Aban/PACY/Vandalia/Terre Haute & Peoria Bridge over Embarras River near Oakland, IL

(Bridge Hunter, no Historic Bridges, Satellite)

PACY = Prairie Central Railroad

Dave Honan posted two photos with the comment:

These two photos depict the main spans of the old Pennsy bridge spanning the Embarras River just west of Oakland. The Pennsy line [Terre Haute & Peoria] connected Paris and Decatur with the "Vandalia" mainline at Farrington. Today, the bridge is rusting away alongside IL-133. (July 11, 2004)

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A street view caught the river running a lot higher.

Street View

Roger Kujawa posted five images with the comment: "This bridge over the Embarras River is just west of Oakland, Illinois. It was on the Pennsylvannia Railroad line from Peoria to Terre Haute, Indiana. 11-7-20 it was one of the few remnants left of this line though the cornfields."

Seth Johnson: The tiny depot at Oakland is still standing and still has a PC track map hanging on the wall.

Roger Kujawa shared

Tom Fuller: There's also the Penn. depot and freight house in Oakland. Both on the north side of the ROW.

Kam Miller: Having lived in the area, I can help you out with the river pronunciation. M-Bar. That's it. No "E" or "S", etc... Just M-Bar.

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safe_image for Alcophile Flickr
Penn Central's ex-PRR branch between Farrington, IL (near Terre Haute, IN) and Peoria was not a busy route and consequently did not get a lot of attention from photographers. So enjoy this scene of an eastbound train crossing the Embarras River west of Oakland, IL. This line is long gone but the bridge still stands today. James Jeffrey photo, Chris Thompson collection.
Phil McCall shared with the comment: "Ex-PRR Peoria branch."

David Jordan: In August 1973, Penn Central probably operated a tri-weekly local between Terre Haute and Decatur. Farrington-Paris has been abandoned in 1972, so trains shifted to the ex-NYC route between Paris and Terre Haute. A local ran north from Decatur as far as Waynesville, and the section from there to Atlanta was out of service account of washouts in April 1973. An East Peoria-Atlanta turn, PAT-1/2, ran tri-weekly.

Jerry Taylor's A SAMPLING OF PENN CENTRAL says on page 376 that SL-11/12 operated between Paris and Decatur. He does not mention days of operation, but tri-weekly is likely. A photo shows a 22-car local near Oakland on June 29, 1972.