Heading west from
Otto Tower was a route that fed three IC branches. My 1967 IC map does not have the Tracy branch. I had to use an older map, 1891. See (far) below for more info on this "branch of a branch."
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| <source of map is lost> |
Towns, and junctions, on this branch that I have noted so far:
"K. & S. W." stands for Kankakee & SouthWest. And the Tracy branch was added later to serve coal mines.
From the key on the above map:
Unfortunately, system maps are not geographically accurate. Fortunately, AJ Grigg's abandoned railroad map is quite accurate. The Tracy Branch is the green trace that goes northwest, then northish of Buckingham, IL. This branch, along with branches of the EJ&E and GM&O, were obviously built to serve the
Northern Illinois/Peabody Coal Company.
This post discusses where this branch crossed the NYC Kankakee Belt.
I use the following topo map with a green line to highlight the Bloomington District that went from Otto Tower on the IC mainline to Bloomington on the IC central charter route. The yellow line highlights the IC Pontiac District that used to go from the Bloomington District south of Kempton to the central charter route south of Minonk. The blue line is a remnant of the Wabash Railroad and is discussed later because it is now part of the Bloomer Line.
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| 1958 Peoria and Aurora plus 1957 Chicago Quadrangles @ 1:250,000 |
Zooming in on the west end of the Pontiac District we can see that the segment between Flanagan and the central charter route had already been abandoned by 1958. But what is really bizarre is that the route is labelled Illinois Central Gulf. ICG was not created until 1972!
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| 1958 Peoria Quadrangle @ 1:250,000 |
Treelines still mark the wye where the Pontiac District joined the Bloomington District. This junction was called Saxony. [
abanicp]
Now
the entire Pontiac District is abandoned and the
west end and the
east end of the Bloomington District is abandoned.
The middle part of the Bloomington District is now owned by the shortline
Bloomer Line (BLOL). This shortline also owns the former-Wabash route between the former-IC route and Gibson City that was abandoned by Norfolk Southern. CN still owns the track between Herscher and Otto Tower.
The [BLOL] railroad was formed by purchase of the former Illinois Central (now-CNIC) line from Hescher to Barnes, IL. The track from Kempton to Colfax, IL is in operation. The railroad started operation in June, 1985. In May, 1990, the railroad acquired from N&W (now-NS) the line from Strawn to Gibson City. [casr]
A user comment on
the Pontiac District abandonment is interesting:
This is the former Illinois Central Pontiac District. It was of light rail, as were the Bloomington (Bloomer Line) and Rantoul Districts, and most grade crossings were protected only by a crossbuck. Interlockings consisted of dwarf signals on the Pontiac District and sometimes, signals that required opening the interlocking cabin and operating levers to get a green or yellow dwarf signal.
The connections at Saxony and Minonk were merely switches to the Amboy District and Bloomington Districts of the Illinois Central. There were no signals, just a wooden telephone booth. There were horns to use in inclement weather or other unfavorable conditions at Pontiac, where also a Wabash branch crossed.
Of these three light-duty lines, only parts of the Bloomington District survive as the bloomer line.
George R. Carlisle
formerly Urbana , IL
1/13/2014
Another view of the abandonments. This includes other abandonments such as the Wabash route from Strawn to Manhattan.
Four of the resources I studied,
ChicagoRailfan,
Bloomer Line,
Shortlines and the above abandoned RR map indicate the Bloomer Line goes past Cullom. But I have to agree with
AbandonedRails that service ends at Cullom. That town does have an elevator with a yellow fall protector.
I found a cut of cars stored north of town until the track disappeared. It may have disappeared because it is under weeds and/or dirt because you can see track further north. But I see a truck, instead of track, on the RoW by the elevator in Kempton.
A branch of a branch
Anybody know anything about the IC RR branch that split off the Bloomington District at Buckingham IL (MP 75.7)? It was obviously built to tap the coal near Wilmington seeing where it ended and it seems to have been abandoned before the 1939 aerials I have. Any info be appreciated.
Karl Zumwalt: You are correct it went to the strip mines for coal and I think it was abandoned when the seam of coal ran out ? I work for the NS and I think where it crossed the Kankakee Belt Line it was called Clarke City Junction.
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Larry Candilas commented on his post
Here's a map from the state of Illinois showing the lay-out. |
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Dennis DeBruler commented on Larry's post
I'd noticed that "twig" when I was studying topo maps as to what all branched off from the Otto Tower. But I could not find it on IC maps except for this 1891 map. Unfortunately, I lost my source for this map. |
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