Dave Kuntz posted the comment: "I'm reading about a steep siding that ended up on St. Charles' Main Street and had several runaways in "The Chicago Great Western Railway" pictorial book."
Jerry Hund commented on Dave's posting Here's the most famous runaway in St. Charles. Dave Kuntz Trolley Tracks on street? Jerry Hund Dave Kuntz yes, they belonged to the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River RR until 1935. Also, the CA&E Geneva Branch ended a short distance past this area. Jerry Hund Notice the empty lot on the corner. The Arcada Theatre would be built here. Air Supply is playing there tonight. |
Satellite plus Paint |
Street View |
1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
Dennis, My family came to St. Charles from Sweden in the 1890's. I grew up by the golf course at Pottowattomie. When I was a kid, (early 1960's) there used to be several sets of stairs and concrete lamp posts in the area of the Indian statue along the river. The stairs were a railroad coach car apart to give people riding the train to the Fox River stop on the Chicago Great Western access to the trail that goes under the the railroad bridge to the park. If you can find an old enough time table for the Chicago Great Western you can see that Fox River stop listed between St. Charles and Wasco but there's no arrival time listed for it. that's because the trains that went down the "hole in the wall" siding to that stop were special excursion trains to the park.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a second photo like the first one above, except the locomotive is lying on its side in front of the building. Does anyone know where I can find that photo? The address is 11 E. Main St. in St. Charles.
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