For those interested in maps, I've spent a little time putting together a Google map that shows every electric railway line in Illinois, at least as far as I can tell. The map is located here - it incorporates information from all of the Stephen Scalzo histories that have been posted to the blog, plus other lines that Stephen didn't write about: big systems like the IT, CA&E, North Shore, and CSL, as well as a smattering of small lines like Evanston and the Midlothian & Blue Island (don't ask) which for whatever reason didn't make the cut. Lines like the North Shore, South Shore, and Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake, which had significant trackage in Illinois but were also interstate, are included to their terminals, but lines in adjoining states located just over the border (Hammond Whiting & East Chicago, Clinton Davenport & Muscatine, etc.) were left off.
Friday, December 30, 2022
Map of Electric Railways in Illinois
This isn't a track map, just a route map, so plenty of minor bits of track - sidings, wyes, yards, etc - are omitted on purpose, though not necessarily with 100% consistency. And if I'm certain of anything, it's that this map is far from perfect. If you see anything that's incorrect or missing, please let me know!
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5 comments:
Fantastic map, and quality workmanship! The attention to detail is appreciated.
Very nice map. Concerning the Chicago Ottawa & Peoria, the article mentions the trackage re-route in Ottawa (as the "beltline") but is silent on a similar protect in Morris, the west end of which is very evident to this day. If you look on the map where Calhoun St. crosses the I&M Canal, just to the east of Calhoun is a "pedestrian bridge." In reality this is, or was, haven't been down there for a while, a through truss railroad bridge. From the map it's also evident how the trail sweeps to the south as it follows the ROW built to get the track on the former canal towpath. The east end of this belt is not evident from the map, but when I was biking this towpath in the eighties there was some bridge steel laying in the canal within a mile or two east. I, unfortunately, have no idea how the ends of this re-route were connected to the existing line through Morris, which is several blocks north of the canal on Benton St.
What a great resource! One complaint I’ve had with books I’ve read is the lack of enough maps. I hope you add the link to the permanent feature of Illinois Electric Railways.
Great map, thank you very much for putting it together.
One minor thing, I noticed there is no route shown for the Woodstock & Sycamore. Will this be added eventually?
Cliff McKay
Dennis, thanks for the mention! I'd be interested in old track maps of Morris if any can be found. It looks like the Prairie Box Board company, at the east end of Benton Street, was served by both the CO&P and by the CRI&P. The line along the south side of the canal looks like it originated there and only proceeded a couple of blocks west of Calhoun before terminating (on both sides of the canal - the main switching lead crossed the canal just south of Prairie Box Board and then a siding crossed back to the north side via the bridge you mention). But I don't have any details on that line, including whether it was originally built by the CO&P or CRI&P and whether it originally went further west. Help!
And Cliff, I don't plan to add the Woodstock & Sycamore. It and a few other lines (DuQuoin, Chillicothe, and the Macomb Industry & Littleton among them) never electrified so for consistency I'm keeping the map to actual electric railways. But a W&S map is included in Stephen Scalzo's article about the line.
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