossing at East Galesburg. There was a little gravel off to the side of the road. The police drove by several times and didn't seem to care, even at 9pm. The spot had cool sweeping turn and cross-over signals to the east. Cool spot, at least for me anyway!

Also, if you want to drive a little bit (15 minutes) go a little further east to Dahinda. The sweeping S-turn though here is spectacular and so is the Spoon River bridge. Trains roar through here at 70 per as they enter the river valley.

If you hadn't noticed, I like the old Sante Fe mainline, but if you want to catch some old Burlington line trains and some SF trains I suggest Cameron (5-10 minutes to the west) instead of downtown Galesburg because it can get pretty hectic. The land is wide open and you can see for miles. The junction here is a wonder in itself. Trains go in every direction and i'm still trying to figure out why i saw 4 trains moving from the old BN yard and then taking the SF east into Chicago.

Hope this helps.

[lammermeier]

On my two railfan trips to Galesburg in 1995 AND 2001, I spent almost 24 hours each time at a parking lot by a small warehouse (that never seemed to have any cars parked in it) where the SF goes under the Burlington main. You see both mainlines. At the Burlington bridge, the Savanna lines joins the Chicago line. The Burlington trains do not move fast but the SF trains do.

Lammermeier
Lima, Peru

[MP173]

Good news!

Ridgely Tower is still manned.

I was there yesterday, November 16th, on my way to St. Louis. The operator was in the tower and around 1215pm a southbound Amtrak slid by.

While I didnt stop at Lennox Tower in Mitchell, Il, it also appeared manned as there was a car parked in the lot. Still a few towers hanging on.

ed

[Anonymous]

The museum sits next to the little Amtrak station which has the apperance of a old time small town depot. This is just east of downtown on the BN main. There is also quite a bit of yard activity with the GP7/9 RCO units pulling blocks of outbound trains from the trimmer yard and shoving them into the deperature trks. This is as good as a spot as any in town. I worked on the GAL yd extra bd in 1999. A very nice clean town filled w/lots of history--rr and non-rr. Any trip to Knox County would be worth the visit.

[Anonymous]

In helping out people who don't know the area, it's not a bad idea to specify which subdivision "east of Galesburg" you're talking about. There's two, and the Mendota Sub is slower; people might need to know that.

[Anonymous]

There are several great places to watch trains in Galesburg. One is Peck Park, located east of the intersection of Peck St. and N. Pearl St. The ex-ATSF transcontinental line forms one boundary of the park and the ex-BN line to Chicago forms another. The downside is, no restrooms, you'll have to go to the nearby fast food places on Main St. to use the facilities.

Another location is Prospect, located near the intersection of W. Prospect St. and Cedar St. There is a nearby bridge that crosses the NE end of the yard, 3rd St. The city streets on the west side of the bridge offer multiple locations to watch traffic on the passenger main as well as trains entering and leaving the yard. Signage denotes BNSF property from public property, and no one will bother you as long as you stay on the public property.