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| 1938 Aerial Photo form ILHAP |
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| Jerry Jackson posted SF30C 9561 is going south by direction on the IHB, passing through Argo yard Summit, IL in 1991. The stone processor at the quarry in McCook can be seen in the background. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Jerry's posting One of the few towers in the Chicagoland area that still looks nice, Sept. 23, 2014. |
On a couple separate days in 1995 I captured a couple of shots of IHB’s Argo Tower in Summit, IL. The tower closed in the early 90’s but remained standing as the first floor is the headquarters for the CSX maintainer assigned to this line. Plus there’s a base station radio here on the second floor used by IHB dispatchers.The vehicle train in the first photo is on main one. The tracks to the right but left of the tower are the old yard. The two tracks to the right were, at that time, known as the Argo-Oakley industrial tracks. These were the original stock yard lead tracks that went to the stockyards in Chicago back in the day. They also connected to the NYC’s line to go into Ashland Ave which was their subsidiary Chicago Junction Railroad.At this point in time (1995) they went as far east as Harlem where they became a single track to Cicero Ave where it connected to the BRC line that went east to Lawndale. The old IHB right of way was sold to become part of the CTA’s Orange Line in 1986 and IHB gained rights in the parallel BRC. In the mid 90’s IHB was going to the stockyards area to switch a couple of industries. In 1996 the line went as far as Narragansett where they connected to the BRC and eliminated their own track between there and Cicero Ave.IHB used Conrail’s 49th Street industrial track (known as the 49 line) from Lawndale east and the parallel GTW main to reach the industries they switched. It was a once or twice a week move and usually an extra switcher called to make the move as it could easily take eight or more hours to get there and back account all the other traffic encountered at Narragansett, 55th Street, Lawndale, the 49 line and the GTW main. I made this move multiple times and recall more than once barely making it back to Argo before going dead with a total of ten or twelve cars handled all evening. We would gather our cars out of the new yard to build our train, get our air test and then wait on our turn to cross both IHB mains at Argo to get onto the stockyard branch and head east.
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| Flickr from John W. Barriger III IHB Album
Archer Ave?
Yes, before the overpass was built.
The southeast end of Argo Yard is in the left background and a crossing guard tower is in the right foreground.
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| Nick Hart posted CP 686 heads east through Argo with a DM&E SD40-2 (former Milwaukee Road) in charge. In Argo Yard, an SW1500/slug set waits to go about yard duties. At Blue Island, 686 will exit IHB rails and hop on the CSX Barr Sub. Summit, IL 02-23-15 [The two silos in the left background are part of Ingredion.] |
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| Chuck Sperlak posted IHB Argo Yard Here's a photo I took but never dated. It's taken at IHB's yard in Summit and a guess would be early 1980's. Today this area (known as the "old yard") is now a bulk railcar transfer facility. One must admit it looks like something on a model railroad.... |
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| Keith Pokorny posted CP 3018 leads CP train G-47 as it sits tied down at Newly Weds on the Northwest side of Chicago, IL 2/10/2018 Mark Simmons WoW!!! A daylight shot. They work this job after midnight. Mark Simmons Its the bakery. Newlyweds. Its about a mile north of Tower A5 on the C&M Sub. north of Fullerton Avenue. |
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| On of six photos posted by Jeffrey Bossaer Old railroad bridge over the Wabash River at Montezuma, Indiana converted to pedestrian traffic. I think I saw an old map that identified this as the Indiana Decatur and Western Railroad. Chad Quick I think the ID&W was folded into the B&O as this was their line from Indianapolis to Decatur [The 2005 SPV Map shows the B&O predecessor as Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western. It is possible that the ID&W was a predecessor to the CI&W.] |
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| March 2013 Photo by Brent Tindall, public domain |
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| Comment by Rob in Bridge Hunter |
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| Ethan Fouts posted Railroad bridge in Montezuma, Indiana.Now it’s a trail! |
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| Chiefwawatam.com Doug Taylor shared the above link This railroad car ferry served 3 different railroads to get their cars across the Straits of Mackinac from 1911 to 1984. I now own one of the 3 engines that was on it. This website is all about her and the fight I put up with the city council of St. Ignace, Mi. to save her from being scraped. |
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| Mark Andersen posted Soo Line 503A and LS&I 2302 are switching the Chief in St. Ignace on 3-1-78. Neil Plagens photo. Mick Enright: A Soo F-Unit, an LS&I U23C and the Chief Wawatam all in the same frame…what a catch! Not to be repeated in a million years! Mark Jorgensen: Was that pool power? Soo line tracks? Steve Horton: I believe that the Soo used to seasonally lease LS&I power during winters when LS&I didn't run much. And yes, the Soo Line (previously DSS&A) served St. Ignace. Holly Suerwier: I loved the Chief. She was beautiful, inside and out. Teak wood in her pilot house and her gorgeous boilers. |
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| 1964 St Ignace Quad @ 24,000 |
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| EarthExplorer: May 20, 1954 @ 17,000; AR1WE0000170152 |
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| EarthExplorer: Jun 2, 1953 @ 60,000; ARA001080172095 |
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| safe_image for Dan Mackey Flickr The old DSS&A/Soo Line railcar ferry dock in St. Ignace. this was taken just a few days before it collapsed back in 2011. |
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| MightyMac.org - The Mackinac Bridge & Straits of Mackinac posted The postcard shows ferry boats in St. Ignace in the early 1900s. Steve Lindau: Hand colored. Someone did a nice job coloring the water and waves, they look quite realistic. Glenn Merriam: I remember the Chief Wawatam rail ferry. They put her in use as a car ferry in very busy times. The traffic was backed up for miles on holiday weekends. |
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| Dave Cell posted Soo Line car ferry facility, Michigan, exact location not known, but somewhere in the Upper Peninsula between Trout Lake and the Soo. St. Ignace? Mid-1970s. Excuse the poor quality, scan from a faded old drugstore print. Never before published. Aaron Culloty: St Ignace. Mackinac Island is in the background. |
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Chuck Schwesinger FlickrUnloading the ChiefMaking the first pull off the Chief Wawatam on September 10, 1981 is SOO 4414 and 4427 at St. Ignace. If the boat was fully loaded the units and train would end up blocking State Street(the main street of St. Ignace) so the crews would normally take a couple cuts off the boat and pull over State street and shove back into the lakefront yard and then return for the last two cuts off the boat. |
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| Robert Campbell posted The Soo Line unloading the rail ferry Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace in February 1977. Mark Hershoren shared |
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| Rahn Stokes posted Railroad Car Ferry Chief Wawatam was built in 1911 for service at the Straits of Mackinaw between Michigan's two peninsulas. An excellent ice breaker it was loaned to the State of Michigan many times to break ice all the way up to Whitefish Bay. In 1946 the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw arrived to help break ice, so the Chief and the other Railroad Car Ferry St. Marie II were not used as much. These two ferries were owned by the Mackinaw Transportation Company, which was owed by the DSS&A, MC, and GR&I railroads. |
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| Greg Bunce posted The Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace, June 1977. Steve Horton: In basic black, that she wore for many years. Sometime in the 1980's they brought back the white stripe on the hull (at the main deck's window level, and the white (or were they silver?) stripes on the stacks. Greg Bunce shared |
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| Greg Bunce commented on Steve's comment Steve Horton tied up at Mackinaw City, September 14, 1986. |
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| Robert Campbell posted The 1911 built Chief Wawatam is shown as she leaves the St.Ignace dock for the trip across the Straits to Mackinaw City in March 1979 |
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| Robert Campbell posted The 1911 built railroad ferry Chief Wawatam is shown as she approaches the St. Ignace dock on a winters day in 1978. Richard Gebhart: Appears she reached the dock, Robert. Cool pic; unusual to see the Chief photographed without coal smoke. Les Bagley: Robert Campbell If she was only making one trip a week, the firemen would have already banked the fires as she was approaching the dock, so as not to use anymore coal than needed for the crossing. The boilers would still be hot enough to provide sufficient steam for landing maneuvers, and probably only one would be then kept just warm enough for use of heat radiators, winches, generators and other auxiliaries through the week. The others would only be fired minimally so they wouldn’t have to be completely relit each week, which could be a rather lengthy process. Les Bagley: Richard Gebhart she was designed by probably the most famous Great Lakes Marine Architect, Frank E. Kirby, who designed all the company’s other rail ferries too. He also designed the excursion steamer Tashmoo, the Bob-Lo boats Columbia and St. Clair, and almost all the D&C overnight steamers including City of Detroit III, just to mention a few. In this view the Chief is still entering her slip, as we can clearly see her bow, which is not yet obstructed by the slip’s wings or apron. Brian R. Wroblewski: She was the last hand bomber on the lakes but does anyone know which was the last hand fired freighter? John Hill[An engine of this ferry has been preserved in the Manitowoc maritime museum.] Dennis DeBruler shared The old steam powered railroad car ferries used to run year round so they were very effective at breaking ice. Craig Cloud: I read article on ferry, still hand fired until retired, correct? Dennis DeBruler: According to some comments on the post, this one got a stoker in 1965. But another one was hand fired until it was laid up for good in 1974. |
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| Robert Campbell posted The Chief Wawatam as seen from the shore near St. Ignace as she plows her way through the ice toward Mackinaw City in February 1977. [Michigan railroads no longer go to St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, let alone cross the strait.] |
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| Mark Anderson posted Soo Line switching the Chief In St. Ignace on 4-7-81. Neil Plagens photo. Michael Fochtman: One time my friend Terry and I went on a trip to Mackinac City to watch them load the Chief. Then raced across the bridge to St. Ignace ahead of it to watch them unload again. I was amazed how the ship would lean to one side as they loaded a string of cars down one side, then the train would pull out a bit, they would switch the tracks and it the train would push some more cars in on the other side and the ship would right itself and then lean the other. Quite a skill I'm sure, with rail cars having different weights and all. Matt Woods: The Chief is the greatest railroad ferry. My dad rode in it before the bridge was built and they would use it for autos during busy times. |
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| Lilac McFarland posted This photograph of the Mackinaw Straits Ferry, which shuttled people back and forth between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, was taken in 1950. This is how it was before the Mackinac bridge opened on November 1, 1957 and ended decades of the two peninsulas being solely linked by ferries. A year later, the bridge was formally dedicated as the "world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages. Photo courtesy of Pete Ridlon. Michigan Memories posted Mackinac Straits Ferry in 1950 |
For years I’ve been studying the history of Michigan State Ferries, the boats that connected Michigan’s peninsulas before the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957. But I’ve encountered a mystery!Between 1939 and 1951, the ferries landed at “Dock 2” in St. Ignace. Formerly the city’s coal dock, early photos (mostly from post cards) clearly show a water gap between the dock’s loading and unloading lanes. (Views 1 & 2). The colorized card is apparently quite early, and leaves out a lot of details like lamp posts, if any. The B&W view was postmarked in August, 1942.View 3 is a more modern image of the same dock, believed to date from around 1950. It shows that the gap between lanes was, at some point, covered over. But the mystery is when was this done? In all my research, I’ve found nothing about that additional Dock construction.Some background: Dock 2 was built in 1939 to accommodate the state’s growing fleet of former rail ferries that loaded from their sterns. Prior to that, all the earlier ferries loaded from side ports at Dock 1, just to the north. In 1951 ferry service moved to a much larger Dock 3, built 10 minutes closer to Mackinac City to speed traffic flow, and to accommodate the huge ferry Vacationland which entered service in 1952.After the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957 the ferry service ended. Dock 1 is now used by Starline ferries to Mackinac Island. Dock 2 became the St. Ignace city marina, and Dock 3 was divided into a Coast Guard station, landings for the Arnold Freight Company, and a State Highway garage.
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| Dan Cary commented on Steve's post Someone gave me a track chart of the lower side ... yeah! |
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| Dan Cary commented on Steve's post |
