CB&Q Bridge over Rock River in Sterling + Rock River

Frank Smitty Schmidt posted
CNW along the Rock River in Sterling IL.
Dustin Holschuh This is the Chicago Northwestern not the CB&Q. The tower that's in the distance is the tower that protected the crossing of the Q/CNW.
Frank Smitty Schmidt I'm not doubting you a bit. I was just taking my info from the caption. The photo was from the Illinois Digital Archives and we all know how the state of IL works...

The railfans see a steam locomotive, I see the CB&Q bridge and Lawrence Hardware in the background. And we see another reminder that C&NW does left-hand running.

During the same evening that I had trouble figuring out how CB&Q got through Amboy, IL, I had trouble figuring out how the same CB&Q branch got through Sterling, IL. The SPV Map shows CB&Q going across the river on an angle and staying parallel on the south side of  the C&NW until it turned towards the southwest at Agnew, IL. But the picture indicates the CB&Q crosses the river at a 90-degree angle and then crosses the C&NW at the tower. So I got an old aerial photo to verify the map is wrong.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

After the CB&Q crossed the C&NW, it turned sharply to the west and ran in Second Street until it curved south to join the C&NW. It must have had trackage rights on the C&NW between Sterling and Agnew.

Satellite

You can still see the diagonal wall of a building that avoided building on CB&Q property.

In Historic Aerials, the 1984 topo map clearly shows the CB&Q track running through town and the 1985 topo shows the bridge and town tracks removed.