abandoned Illinois Terminal track south of Springfield, IL

[Lyon_Wonder]

nordique72

The route was not a greatly engineered line- the grades were non-compensated and involved multiple at grade crossings of other rail lines in the area- the worst part though is the line had multiple locations with street running segments (Gillespie, Staunton, etc.). The line has been largely as far as the ROW goes- mostly obliterated after abandonment- the line from Edwardsville south to Granite City is now a paved bike trail for Madison County (I spent way too much time messing around on my bike on this trail as a kid, and playing in the abandoned Bells substation along the trail by my house.) In addition to the old grade being used as a trail- the line north of Gillespie has a short segment still in use as the access track to the currently closed Monterrey Mine (now NS trackage). I think it's better to hitch the horse to re-double tracking the GMO main line through Alton instead of trying to resurrect this line.

 

Not exactly the type of tracks suited for 110mph or higher passenger trains that Amtrak wants to run from Chicago to St Louis. No doubt there's going to be additions and changes to UP's former GM&O tracks if HSR gets beyond the design-study stage.

[Bob-Fryml]

Hey Nordique72!

Being an unrepentant traction phreaque, a few years ago I was pokin' around the I.T. abandoned right of way north of Carlinville.  At that time there still was a brick substation building still standing, but I forget what small Illinois town it was near.  Did you ever see this building?

[nordique72]

I wouldn't hold your breath for this line to ever get rebuilt, Lyon. The ITC did roughly follow the GMO south to Carlinville, thereafter it cut over and sort of followed the CNW south through Virden, Gillespie and Benld, at which point it diverted south of Benld from the CNW then picked up along the Wabash south from Staunton through Decamp to Worden, where it then cut over on it's own through Hamel, Edwardsville and then down into the valley to Pontoon Beach, Granite City and St. Louis. The route was not a greatly engineered line- the grades were non-compensated and involved multiple at grade crossings of other rail lines in the area- the worst part though is the line had multiple locations with street running segments (Gillespie, Staunton, etc.). The line has been largely as far as the ROW goes- mostly obliterated after abandonment- the line from Edwardsville south to Granite City is now a paved bike trail for Madison County (I spent way too much time messing around on my bike on this trail as a kid, and playing in the abandoned Bells substation along the trail by my house.) In addition to the old grade being used as a trail- the line north of Gillespie has a short segment still in use as the access track to the currently closed Monterrey Mine (now NS trackage). I think it's better to hitch the horse to re-double tracking the GMO main line through Alton instead of trying to resurrect this line.

[Lyon_Wonder]

South of Springfield the old Illinois Terminal RR had tracks that paralleled the GM&O/UP tracks for most of way through, Chatham, Auburn, Carlinville to the St Louis area.  I think this track was abandoned in the 1960s-70s.  The only reason I know is because I have some old rail maps since the former ITC tracks were abandoned before my time.  I was thinking maybe most of the old ITC that parallels UP could be rebuilt for Amtrak passenger trains and HSR since freight traffic on UP's line is supposed to pick up in the next several years.  Of course I don't expect it to happen since the ITC's abandoned ROW has been reclaimed by private owners and built over in the last several decades, though upgrading UP's track by building overpasses/underpasses and adding an additional track will generate oppositions in some locales anyway.