385.09773 '^'r 
 
 C91r 
 
 Ccc.l 
 
 CUNNINGHAM 
 
 RURAL RAILROADS
 
 Rural 
 Railroads 
 
 prelude 
 
 Trails to Rails 
 
 "i- ^- 1 

 
 PARTI 
 
 TRAILS to RAILS 
 
 By 
 
 CARLTON J. CORLISS 
 
 A Story of Transportation 
 Progress in Illinois 
 
 Reprinted through Special PenniBsion to 
 
 Eileen Smith Cunningham 
 
 Reprints 
 
 R.R.2 
 
 CaiTollton. Dlinois 62016 
 
 from Illinois Central Golf Corporation 
 
 J 
 
 UH?A«Y 
 UNIVtRSfTY JF lUJNOtS
 
 WITHIN two life-spans Illinois has been transformed 
 from an untamed wilderness into a great agricul- 
 tural and industrial commonwealth, rivaling in many re- 
 spects some of the foremost nations of the world. Most 
 of this development has taken place within the memory 
 of persons now living. 
 
 The secret of Illinois' remarkable progress is told in one 
 word — transportation. Transportation was the key that 
 unlocked the great natural resources of Illinois. It opened 
 the door of opportunity to the farmer, the miner, the 
 manufacturer and the merchant. Without good trans- 
 portation Illinois' agricultural, industrial and commercial 
 development could not have taken, place. 
 
 The strategic position of Illinois as the "keystone" of 
 the American railway system makes it the most accessible 
 state in the Union. Its principal city, Chicago, has long 
 been the world's greatest railway center. Radiating from 
 this mid-western metropolis are thirty-odd railway lines, 
 reaching out into every part of our great country and into 
 Canada, and providing direct connections at the seaports 
 with steamship lines to and from every part of the civilized 
 world. East St. Louis, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, 
 Decatur, Joliet, Bloomington, Centralia, Galesburg and 
 other cities of Illinois are also important transportation 
 centers. Through these busy gateways and over these 
 arteries of steel flows a commerce of far greater magni- 
 tude than was carried on in the entire country before rail- 
 roads were introduced. 
 
 In the following pages we shall trace briefly the develop- 
 ment of transportation in Illinois from the earliest times 
 to the present day, and we shall consider the part which 
 railway transportation has played in the making of this 
 prairie state. 
 
 C. J. C. 
 
 Reprint - 1956
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PARTI 
 Chapter 
 
 1. Native Trails 3 
 
 2. Pioneer Routes and Modes of Travel 6 
 
 3. Early Trails to Chicago and Galena 12 
 
 4. Internal Improvements 15 
 
 5. The Stage Coach Era 19 
 
 6. Dawn of the Railway Era 23 
 
 7. Illinois Is Transformed 29 
 
 8. A Great Railway Center 33 
 
 9. Growth of Railroads 37 
 
 10. Railway Progress 39 
 
 PARin 
 
 11. Railroads in Greene County 47 
 
 12. Historical Excerpts 52 
 
 13. Hillview - Westward Across The River 55 
 
 14. Roodhouse - Railroad Town 57 
 
 15. News Chronology of Railroads 59
 
 Arrival of the First Express Train 
 From a drawing by Robert E. Lee, by courtesy of Railway Express Agency. Inc.
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Native Trails 
 
 WHEN the French explorers and mis- the Ohio, opposite the present city of Louis- 
 
 sionaries visited the Illinois country in vill^, Ky., to a crossing of the Wabash River 
 
 the latter part of the Seventeenth Century, at or near Vincennes and thence westward 
 
 they were impressed by the vastness of the across Illinois along a route now closely paral- 
 
 prairies, the beauty of the forests and the lelled by the Baltimore & Ohio Railfoad to 
 
 abundance of animal life. Especially were they St. Louis. 
 
 impressed by the strange "wild cattle" which The vicinity of old Fort Massac, where the 
 
 traveled in great herds, sometimes in single city of Metropolis now stands, was the Ohio 
 
 file, sometimes plunging in wild stampede. River terminus of several buffalo paths, which 
 
 These "wild cattle" were the American extended northward and westward through 
 
 buffaloes — the first "trail blazers" in the west- Johnson and Pope counties. 
 
 ern country. In their annual migrations from The Indians also used many trails of their 
 
 the far western plains to the salt licks of own making in their travels to and from their 
 
 Kentucky and the rich feeding grounds of the numerous villages and water routes within and 
 
 Allegheny slopes, they 
 followed beaten trails 
 which broadened into 
 wide roads on high 
 ground and narrowed 
 to slender paths in the 
 bottomlands. 
 
 From time immemo- 
 rial these buffalo paths 
 were used by the Illi- 
 nois Indians in their 
 overland travels to and 
 from the Mississippi, 
 Wabash and Ohio riv- 
 ers. Later thev became 
 
 beyond the present 
 borders of Illinois. The 
 red men usually lo- 
 cated their villages on 
 or near the banks of 
 rivers or streams and 
 used these natural 
 water courses exten- 
 sively in traveling from 
 place to place. The 
 light bark canoe, ex- 
 tensively used by the 
 Wisconsin and Michi- 
 gan Indians, was a lux- 
 ury among the Illinois 
 
 the pathways of the The Fibst TR.\rL-BL.^zrRS— Buffalo trails became the red man's tribes, aS the birch tree 
 .„_ .v„ .' „„„ J paths and the white nan's roads. From Harper's Sen- Monthly .f^_-„ ,,.U;,^V> *.U« K-,_l, 
 
 unter, the trapper and It^ga^ine, ]^.^ry, \m,hy coun,.y oi Harper's Magazmc. ^^om \\ hich the bark 
 
 the fur trader. Some was obtained did not 
 
 of them developed into important routes of grow in Illinois. A more common craft in 
 
 pioneer travel. Illinois was the hollow log canoe, or "dugout," 
 
 Daniel Boone and other pathfinders in the heavier and slower than the bark canoe, 
 
 region west of the Alleghenies followed these Just as the white men have centers, like 
 
 great game trails for long distances through Chicago, East St. Louis and Peoria, from 
 
 the wilderness. The old "Saint Louis Trace," which railroads and highways radiate, so the 
 
 believed to be the first overland route used by 
 the Americans to reach the Illinois country, 
 was originally a buffalo trail, worn deep by 
 the hoofbeats of innumerable herds. This his- 
 toric trail, also called the "Mncennes Trail" 
 in olden davs, extended from the Falls of 
 
 Indians had their radial points, or transporta- 
 tion centers. One such center was in the vicin- 
 ity of Metropolis, on the Ohio River; another 
 was near the mouth of the Kaskaskia River; 
 another was near the site of Danville, on the 
 Big Vermillion River, where the important
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Piankishaw Indian village was located. Simi- 
 lar focal centers of Indian travel were at 
 the mouth of the Chicago River, at Black 
 Hawk's village on the Rock River, at the con- 
 fluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers 
 and at the northwest corner of the state in the 
 vicinity of Galena. 
 
 Some native trails were well-beaten foot- 
 paths; others, but infrequently used, were so, 
 faint that even the most experienced hunter 
 did not venture forth upon them without the 
 aid of an Indian guide. 
 
 Of all the Indian trails in Illinois, the one 
 most frequently used by the early explorers 
 and fur traders was the "Portage Path," 
 bridging the gap between the headwaters of 
 the Chicago and Illinois rivers. The Chicago 
 portage varied in length, depending upon the 
 stages and conditions of the rivers. In periods 
 of heavy rain and swollen streams, the navi- 
 gable waters of the two systems almost joined, 
 while in dry seasons a land journey of from 
 fifty to one hundred miles was sometimes 
 necessary. 
 
 Linking as it did the two most extensive 
 systems of natural waterways on the North 
 American Continent — the Great Lakes and the 
 Mississippi River systems — the importance of 
 the Chicago portage as a trade and travel 
 route was second to no other man-made thor- 
 
 oughfare in the days of exploration, conquest 
 and early settlement in this region. 
 
 The story of this historic old trail is one of 
 intense romantic interest. Doubtless it was 
 the warpath of the savage long before the com- 
 ing of the Europeans. It bore the first white 
 men ever to set foot upon Western soil. Along- 
 this narrow way plodded Father Marquette, 
 Joliet, La Salle, the "Columbus of the West," 
 and his faithful Tonti, Father Hennepin, St. 
 Cosme and other historic figures upon their 
 missions of discovery and exploration,. It was 
 the path of the sad remnant of La Salle's 
 expedition en route to Quebec with news of 
 their intrepid leader's tragic death. It was the 
 route of the French pioneers — the first settlers 
 of Kaskaskia, Cahokia and St. Louis. For a 
 century or more it was a favorite route of 
 priest, trader and trapper. 
 
 Another native path of unusual interest was 
 the "Great Sauk Trail," which extended from 
 the Indian villages near the present site of Rock 
 Island eastward through the Rock and Fox 
 River valleys, around the southern shore of 
 Lake Michigan toward Maiden, in Canada, 
 where the Sauk and Fox tribes went each 
 year to receive their annuities from the 
 British Government. This famous old trail 
 was used extensively by white men in the 
 romantic days of the fur trade. 
 
 The Explorers — Rivers were the main pathways of explorer, priest and trader in their efforts to plant the seeds of civilization in this 
 far western country. From The Story of Chicago, by Joseph Kirkland.
 
 NATIVE TRAILS 
 
 Native paths also linked old Kaskaskia with 
 Fort Massac and the Rock River country. 
 The Potawatomies, occupying northeastern 
 Illinois, were connected with the Winnebagoes 
 in the Rock River country by the "Kiswaukcn 
 Trail," which extended from the Marpocs 
 Indian village on the Kankakee River to the 
 vicinity of Rockford. A similar overland trail 
 extended from the Marpocs village toward the 
 great Piankishaw Indian village near where 
 the city of Danville now stands. 
 
 The "Sauk and Kickapoo Trail" linked the 
 Danville country with the Great Kickapoo \'il- 
 lage in the Livingston County region. The old 
 "Des Moines Trail," known to white men as 
 early as 1680, led from the mouth of Bureau 
 Creek, on the Illinois River, southwestwardly 
 to the banks of the Mississippi River in Han- 
 cock County. 
 
 Green Bay Road, leading from Chicago 
 northward through Evanston, Wilmette and 
 Lake Forest, began as the "Green Bay Trail" 
 of the Indians and was one of the principal 
 routes of pioneer travel to and from eastern 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Some time after Kaskaskia and Detroit were 
 founded by the French, in 1700 and 1701, respect- 
 ively, an overland trail connecting the two and 
 know^n as the "Kaskaskia and Detroit Trail," 
 was blazed across the state in a northeasterly 
 direction through the present counties of Wash- 
 ington, Marion, Fayette, Effingham, Cumber- 
 land, Coles and Edgar to the Indian villages 
 near Danville and thence to Detroit. 
 
 At the salt springs, west of Danville, the 
 trace formed a junction with an ancient Indian 
 trail leading southward to Vincennes — thus 
 linking the three foremost centers of French 
 influence in the Great Lakes and upper Missis- 
 sippi Valley regions — Detroit, Kaskaskia and 
 Vincennes. 
 
 In those far-off days, however, travel and 
 trade in Illinois were confined principally to the 
 Illinois, Mississippi, Wabash, Kankakee and 
 other water routes. French traders and trap- 
 pers employed the bateau and the pirogue 
 chiefly in transporting their furs and merchan- 
 dise. These were open boats, considerably 
 larger than the skiff or Indian canoe, and were 
 each capable of carrying two or three tons' 
 burden. 
 
 .^■..j^^. 
 
 Indians on the Move — The Iravois was probably the first "vehicle" 
 in the Mississippi Valley. From Harper's New Monthly Maga::ine, 
 February, 1868, by courtesy of Harper's Magazine. 
 
 Aside from the French settlements at Kas- 
 kaskia, Cahokia and Prairie du Rocher, near 
 the Mississippi River in southern Illinois, and a 
 few small fur depots in northern Illinois, the 
 Illinois country remained, during the period of 
 French and British occupation, an unbroken 
 and largely unexplored wilderness in which the 
 red men held undisputed dominion. 
 
 Until the early years of the Nineteenth Cen- 
 tury outbound commerce in the Illinois country 
 consisted almost exclusively of furs purchased 
 from the Indians at river trading posts and 
 shipped northward, principally by way of the 
 Chicago and Wisconsin rivers, to the great fur 
 depot at Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, and 
 thence to Montreal by way of the Ottawa River 
 portage. 
 
 This commerce was extensive. Trading posts 
 on the Illinois River alone forwarded to Macki- 
 nac in one year 13,500 raccoon and muskrat 
 skins, 10,000 deer skins, 500 cat and fox 
 skins, 400 otter skins and 300 pounds of beaver 
 skins. Barter goods shipped from Mackinac to 
 the Illinois country for use in purchasing furs 
 from the Indians consisted principally of 
 cloth, guns, ammunition, flints, liquors, beads, 
 needles, thread, mirrors, axes, hatchets, kettles, 
 knives, tobacco and toys. 
 
 To the several assembling and distributing 
 points for this trade came the Indians by canoe, 
 on foot, on ponies, or with pony- or dog-drawn 
 travois, to exchange furs for articles or trinkets 
 that pleased their fancy. 
 
 The native trails leading to these trading 
 posts eventually became the routes for some of 
 the principal highways in Illinois.
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 1 
 
 IN 1800 the Northwest Territory was divided 
 into two parts — one embraced the territory 
 which later became Ohio and the eastern half 
 of Michigan; the other, known as Indiana Ter- 
 ritory, embraced the region now forming Indi- 
 ana, western Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and 
 that part of Minnesota lying east of the Mis- 
 sissippi River. 
 
 The entire Illinois country embraced fewer 
 than 2,500 souls, exclusive of Indians. These 
 were mostly French at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. 
 Included in the number were a group of Vir- 
 ginians, who in 1782 had established New 
 Design, the first important American settlement 
 in the Illinois country, about twenty-five miles 
 northwest of Kaskaskia. 
 
 Illinois was then on the far western frontier, 
 bordering on the Spanish territory of Louisi- 
 ana. A perilous journey of several weeks 
 through unbroken wilderness, across moun- 
 tains and unbridged streams and against the 
 strong currents of the rivers lay between these 
 courageous pioneers and the homes and loved 
 ones they had left behind. Their feeling of 
 isolation in this new country was expressed in 
 a letter which Governor St. Clair wrote to his 
 friend Alexander Hamilton: 
 
 "In compassion to a poor devil banished to 
 
 fg^-i^^-'. 
 
 Ancient Kask.\skia — A capital and commer'-ial center before 
 Chicago and Springfield were founded, Kaskaskia, in Randolph 
 County, dating from 1700, is believed to be the oldest permanent 
 settlement in the Mississippi Valley. Courtesy, Chicago Historical 
 Society. 
 
 another planet," he wrote, "tell me what is 
 doing in yours, if you can snatch a moment 
 from the weighty cares of your office." 
 
 In that early period there were two well- 
 established routes of travel from the States to 
 the Illinois country. One was the Wilderness 
 Road, through Cumberland Gap, and thence 
 through Crab Orchard to the Falls of the Ohio, 
 from which point the trip to Illinois was usu- 
 ally made by flatboat or keelboat. The other 
 route was a pack trail through the mountains 
 to Pittsburgh or Wheeling" and thence down 
 the Ohio River. 
 
 Families too poor to afTord the luxury of a 
 keel- or flatboat journey down river followed 
 native overland trails, employing local boat- 
 men to ferry them across the Ohio and other 
 rivers which could not be forded. Reaching 
 Illij^ois opposite Vincennes, or at Shawnee- 
 town or Fort Massac, these early pioneers 
 followed winding" native trails on foot or on 
 horseback through the dense forests of south- 
 ern Illinois to the American settlements on the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Such a journey, beset with many perils and 
 hardships, frequently consumed four or five 
 weeks' time. The savage was still a menace 
 to be reckoned with. Bears still roamed the for- 
 ests, and the blood-curdling cry of prowling 
 wolves rendered nights a horror to even the 
 most courageous. To avoid the perilous over- 
 land journey some of those using river trans- 
 portation completed the trip to the settlements 
 by water, a difficult undertaking on the Missis- 
 sippi because of the opposing current of the 
 river. 
 
 Mail arrivals at the Illinois settlements were 
 then of rare occurrence. There was no mail 
 service of any description west of Vincennes. 
 Letters passing between the Illinois settle- 
 ments and the outside world were intrusted 
 to accommodating travelers or to river boat- 
 men. Incoming mails, conveyed in the same 
 manner, were infrequent and irregular in the 
 extreme, and it was not uncommon for letters 
 to be three to six months old on reaching their 
 destination.
 
 PIONEER ROUTES AND MODES OF TRAVEL 
 
 "The Boat That N'e\-er RErruRN-ED" — The fla: ■.■ . .^ a down-river craft, too cumbersome and unwitld • pelled against the 
 
 swift river currents. This is how many pioneer families came to southern Ilhnois, bringing household etfects, implements, horses, 
 cows, pigs, dogs, chickens, ready to start life anew in a new land. From The Story of Chicago, by Joseph Kirkland. 
 
 When Fort Dearborn was established at the 
 mouth of the Chicago River in 1803, the near- 
 est postofFice was at Fort \\'ayne, 150 miles 
 distant, and for several years thereafter the 
 mail was brought in to the fort once a month 
 by foot messenger. This was probably the first 
 regular mail service within the present borders 
 of Illinois. 
 
 By 1805 several small American settlements 
 had been established in the bottom lands along 
 the Mississippi River between Kaskaskia and 
 Cahokia, and the need of orderly communica- 
 tion between these isolated outposts and the 
 seat of territorial government led to the estab- 
 lishment in that year of the first mail route in 
 southern Illinois — between X'incennes and 
 Cahokia. 
 
 Shawneetown. destined to play an important 
 role in the early development of Illinois, was 
 settled about this time by a group of Southern- 
 ers engaged in salt-making in the nearby salines. 
 and in 1806 a mail route was established 
 between that settlement and Vincennes. In 
 1810 government post routes were extended 
 to Kaskaskia, then the leading commercial 
 center in the Illinois country, and to St. Louis, 
 then an important fur depot of about 2,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 A "post route" in frontier days might be 
 merely a narrow trail or bridle path, marked 
 
 through the forest by notches cut in the trees 
 and through prairie country by crude signs on 
 poles driven into the ground. The mail courier 
 usually traveled on horseback, with pouches 
 suspended from the saddle and with his faith- 
 ful musket and hunting knife always within 
 instant reach. Mail arrivals were infrequent 
 and often irregular, especially during winter 
 and spring or in periods of Indian trouble. 
 
 One of the famous mail couriers of early 
 days was young Harry Wilton, who later 
 became a United States marshal. During the 
 troublous times of the second war with Eng- 
 land, when the Indians were on the rampage 
 and none but the bravest of the brave dared to 
 venture far from the settlenjents, Wilton, then 
 a mere boy, thrilled the settlers by carrying 
 the mails on a wild French pony through 
 the enemy's country from Shawneetown to 
 Cahokia. 
 
 When Illinois was admitted to statehood in 
 1818 its population had reached 40,000, con- 
 fined almost entirely to narrow rims along the 
 Mississippi, Wabash and Ohio rivers in the 
 southern part of the state. More than nine- 
 tenths of Illinois was a "howling wilderness 
 over which the savage enjoyed undisputed 
 dominion, outnumbering the whites three to 
 one." Kaskaskia was the state capital. 
 
 Aside from the fur trade, the external com-
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 merce of the state was of small consequence. 
 A few trips were being made each season to 
 New Orleans by flatboats, keelboats or 
 pirogues to exchange peltries, corn, flour, 
 bacon, feathers and other products for tea, 
 coffee, sugar, spices, cloth and other articles of 
 small bulk. Such trips were hazardous in the 
 
 The Keelboat — In the early days this was a popular river craft 
 for travelers. The cabin was fitted with sleeping bunks, but pas- 
 sengers provided their own bedding. From History of Trcnii'l in 
 America, by Seymour Dunbar, copyright 1915. used by special 
 permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. 
 
 extreme. Submerged logs, treacherous snags, 
 sand bars and swirling currents took their 
 annual toll of boats and men. Fortunate, 
 indeed, was the crew that completed the round 
 trip within six months. 
 
 The trip downstream, barring accidents, was 
 made in a comparatively short time, but on the 
 return trip the hardy boatmen toiled with long 
 poles and oars from sunup to sundown to make 
 headway against the swift current. Only men 
 of iron sinew were fit for the ordeal. Flatboats, 
 many of which were little more than rafts, 
 were turned adrift in New Orleans or sold for 
 firewood. Flatboatnien either returned home 
 along the old Natchez Trace and other 
 trails leading to Illinois or worked their pas- 
 sage upstream as oarsmen or polesmen on 
 returning pirogues or keelboats. The overland 
 trip was not without its dangers from un- 
 friendly Indians, wild animals. Or, still worse, 
 from murderous highwaymen who lay in wait 
 to relieve the returning boatmen of their pro- 
 ceeds from the trip. 
 
 The first steamboat on western waters was 
 the "New Orleans," which appeared at Shaw- 
 neetown, Golconda and Fort Massac in 1811-12 
 en route from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, but 
 it was not until 1817 that the first successful 
 
 steamboat trip was made upstream from New 
 Orleans to the Falls of the Ohio. The first 
 steamboat to ascend the Mississippi River 
 above the mouth of the Ohio was the "General 
 Pike," which reached St. Louis in the same 
 year. By 1820 there were seventy steamboats 
 on western waters, and by 1830 more than 200 
 were reported. 
 
 The introduction of steamboats greatly 
 facilitated river transportation, especially 
 against the river currents, from New Orleans 
 to Illinois and from Illinois to Louisville, 
 Wheeling and Pittsburgh, but the cost of 
 steamboat travel and freightage was so high 
 that the use of flatboats and keelboats con- 
 tinued undiminished for many years. Abraham 
 Lincoln, it will be recalled, piloted a flatboat 
 from the Sangamon River to New Orleans as 
 late as 1831. 
 
 In those days transportation costs by either 
 land or water were so high as to impede both 
 immigration and commerce. 
 
 In 1817 the steamboat fare from Shawnee- 
 town to New Orleans was around $55. From 
 New Orleans to Shawneetown, against the 
 river current, the fare was $110, and about a 
 month was required for the journey. 
 
 The cost of overland travel varied. In 1822 
 a trip was made by wagon from Vandalia to 
 Shawneetown and Kaskaskia and return, for 
 which about 22 cents a mile was paid. Even 
 as late as 1852 Colonel R. B. Mason, chief 
 engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, and a 
 
 PIKSI DOAI BLILT OX THE W ESTERS WATERS, 1812. 
 
 The "New Orle.^ns," of Pittsburgh, passed Shawneetown, 
 Golconda and Fort Massac in the winter of 1811-12, en route to 
 X'ew Orleans. From History of Travel in America, by Seymour 
 Dunbar, copyright 1915. used by special permission of the pub- 
 lishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
 
 PIONEER ROUTES AND MODES OF TRAVEL 
 
 companion arranged for a liveryman to carry 
 them from Decatur to Springfield, a distance 
 of forty miles, for $15. This was at the rate 
 of 175^2 cents a mile for each person. 
 
 The cost of shipping freight was correspond- 
 ingly high. In 1817 freightage from Pitts- 
 burgh down-river to Shawncetown was at 
 the rate of $20 a ton, while the cost of trans- 
 portation upstream from Shawneetown to 
 Pittsburgh was as high as $70 a ton. The same 
 ton of freight could be shipped from Shawnee- 
 town down-river to New Orleans for only $20, 
 which explains why most of Illinois' outbound 
 commerce of that period moved to New 
 Orleans instead of to Pittsburgh and the East. 
 
 The cost of land freightage in Illinois in that 
 period was usually at the rate of $10 per ton 
 for each twenty miles. 
 
 It is readily seen that these prohibitive 
 transportation costs checked the agricultural 
 and industrial growth of the interior of Illinois. 
 All important settlements were then located 
 on the rivers, and the farther inland one was 
 located the greater was the cost of getting his 
 grain and other products to market. 
 
 High transportation costs also caused a 
 great variation in commodity prices in differ- 
 ent parts of the country. In 1825, for instance, 
 wheat sold in Illinois for 25 cents a bushel 
 while it brought as much as 87 cents in Vir- 
 ginia. In 1829 flour sold in St. Louis for 
 around $5 a barrel while it was costing nearly 
 twice that amount in Galena, the difference 
 being due largely if not w^hoUy to transporta- 
 tion costs. 
 
 Although the cost of transportation gradually 
 decreased as highway and river facilities were 
 improved, it was left to the railroads to bring 
 cheap all-year-round transportation to the great 
 agricultural regions of the interior. 
 
 The federal and state governments were 
 mutually interested in the improvement of 
 transportation facilities in the unsettled inte- 
 rior of Illinois. Title to about nine-tenths of 
 the total area of the state belonged to the fed- 
 eral government. These wild lands were 
 offered to settlers at $2 an acre until 1820, and 
 thereafter at $1.25 an acre, but there were few 
 buyers because of the lack of transportation. 
 
 These vast tracts of wild lands could not 
 be taxed by the state or by local governments 
 so long as they remained unsold and unoccu- 
 
 pied. The desire of the federal government 
 to dispose of the public domain to settlers 
 influenced its decision to extend the National 
 Road, sometimes called the Cumberland Road, 
 westward from Wheeling, through Ohio, In- 
 diana and Illinois to the Mississippi River 
 in the vicinity of St. Louis. 
 
 This great highway project was started at 
 Cumberland, Md., in 1811 and was completed 
 to the Ohio River at Wheeling in 1818. Its 
 extension westward was urged by Henry Clay 
 and others interested in the West, and in 1820 
 Congress authorized the survey. 
 
 In the meantime the capital of Illinois had 
 been transferred from Kaskaskia to a point on 
 the Kaskaskia River which was later fixed as 
 the crossing of the National Road, one of the 
 chief routes of pioneer travel into the new 
 West. The federal project, which required 
 
 From early maps, Chicago Historical Society collection, E>ana's 
 Description of Bounty Lands ( 1819) and other sources. A map 
 of 1823 shows roads or trails from Edwardsville to Vandalia, 
 Illinoistown to Ripley, and Edwardsville to the Chicago por- 
 tage route via Peoria.
 
 10 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 many years to complete, terminated at Van- 
 dalia. Beyond that point state roads were used. 
 
 Vandalia, a mere hamlet of a few cabins, 
 became the capital of Illinois in 1819, and old 
 Kaskaskia, once the rival of New Orleans and 
 St. Louis — a gay capital and commercial center 
 before Chicago and Springfield were founded — 
 was left to its proud memories. 
 
 Crude trails or narrow bridle paths were the 
 only semblances of roads leading to the new 
 capital. Until a year or two later, when a wagon 
 road between Edwardsville and \ andalia was 
 opened, the nearest highway worthy of the 
 name was the old "Saint Louis Trace," the 
 pioneer mail route, extending across the state 
 from Vincennes through Lawrenceville, Mays- 
 ville, Salem, Carlyle and Cahokia to the Mis- 
 sissippi River opposite St. Louis. 
 
 For many years this old post road was 
 one of the most important thoroughfares in 
 Illinois, and, indeed, in the whole western 
 country. A travelers' guide, published in Cin- 
 cinnati in 1819, lists this venerable highway 
 as "Route No. 1," which formed an unbroken 
 overland trail from Maine to the upper Missouri 
 River country. 
 
 Over this route was operated the first stage 
 coach line ever to link Illinois with the East, 
 and probably the first coach line in the state. 
 This line was established in 1820 and ran 
 between Louisville and St. Louis. Through 
 eastern connections it is said to have carried 
 passengers and mails from Baltimore and other 
 eastern cities to St. Louis in only three weeks. 
 Taverns and "relay stations" were located every 
 fifteen or twenty miles. Many descendants of 
 the stage drivers still live in Salem and other 
 towns along the route. 
 
 In this period Shawneetown and Golconda 
 were important river gateways for migrants 
 
 from Kentucky, Tennessee and other Southern 
 states as well as for those coming down river 
 from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. 
 
 An important route of pioneer travel was 
 from Shawneetown through Equality, Mc- 
 Leansboro, Mount Vernon and Carlyle to 
 Edwardsville and Alton. From the latter point 
 a trail led northwestwardly to the Military 
 Bounty Tract, west of the Illinois River. 
 
 A road led from Edwardsville through Belle- 
 ville to Harrisonville, on the Mississippi River. 
 Edwardsville was also connected with Har- 
 risonville by a road through Cahokia, and still 
 another road led from Edwardsville direct to 
 Kaskaskia. Kaskaskia was also reached by 
 four other roads — one from Harrisonville, one 
 from the "St. Louis Trace" west of Maysville, 
 one from Shawneetown through Frankfort 
 and Columbus, and one from Fort Massac 
 and Golconda through Vienna. The latter, 
 known as the "Kaskaskia Trail," was the route 
 of some of the first American settlers in the 
 Illinois country. A wagon trail also connected 
 Shawneetown with Albion, in Edwards County. 
 
 Maps in the early 1820s show roads linking 
 Vienna with Jonesboro, Brownville with Jones- 
 boro and America, and Illinoistown with the 
 Edwardsville-Vandalia road at Ripley or Green- 
 ville. 
 
 By 1821 the fertile Sangamon Valley was 
 attracting settlers. Sangamon County was 
 organized in that year, and a log court-house 
 was erected on the site of the present city of 
 Springfield. Soon thereafter a wagon trail 
 was opened between that point and Vandalia. 
 A trail was also broken from Edwardsville to 
 Springfield and extended northward to the 
 Peoria outpost on the Illinois River. As the 
 first thoroughfare linking northern and south- 
 ern Illinois, this pioneer trail figured promi- 
 nently in the early history of the state.
 
 PIONEER ROUTES AND MODES OF TRAVEL 
 
 11 
 
 Emicr.\nts Halt for the Night — Night after night spent in the 
 open, day after day of slow progress across the prairies, the 
 pioneers pressed on to contribute their bit to the making of 
 Illinois and the Great West. Courtesy, Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 In a period of six years, from 1819 to 1825. 
 the Illinois legislature organized thirty new 
 counties, eighteen of which were in the interior 
 of the state. A lone settler's cabin might be 
 designated as a county seat, but presently that 
 cabin would be surrounded by a sizable clus- 
 ter of crude structures, including a county 
 court-house, a jail, a tavern, two or three stores 
 of a sort and in time a postoffice. With few 
 exceptions the county seats also became the 
 business and transportation centers of the 
 counties. 
 
 A few stout-hearted pioneers were now 
 penetrating far inland and hewing their homes 
 out of the timber along the streams. John 
 Hendrix and John Dawson erected the first 
 cabins within the present confines of ^McLean 
 County in 1822. In the same year Henry 
 Sadorus settled in what is now Champaign 
 County, many miles from the nearest neighbor. 
 
 These first settlers were far from markets, 
 and the pathless prairie was their only high- 
 way. The present generation can never know 
 the loneliness of these prairie pioneers, the pri- 
 vations and hardships they endured, the difh- 
 culties they experienced in getting to and from 
 distant trading centers. Before 1825, when the 
 first grist mill was erected at Blooming (jrove, 
 settlers were obliged to drive overland, 
 through sloughs and unbridged streams, to 
 
 Attica on the Wabash River, 125 miles distant, 
 to have their wheat ground into flour, or to 
 Green's Mill, near where Ottawa now stands, 
 eighty miles away. 
 
 Long trips were sometimes made to obtain 
 salt. Plow irons were carried fifty or sixty 
 miles on horseback to be sharpened, three or 
 four days being required for the round trip. 
 In the winter families were sometimes com- 
 pletely isolated for weeks at a time. 
 
 Settlers raised their own wool and flax, 
 tanned their own leather and made their own 
 boots and shoes. The women of the prairies 
 spun and wove their own cloth, made jeans 
 and other clothing and knit heavy wool gar- 
 ments to protect against the chill blasts of 
 winter. 
 
 Aside from Indians and wolves, the prairie 
 travelers had to keep constantly alert for 
 rattlesnakes. So common were these reptiles 
 in pioneer days that a horseman was known 
 to kill as many as twenty-five in a single day 
 with a cattlewhip. 
 
 But far more troublesome were the green- 
 headed flies that swarmed in great numbers 
 over the whole western country in the 1820s, 
 to the discomfort of man and beast. During 
 "fly time" each summer, a period of about six 
 weeks, the only way to escape the torture of 
 their fearful bites was to travel at night, and 
 then only when the moon was absent. So 
 vicious were the bites of these insects that 
 horses exposed to their attacks were liable to 
 die from pain, loss of blood or exhaustion due 
 to incessant kicking to rid themselves of their 
 tormentors. 
 
 Ckossino the Rivf.k — Bcfure the days of bridges, : ; : 
 crossing rivers too deep to be forded was partly solved by the 
 flatboat ferry. From History of Travel m America, by Seymour 
 Dunbar, copyright 19IS, used by special permission of the pub- 
 lishers. The Bobbs-Merrill Coiffpany.
 
 12 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Early Trails to CMcago and Galena 
 
 UNTIL 1823 the northern part of lUinois 
 was an unbroken wilderness. Aside from 
 the fur depots at Fort Dearborn (Chicago). 
 Old Bunkun (Iroquois). Hennepin and Peoria, 
 and a few lead prospectors and miners in the 
 northwestern corner of the state, the country 
 was virtually uninhabited except by Indians. 
 Not a single wagon trail existed in this part 
 of the state. 
 
 In that year Gurdon S. Hubbard, youthful 
 agent of the American Fur Company, estab- 
 lished a trading post at the present site of Dan- 
 ville, on the Big \^ermillion River, and beat 
 down a pack trail from that point through what 
 are now Rossville and Watseka to Fort Dear- 
 born, a distance of 125 miles — the first trail 
 established by white men to the site of the 
 future metropolis. Hubbard also extended his 
 pack trail from the Danville post in a great half- 
 circle through what later became Champaign. 
 Piatt, Moultrie, Shelby, Effingham and Jasper 
 counties to Vincennes. At Danville the trail in- 
 tersected the old Indian path which extended 
 southward through the Wabash \"alley to Mn- 
 cennes. 
 
 "Hubbard's Trace" north of Danville was 
 made a state road in 1834, bv which time it had 
 
 The "First .American Klondike" — Galena, scene of the first 
 important mining rush in .American history, was once the chief 
 commercial city north of St. Louis. The Illinois Central Rail- 
 road brought the "Iron Horse" to Galena in 18d4. From Harper's 
 New Monthly Magazine, July, 1853, by courtesy of Harper's Maga- 
 
 become an important route of travel and trade 
 between Chicago and the Wabash country. En- 
 tering Chicago along the western boundary of 
 the Fort Dearborn Reservation, this old state 
 road became State Street, now one of the most 
 famous thoroughfares in America. 
 
 Along this historic trail in 1827 dashed the 
 "Paul Revere of the Prairies," Hubbard him- 
 self, on his memorable ride from Chicago to 
 Danville to sound the alarm of the Winnebago 
 uprising which threatened a second Fort Dear- 
 born massacre at the Chicago post. Twenty 
 hours after leaving Chicago the intrepid rider 
 pulled his foaming horse up before the cabin of 
 Peleg Spencer in the southern outskirts of Dan- 
 ville. The alarm was quickly sounded through 
 the scattered settlement, and within a few 
 hours a hastily organized relief expedition, 
 equipped with flint-lock muskets and pistols, 
 and led by young Hubbard, was hurrying north- 
 ward. On the evening of the fourth day after 
 Hubbard had left Chicago, the "Vermillion 
 Rangers" reached Chicago, where they re- 
 mained to protect the little settlement until a 
 runner arrived at the fort bearing the good 
 news that Chief Red Bird and his warriors had 
 been captured. 
 
 In the same year that "Hubbard's Trace" was 
 blazed to Fort Dearborn, fresh discoveries of 
 lead in the hill country of northwestern Illi- 
 nois were beginning to arouse widespread in- 
 terest. Galena, the center of the new lead 
 region, was beyond the frontier, in the heart 
 of the wild "Black Hawk Countr}-." Its nearest 
 neighbor was Peoria, on the Illinois River, and 
 a wilderness, vast and unbroken, separated the 
 two. The Peoria outpost was reached overland 
 by the old "Fort Clark and Wabash Trail" from 
 Terre Haute, an old Indian trail from Danville, 
 and by the newly opened post road from 
 Springfield. North and west of Peoria only In- 
 dian trails existed, and none led directly to the 
 lead country. 
 
 The first steamboat to arrive at Galena was 
 the "Virginian," in 1823. Thereafter an inter- 
 mittent steamboat service was maintained be- 
 tween the lead country- and St. Louis, but dur-
 
 EARLY TRAILS TO CHICAGO AND GALENA 
 
 13 
 
 ing- the winter, when the river was frozen and 
 the country was covered with snow, the niininj^ 
 settlements were reached only with the greatest 
 difficulty across the rolling prairies, through 
 tangled and frozen swamps and over treacher- 
 ous river ice. Despite its inaccessibility, pros- 
 pectors and adventurers were flocking to this 
 new El Dorado. 
 
 In 1823 Oliver Kellogg broke a wagon trail 
 from Peoria northward to a crossing of the 
 Rock River at a place called Ogee's Ferry, above 
 the site of the prerent city of Dixon, and thence 
 to Galena along a route roughly paralleling that 
 over which the Illinois Central Railroad was 
 built nearly twenty years later. John Dixon, 
 one of the notable pioneers of northern 
 Illinois, employed some Winnebago Indians to 
 ferry wagons across by means of two canoes 
 placed side by side, each canoe supporting the 
 wheels of one side of the wagon. The horses 
 were forced to swim. The river crossing was 
 later moved to the Dixon site, where a flatboat 
 ferry was installed. 
 
 In 1826 a man named BoUes blazed a second 
 and more direct trail between Dixon's and Ga- 
 lena, and shortly thereafter the "Lewiston 
 Trail," branching from "Kellogg's Trail" near 
 the northern boundary of Peoria County and 
 crossing Rock River just above Prophetstown, 
 in Whiteside County, provided a still more 
 direct route from Peoria and southern Illinois 
 to the mines. 
 
 The first postoffice in the lead country was 
 established at Galena in 1826, and the mails 
 were conveyed on horseback once a fortnight 
 between Vandalia and Galena through Peoria. 
 Two years later Dixon erected a log tavern 
 and trading post at the ferry and brought 
 his family here to live, for a time the only fam- 
 ily on Rock River above Black Hawk's village. 
 
 In pioneer days "Kellogg's Trail" and Dixon's 
 Ferry were known far and wide. Over this 
 storied trail poured a motley caravan — New 
 Englanders, New Yorkers, Pennsylvanians, 
 Ohioans, Virginians, Kentuckians, in Conestoga 
 wagons, in buckboards, m oxcarts, on foot and 
 on horseback — lured by the magic word "Lead," 
 just as the word "Gold" lured thousands to Cali- 
 fornia two decades later. Galena became the 
 scene of the first important mining rush in 
 American history. 
 
 Thousands of adventurous pioneers poured 
 
 A "Bullwhacker" — From Har/'er's New Monthly Magazine. 
 July. 1867, by courtesy of Harper's Magazine. 
 
 into the upper Mississippi country and the 
 trans-Mississippi region over this and other 
 trails leading to Galena and Dubuque. .A.long 
 these trails in 1832 hurried General Win- 
 field Scott's hastily organized expedition to 
 quell the Black Hawk uprising-, an expedition 
 that included Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson 
 Davis, Albert Sidney Johnston, William Ham- 
 ilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, Robert 
 Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame, Nathan Boone, 
 son of the great Boone of Kentycky, and other 
 notables. John Dixon was friend and counselor 
 of Indian and white man alike. His tavern was 
 a favorite gathering place for the officers, and 
 it is said that under its hospitable roof Abra- 
 ham Lincoln and Jeflferson Davis met for the 
 first time. 
 
 The Black Hawk War marked an epoch in 
 Illinois history. It removed for all time the 
 menace of the savage east of the Mississippi 
 River, a menace which had hindered settlement, 
 especially in the northern part of the state. 
 Shortly after the termination of the war, the 
 first important Yankee migration set in toward 
 the "Black Hawk Country," which now began
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Hauling Ore -From the Mines—THc ditficully of transporting 
 ore from mines to furnaces and lead from furnaces to markets, 
 over miserable roads and across unbridged streams, accentuated 
 the need for railroads. From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 
 June, 1865, by courtesy of Harper's Magazine. 
 
 to attract the settler as well as the miner. Ga- 
 lena soon became the most important commer- 
 cial center in the entire western country north 
 of St. Louis. 
 
 In this period the principal currents of travel 
 and trade in the Mississippi \'allev were north 
 ^nd south, to and from New Orleans. Thou- 
 sands of tons of lead were shipped down river, 
 to St. Louis and New Orleans, each season. At 
 one time in the 1830s or 1840s twelve to fifteen 
 steamboats were loading or unloading on the 
 Fever River in the vicinity of Galena. 
 
 In the winter months and during periods of 
 low water some lead was shipped from the 
 Galena region by wagons or sleds, but the mis- 
 erable condition of the roads and the absence 
 of bridges made this a costly, form of trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Many teamsters from southern Illinois drove 
 4- and 6-yoke ox-teams to the Galena mines to 
 engage during the summer months in trans- 
 porting lead from the diggings to the furnaces 
 and steamboat landings. Their long overland 
 journeys to and from Galena consumed many 
 days, during which they rarely came in sight 
 of a white man's habitation. Where there was 
 no trace of a road, they drove across open 
 country. 
 
 The first wagon-load of lead from Galena to 
 Chicago arrived at the Chicago River in the 
 summer of 1829, before anything more than 
 native paths existed east of Dixon's Ferry. 
 This trip, consuming eleven days, is said to have 
 been the first ever made by wagon between the 
 
 "Galena Lead Country" and Lake Michigan. 
 
 The first wagon road between Chicago and 
 Dixon's was broken through Naperville and 
 Aurora by General Scott's army in 1832. Two 
 years later it became a state road, and a weekly 
 stage line was opened over this route between 
 Chicago and Galena by way of Dixon's Ferry. 
 About 1838 a second stage line was established 
 over a more northerly route through Elgin, 
 Belvidere, Rockford and Freeport, striking 
 "Kellogg's Trail" at Gratiot's Grove, near 
 Warren. For fifteen years thereafter, until re- 
 placed by the railroads, stage coach service was 
 maintained over these pioneer routes. 
 
 For several years the lead city rivaled Chicago 
 as a trade and distributing center, and as late 
 as 1842 its wholesale trade actually surpassed 
 that of Chicago. In that period its mining 
 operations were the most extensive in the West. 
 
 The first direct wagon trail from Blooming- 
 ton to Chicago was broken in 1833, the year 
 Chicago was organized as a town. Known to 
 the settlers of central Illinois as the "Old Chi- 
 cago Trail" and to Chicagoans as "Archer's 
 Road," this thoroughfare played an important 
 role in the early transportation history of Illi- 
 nois. As the north end of "Hubbard's Trace" be- 
 came State Street, so the north end of the "Old 
 Chicago Trail" became Archer Avenue, one of 
 the prominent thoroughfares of Chicago. 
 
 Into the bustling little town of Chicago over 
 this long prairie trail came the drovers, expert 
 horsemen, picturesque in their trappings, bring- 
 ing droves of cattle, sheep and hogs from the
 
 INTERNAL I M P R O \' E M E N T S 
 
 IS 
 
 Salt Creek countn* and the Mackinaw \'alley. 
 This was the trail of John Dawson ^and 
 other prairie pioneers who brought to Chi- 
 cago some of the first grain shipped from the 
 lake port to Eastern markets. Southwestward 
 from Chicago over this trail traveled some of 
 the first Yankee immigrants to establish their 
 homes in central Illinois. 
 
 For several years not a bridge existed along 
 the entire route from Bloomington to Chicago, 
 and in times of high water great difficulty was 
 experienced in crossing the Mackinaw and Kan- 
 
 kakee rivers. Mackinaw ford, near Lexington, 
 was the worst of all, dreaded by teamster, 
 drover and immigrant alike. 
 
 Springfield became the seat of government 
 in 1837, and a trail to Bloomington and the "Old 
 Chicago Trail" provided the most direct route 
 between the new capital and Chicago. More 
 than likely it was the route taken by Abraham 
 Lincoln in 1844 on the first visit the "Sage of 
 the Sangamon" is known to have paid to the 
 city which was destined to become one of his 
 great political battlegrounds. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Internal Improvements 
 
 Canal Boats— Courtesy, Wings of a Century, A Century of Progress Exposition. 
 
 L\CK of transportation facilities in the in- 
 f terior was the greatest impediment to 
 Illinois' agricultural and industrial develop- 
 ment. Citizens of the state recognized that a 
 system of transportation superior to mud 
 roads was necessary if Illinois was to take its 
 place among the progressive commonwealths 
 of the L'nion. 
 
 New York had built the great Erie Canal, 
 opened in 1825. Pennsylvania and Xow Jersey 
 had developed canal systems. Ohio was mov- 
 ing in the same direction. For many years a 
 canal connecting the Chicago and Illinois 
 rivers had been discussed. Shortly after the 
 close of the war with England, in 1814, Presi- 
 dent James Madison had proposed such a 
 waterway to Congress. Every governor of 
 Illinois from the time of its admission to state- 
 
 hood, in 1818, had urged the construction of 
 the canal. 
 
 In 1827 Congress granted Illinois alternate 
 sections of land for five miles on either side 
 of the proposed route to aid in financing the 
 project. Included in this grant were large 
 areas of the present city of Chicago, including 
 part of the famous "Loop" business district. 
 Townsites were laid out on canal lands at 
 Chicago and Ottawa in 1830. Three years 
 later, when the town of Chicago was incor- 
 porated, the settlement boasted twenty-four 
 voters. 
 
 Little did those early Chicagoans dream that 
 some of them would live to see the day when 
 a great metropolis would replace their humble 
 collection of log cabins and that many of their 
 children would live to see the city become one
 
 16 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 The "Rucklt," built m 1,S_"J, was the first succcbsiul steam loco- 
 motive in the world. 
 
 of the world's greatest industrial and commer- 
 cial centers and its greatest railway center. 
 
 It is safe to assume, however, that these 
 early citizens were alive to the possibilities of 
 railroads. Their imaginations were kindled, no 
 doubt, by accounts of experiments which were 
 th^n being conducted in the East. From Bal- 
 timore came reports of trips made by Peter 
 Cooper's steam locomotive, "Tom Thumb." 
 At Charleston, in South Carolina, the locomo- 
 tive "Best Friend," was transporting persons 
 and goods four times faster than they were 
 being moved on the Eastern canals and at twice 
 the speed of horse-drawn vehicles. In New 
 Orleans another "puffing steam wagon" was 
 arousing much interest. 
 
 These new developments caused many 
 thoughtful citizens of Illinois to question the 
 wisdom of building the long-contemplated 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal. 
 
 Agitation for a railroad in lieu of a water- 
 way began as early as 1831, at the very dawn 
 of the railway era in America, when Chicago 
 was a mere hamlet and there were but a few 
 small settlements elsewhere in northern Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 In the spring of that year James M. Bucklin, 
 chief engineer of the canal project, surveyed 
 two routes, one for the Illinois and Michigan 
 Canal, which he estimated would cost $100,000 
 a mile, and one for the Illinois and Michigan 
 Railroad, which he estimated would cost 
 $25,000 a mile. After journeying to Baltimore 
 and conferring with the engineers of the Bal- 
 timore & Ohio Railroad, Bucklin returned to 
 Illinois and urged the abandonment of the 
 
 canal scheme and the construction of the rail- 
 road. He gained the support of the canal com- 
 missioners and Governor Reynolds, and on 
 their recommendation the Illinois legislature, 
 in 1833, authorized the railroad. Congress also 
 authorized the change. 
 
 But that was the canal era. Very few steam 
 locomotives were then in use in America, and 
 the performance of most of them was far from 
 satisfactory. A storm of protest arose against 
 the change, and, upon taking office, Governor 
 Duncan addressed a message to the legislature 
 strenuously opposing the railway project and 
 taking sharp issue with those who favored its 
 substitution for the canal. 
 
 "Of the different plans proposed," said Gov- 
 ernor Duncan, "I find that the board of canal 
 commissioners, and my worthy predecessors, 
 have recommended a rail road, in which I re- 
 gret that I am compelled to dififer In 
 
 my judgment, experience has shown canals to 
 be much more useful, and generally cheaper 
 of construction, than rail roads. When well 
 made they require less expensive repairs, and 
 are continually improving, and will last for- 
 ever, while railroads are kept in repair at heavy 
 expense, and will last but about fifteen years. 
 .... There seems to be but little force .... 
 in the argument commonly used in favor of 
 rail roads, that transportation upon them is 
 uninterrupted in winter, as the canal will be 
 open several weeks longer in the fall and 
 spring than either the lake or river, conse- 
 quently no inconvenience can result from its 
 closing " 
 
 Governor Duncan's views finally prevailed. 
 The railway project was temporarily aban- 
 doned, and the construction of the canal was 
 begun in 1836. Lack of funds, political wrang- 
 lings and other impediments delayed prog- 
 ress and at times entirely suspended work 
 on the project, with the result that the canal 
 was not completed and opened for operation 
 until the spring of 1848. For the next few 
 years, until Illinois turned decisively to rail- 
 roads, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was an 
 important artery of commerce and travel be- 
 tween Chicago and the Illinois and Mississippi 
 river basins. One important effect of the 
 waterway was to make the Illinois River valley 
 largely tributary to Chicago instead of St. 
 Louis, as it had previously been.
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 17 
 
 Paradoxical as it seems, the canal probably 
 benefited Chicago and other communities 
 along the route more before it was completed 
 than it did afterward. The promise of great 
 benefits to come, held out by canal enthusiasts 
 and real estate promoters, stimulated settle- 
 ment and increased land values in the 1830s 
 and lS40s. Although the canal enjoyed a sub- 
 stantial packet trade for some years, it never 
 played the great role its supporters had pre- 
 dicted for it as an agency of transportation. 
 
 Long before the waterway was completed, 
 railway transportation in the East had con- 
 clusively demonstrated its superiority over 
 canal transportation, and the railway fever 
 had begun to sweep the country. Forward- 
 looking citizens of Illinois foresaw in some 
 degree the benefits which would result from 
 railway development, though the}' did not 
 foresee the tremendously important part it 
 was to play in the future of their state. 
 
 As early as 1832, the year of the Black 
 Hawk War, Alexander M. Jenkins, of Jackson 
 County, then speaker of the house, had pro- 
 posed a "Central" railroad between the con- 
 fluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, at 
 the present site of Cairo, and the western ter- 
 minus of the proposed Illinois and Michigan 
 Canal. It was a daring proposal considering 
 that it involved the construction of nearly 300 
 miles of railroad through an uninhabited 
 region, a mileage equal to the total length 
 of all railroads then existing on the North 
 American continent. 
 
 By 1835 the proposed "Central Railroad" 
 had become an important political issue. 
 Shortly after the legislature convened in that 
 year a bill was introduced to incorporate a 
 company with authority to build a railroad 
 
 "commencing at or near the confluence of the 
 Ohio and Mississippi rivers and extending to 
 Galena." Among the prominent supporters of 
 the measure, besides Jenkins, were Abraham 
 Lincoln, then serving his first term as a rep- 
 resentative from Sangamon County, and Judge 
 Sidney A. Breese, of Carlyle, who in later 
 
 The "Rogers" — A replica of the first locomotive to turn a wheel 
 in Illinois. Courtesy, Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 Disputing the Right-of-Way — .\n exciting moment on Illinois' 
 pioneer railroad, the Northern Cross, between Meredosia and 
 Springfield. From Potter's American Monthly, July, 1879. 
 
 years, as United States Senator from Illinois, 
 promoted the land-grant idea which led to the 
 actual construction of the Illinois Central and 
 numerous other western railroads in the period 
 1850-75. 
 
 The bill creating "The Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company" was passed in January, 1836. 
 Communities located along the route were 
 naturally elated over the prospects of getting 
 the railroad. Communities located elsewhere 
 began to agitate for branch lines linking them 
 to the "Central." 
 
 So great became the clamor throughout the 
 state for railroads and other internal improve- 
 ments that in February, 1837, the legislature 
 passed the historic Internal Improvement Act, 
 providing for a network of 1,341 miles of state- 
 owned railroads extending into all parts of Illi- 
 nois, except the northeast corner, which was to 
 be served by the canal then under construction. 
 
 The backbone of this extensive system of 
 state-owned railroads was to be the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad, extending from Cairo to Galena, 
 through Mount Pleasant, Frankfort, Mount 
 \'ernon, Salem, \'andalia, Shelbyville, Decatur, 
 Rloomington, Peru, Dixon and Savannah. The 
 charter of 1836 was taken over by the state. 
 
 Four railroads, intersecting the "Central," 
 were to traverse the state in an east-and-west 
 direction, as follows: (1) From Warsaw, on 
 the Mississippi River, to Bloomington, through 
 Carthage, Macomb, Canton, Peoria and Mack- 
 inaw; (2) the Northern Cross, from Quincy to 
 the Indiana state line through Clayton, Mount
 
 18 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Sterling-, Meredosia, Jacksonville, Springfield, 
 Decatur, Sidney and Danville; (3) from Alton 
 to the Indiana line through Hillsboro, Shelby- 
 ville, Charleston and Paris; (4) from Alton to 
 Mount Carmel on the Wabash River through 
 Edwardsville,. Carlyle, Salem, Fairfield and Al- 
 bion. In addition, there were to be two branch 
 lines: from Mackinaw to Pekin through Tre- 
 mont, and from Carlyle to Belleville. The act 
 also called for the improvement of several 
 rivers. 
 
 This stupendous project was to be financed 
 
 "Fast Freight" in 1845 — One mishap after another finally led 
 the Northern Cross Railroad to abandon its locomotive and turn 
 to mule power. From Potter's American Monthly, July, 1879. 
 
 by borrowed money, estimated at approximately 
 $10,000,000, but this was soon found to be less 
 than half enough. The state government was 
 thus committed to a debt of at least $20,000,000, 
 or about $268 for every family in Illinois at that 
 time. 
 
 The collapse of this then-impossible under- 
 taking, characterized by one historian as "Illi- 
 nois' supreme folly," left the state in 1840 with 
 a debt burden of $14,000,000, about half of 
 which had been spent on railway construction, 
 and with only twenty-four miles of completed 
 road to show for its costly venture into the 
 transportation business. 
 
 This 24-mile railroad — the first steam rail- 
 road in Illinois — was a part of the Northern 
 Cross project. The completed portion extended 
 from the Illinois River at Meredosia to Jack- 
 sonville. It was crudely built of wooden rails 
 upon which thin straps of iron were spiked. 
 
 Meredosia, in Morgan County, holds the 
 proud distinction of being the birthplace of 
 steam railway transportation in Illinois. Here, 
 in the spring of 1837 occurred the ground- 
 breaking ceremony which signalized the com- 
 mencement of this pioneer railroad. Construc- 
 tion proceeded slowly toward Jacksonville. The 
 first rail was laid at Meredosia on May 9, 1838. 
 
 The first locomotive ever built for an Illinois 
 railroad was shipped from the East by water in 
 the summer of 1838. After many weeks of anx- 
 ious waiting the engine was reported "lost in 
 transit." There is no record that it ever turned 
 up or that the mystery surrounding its strange 
 disappearance was ever solved. 
 
 The first locomotive ever to turn a wheel in 
 Illinois was the "Rogers," built in Paterson, N. 
 J., in the same summer and shipped from New 
 York to New Orleans by sailing vessel, thence 
 by steamboat or barge up the Mississippi and 
 Illinois rivers to Meredosia. 
 
 The "Rogers" was a mere toy compared with 
 the powerful giants of today. It had but one 
 set of driving wheels two feet in diameter, and 
 two sets of smaller wheels in front. There was 
 no closed cab, no whistle, no spark arrester, no 
 cow catcher, no bell. On its first run a few miles 
 out of Meredosia, on November 8, 1838, the 
 townspeople "could not understand its power. 
 What made the wheels go round was a mystery 
 they could not solve, and not a few were ready 
 to award some supernatural power to the smok- 
 ing monster." 
 
 Regular train service between Meredosia and 
 Morgan City, a distance of twelve miles, was 
 inaugurated on July 8, 1839, but not without the 
 strenuous opposition of the stage coach line 
 which paralleled the route. The railway com- 
 pany announced that the train would include 
 "pleasure cars" for passengers as well as "bur- 
 den cars" for freight shipments. The train tried 
 to make the 12-mile run, with stops, in two 
 hours. At Morgan City a connection was made 
 with the stage coach line to Jacksonville, and 
 in advertising the service the company called 
 attention to the fact that the entire 24-mile 
 trip by rail and stage between Meredosia and 
 Jacksonville was performed in daylight. 
 
 By January 1, 1840, the railhead had reached 
 Jacksonville, where it remained for more than 
 two years following the collapse of the internal 
 improvement project which virtually bank- 
 rupted the state government. 
 
 In the spring of 1842 sufficient funds were ob- 
 tained to extend the road to Springfield. The 
 arrival of the first train at Springfield on May 
 13, 1842, was the signal for an enthusiastic cele- 
 bration. One old settler who brought his family 
 to the railroad to see the train go by expressed 
 the fear that if the locomotive ever ran near
 
 THE STAGE COACH ERA 
 
 19 
 
 his farm his cows would stop giving- milk. 
 
 According to a local newspaper, "the cars ran 
 from Jacksonville, 33^ 2 miles, in two hours and 
 eight minutes, including stoppages." The news- 
 paper expressed the optimistic belief that "the 
 distance could be passed over in an hour and 
 a half." A traveler over this road in 1842 re- 
 called that grass and weeds covered the rails and 
 caused the engine's wheels to slip. At one place 
 the passengers were called upon to "pitch in" 
 and help the crew carr\' buckets of water from 
 a creek to fill the engine tank. 
 
 The first attempt to operate a steam railroad 
 in Illinois could hardly be called a success. Ac- 
 cidents were of common occurrence. The en- 
 gine frequently left the track and toppled 
 over into the ditch. Finally, after a series of 
 misfortunes, mule power was substituted and 
 the only locomotive then in use was sold. The 
 new owner fitted the engine with wide tires 
 and attempted to run it on the public roads or 
 across the prairies. The engine thus equipped 
 is said to have made a trip between Springfield 
 and Alton, but not without the frequent aid of 
 a strong yoke of oxen. Some persons, observ- 
 
 ing the tracks of this strange contrivance, were 
 so mystified that they trailed them some dis- 
 tance across country to ascertain what kind of 
 a juggernaut had visited their community. 
 Their curiosity was satisfied when they came 
 upon the engine, abandoned by its discouraged 
 owner. The Northern Cross Railroad, which 
 had cost the state a million dollars, was finally 
 auctioned oflf in 1847 for $21,500. 
 
 In 1837, the same year that ground was 
 broken for the Northern Cross Railroad, two 
 other short lines were built in Illinois. One 
 of these, known as Charles Collins' railroad, 
 extended four miles out of Naples, on the Illinois 
 River. The other, built by former Governor 
 John Reynolds and associates and known as the 
 Coal-Mine Bluff Railroad, extended from Illi- 
 noistown (now East St. Louis) to a coal mine 
 on the Mississippi Bluff, about six miles distant. 
 
 Both Collins' and Reynolds' roads were 
 crudely built of wooden rails, without strap 
 iron, and were operated by horse or mule power. 
 Neither of them was operated on a set schedule ; 
 neither was a public carrier of passengers or 
 freight. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The Stage CoacL. Era 
 
 WHEN the old Northern Cross Railroad, 
 between Meredosia and Springfield, 
 turned from locomotives to mules, Illinois 
 found itself back where it started a half- 
 dozen years before — dependent entirely upon 
 animal power for overland transportation. 
 
 The federal government had extended the 
 National Road, only partly completed, as 
 far west as Vandalia, and a fev^' more dirt 
 trails had been designated as state roads. In- 
 deed, the statute books were filled with legis- 
 lative acts making this or that trail a state 
 road, but as someone observed, "it took 
 more than a legislative act to eliminate the 
 mud holes," and mud holes there were aplenty. 
 
 The black prairie soil of Illinois, sprinkled 
 with a heavy rain, turned the best roads into 
 interminable sloughs. Forest roads were a suc- 
 cession of puddles, gullies, upturned roots, 
 stumps, twists, turns and overhead brambles, 
 
 which tried the souls of men and made travel 
 a never-to-be-forgotten ordeal. 
 
 Stace Coach on the RuAt^-B;. -.r^. •_;;:.;; da;, and night, with a 
 change of horses ever>' *ew miles, coaches sometimes covered 
 75 to 90 miles a day, when conditions were favorable. From 
 Harper's Xeu' Monthly Magazine, July, 1867, by courtesy of Har- 
 per's Magasine.
 
 20 
 
 TRAI LS TO RAILS 
 
 This was the heyday of stage coach travel. 
 Since the advent in 1820 of the pioneer stage 
 coach line on the old Vincennes-St. Louis road, 
 several other lines, providing fortnightly, 
 weekly, semi-weekly or daily passenger and 
 mail service, had been established in the set- 
 tled portions of Illinois. 
 
 The first stage coach line in northern Illi- 
 nois began operating between Niles, Mich., 
 and Chicago in 1833, during the first rush of 
 Yankee migration. In that year the govern- 
 ment improved the old Indian trail between 
 Detroit and Chicago, and a tri-weekly line of 
 stages was inaugurated over the route. The 
 popular Concord coach was used, and there 
 were relays of fresh horses every few miles. 
 
 Galena by way of Dixon's Ferry was estab- 
 lished by Temple in the same year. A few years 
 later a Chicago-Galena stage line by way of 
 Rockford was in operation and by 1846 tri- 
 weekly stages were running between Chicago 
 and Galena both by way of Dixon and by way of 
 Rockford and Freeport. A. daily stage line was 
 in service between Chicago and Peoria. 
 
 Arrivals and departures of stages at Chi- 
 cago numbered eight daily in 1846, with an 
 average of fifteen passengers to the coach. 
 
 Between Chicago and Galena and between 
 Chicago and Peoria, the scheduled running 
 time was forty-eight hours, but stages fre- 
 quently arrived at their destinations many 
 hours late, and complete suspensions of service 
 
 .•\n Emigr,\nt Train of Pr.\irie Schooners — A familiar scent in pioneer days. Courtesy, Li 
 
 The Chicago Road formed the western ex- 
 tension of the government pike along the 
 southern shore of Lake Erie. During the 1830s 
 and 1840s this was one of the great thorough- 
 fares of emigrant travel, and, according to 
 Milo M. Quaife, in Chicago Highways, Old 
 and New, "the migration which poured along 
 it into the New West was no less significant 
 or picturesque than that which at a later period 
 immortalized the Oregon Trail." 
 
 Stage coach travel increased so rapidly that 
 in 1835 daily departures were made from De- 
 troit for Chicago, and "travelers were com- 
 pelled to make reservations in advance." 
 
 Chicago soon became the center of an ex- 
 tensive coach line service. In 1834 Dr. John 
 L. Temple began operating an "elegant, 
 through-brace coach carriage" between Chi- 
 cago and Ottawa by way of Plainfield — the 
 first stage coach to run west of Chicago. A 
 line of weekly stages between Chicago and 
 
 for days or weeks at a time were not uncom- 
 mon in periods of deep snows or heavy rains 
 which rendered the roads impassable. 
 
 Westward, during this period, along the 
 Chicago Road, the Danville- Bloomington road, 
 the National Road and other overland trails, 
 and even across the open prairies; moved pic- 
 turesque caravans of covered wagons, the 
 advance guard of the mighty migration that 
 was to sweep the continent in the wake of 
 railway development in the years to come. 
 
 Usually several prairie schooners traveled 
 together, forming what was commonly known 
 as an "emigrant train," so that if one of the 
 cumbersome wagons became mired in the mud 
 or stuck in fording a stream, as frequently 
 occurred, ample ox-, horse- and man-power 
 was on hand to extricate the vehicle. The 
 difficulties of crossing unbridged rivers and 
 streams were sometimes formidable, but still 
 greater problems were presented by the fre-
 
 THE STAGE COACH ERA 
 
 21 
 
 quent sloughs in which wagons sometimes be- 
 came almost hopelessly bogged. 
 
 When an especially bad slough was encoun- 
 tered all available teams were sometimes hitched 
 together to pull the prairie schooners through, 
 one by one. Occasionally the combined strength 
 of all ox- and horse-power was not equal to the 
 task, and it was necessary to wait for the next 
 emigrant train to provide reinforcements. 
 
 It would be difficult to exaggerate the 
 wretchedness of Illinois roads in the 1840s, as 
 evidenced by the writings of numerous travel- 
 ers who were compelled to use them. The 
 Whisky Point Road, extending westward from 
 Chicago, "was a fair sample of them all," accord- 
 ing to Edwin O. Gale, in his Reminiscences of 
 Early Chicago and Vicinity. 
 
 "When the frosts had come and the flowers 
 gone, when the rains had filled the ground 
 with moisture . . . making every depression 
 a slough . . . then the wheels sank to the 
 hubs, and the hearts of the drivers sank cor- 
 respondingly. . . . The spring was worse, if pos- 
 sible, than the fall. . . . Woe to the farmer 
 then who should presume to transport any- 
 thing without a caravan of neighbors to assist 
 with extra teams, to 'pack' the bags of grain 
 from one stalled wagon to another." 
 
 With such transportation conditions to con- 
 tend with, is there any wonder that the 
 interior of the state had been slow in settling 
 up and that millions of acres of fertile govern- 
 ment lands in central Illinois had been on the 
 market for years without purchasers at $1.25 
 an acre? 
 
 The comparatively few farmers who had 
 located on the prairies, distant from water 
 transportation, were compelled to make long, 
 tedious overland journeys to St. Louis, Chi- 
 cago, Peoria, Terre Haute and Vincennes to 
 exchange their products for a few simple 
 necessities. Upon arrival it was not uncom- 
 mon for a farmer to learn that the market 
 to which he had come was overstocked. Under 
 such circumstances, he could count himself 
 fortunate if he succeeded in disposing of his 
 load for enough to defray the cost of his trip. 
 
 Farmers were usually reasonably certain of 
 being able to dispose of wheat at Chicago or 
 St. Louis at some price, and there was a mar- 
 ket at those centers for a limited number of 
 hogs and cattle. A few of the larger cattle- 
 
 men found it to their advantage to drive herds 
 on the hoof from western and central Illinois 
 to New York and Philadelphia, a trip which 
 required several weeks. In the late 1840s, 
 when Chicago had become a sizable market, 
 cattle and sheep were being driven to that 
 market, on the hoof, from points as far 
 distant as Danville, Bloomington, Pekin and 
 Freeport. 
 
 Trips to market by wagon were usually 
 made in the summer and fall, before the roads 
 became next to impassable. Whenever pos- 
 sible, several neighbors would make the trip 
 together; otherwise an effort would be made 
 to "fall in" with some caravan en route. The 
 farmers loaded their prairie wagons with 
 wheat, salt pork, tallow and other products, 
 and outfitted themselves with blankets, frying 
 pans, coffee pots and provisions enough to 
 last several days. With a team of four horses 
 or six oxen, they were off at the first glim- 
 merings of dawn. 
 
 A trip of 100 miles to market, barring 
 serious mishaps, might be made in four or 
 five days. A day would be required to dispose 
 of the load and do the trading, and the return 
 trip, with a light load, might be made in 
 from three to four days, depending upon road 
 conditions and the endurance of the animals. 
 On these long journeys oxen frequently per- 
 ished in the yoke and horses were cut or 
 bruised in fording streams or bogging in the 
 mire. The wear and tear on the wagons also 
 added to the cost of going to market. 
 
 Preparinx Bre.\kfast
 
 22 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Rough Going — A stage coach trip over rough frontier trails 
 was an experience not soon forgotten. From History of Travel 
 in America, by Seymour Dunbar, copyright 1915, used by special 
 permission of the publishers. The Bobbs-Merrill Company. 
 
 But one man's loss was another's gain. An 
 especially bad stretch of road or a difficult 
 river crossing brought many demands upon 
 nearby farmers for ox- or horse-teams to help 
 pull the marooned wagons and coaches out of 
 the mire or up the steep river bank. A ford 
 might prove more profitable than many acres 
 of wheat or corn, and the farmer located near 
 an exceptionally bad mud hole on a well- 
 traveled road was envied by his less for- 
 tunately situated neighbors. 
 
 Under such unfavorable travel conditions 
 as then prevailed in Illinois, it is not surprising 
 that the citizens took a lively interest in ac- 
 counts which reached them of the Russian 
 plank roads in Canada, the first of which had 
 been introduced in 1834. The plank road 
 was constructed of heavy boards or planking 
 laid crosswise upon parallel rows of heavy 
 wooden sills. The craze for plank roads 
 reached Illinois in 1844, and during the legis- 
 lative session that winter three companies 
 applied for charters to build plank roads lead- 
 ing from Chicago. 
 
 It was not until 1850, however, that the first 
 section of Chicago's pioneer plank road was 
 opened for traffic. This road, sixteen miles in 
 length, was known as the Southwestern Plank 
 Road, because it ran in a southwesterly direc- 
 tion from Chicago. It was a private enterprise 
 which, like other plank road projects, obtained 
 its revenue from tolls. During the next two 
 years the road was extended first to Naper- 
 ville and then to Oswego in Kendall County, 
 with branches to Sycamore and Little Rock. 
 
 Encouraged by the success of the South- 
 western, which enjoyed a thriving business 
 from the start, several other companies w.ere 
 
 soon formed to undertake similar projects. 
 Within two or three years Chicago was served 
 by four other plank roads, one extending 
 northward along the lake shore, another in 
 a northwesterly direction to the Des Plaines 
 River, another westward through Elgin to 
 Genoa, and another south ten miles to Kyle's 
 Tavern. Three plank roads were built out of 
 Freeport, and other plank roads were pro- 
 jected from Beardstown, Pekin, Canton, Rush- 
 ville, Belleville and a few other central and 
 southern Illinois towns. 
 
 The plank road served a useful purpose. It 
 facilitated trade and travel. It enabled farm- 
 ers to work their fields in good weather and 
 go to market during rainy or wet weather. 
 The farmer could load his wagon heavier. 
 Deaths and injuries to oxen and horses and 
 the wear on wagons were reduced. However, 
 plank roads were costly to build and maintain, 
 and with the introduction of railroads in the 
 1850s, the use of plank roads declined rapidly. 
 Many soon fell into disuse and decay, and one 
 by one the plank road companies passed out 
 of existence. 
 
 Few plank roads reached far back into the 
 interior. The greater part of Illinois was un- 
 affected by their rise and decline. Travel and 
 transportation in the prairie country continued 
 to depend upon a few rude trails and dirt 
 roads. 
 
 A graphic description of travel conditions 
 in the early 1850s is left by Col. Roswell 
 B. Mason, chief engineer of the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad. Referring to a trip which he 
 and a companion made from Cairo to Chicago 
 in November, 1852, Colonel Mason said : 
 
 Driving Hogs to Market — Many drovers brought hogs on the 
 hoof for long distances to the Chicago market. From Harper's 
 Weekly, October 31, 1868, by courtesy of Harper's Maga::ine.
 
 DAWN OF THE RAILWAY ERA 
 
 23 
 
 "Leaving Cairo November 18. we reached 
 \'andalia on the 23d and Decatur on the 25th. 
 with our team nearly exhausted and unable to 
 go farther. The road was so bad it was thought 
 nearly impossible to get through, and it was 
 determined to go to Springfield, then to Alton 
 by the newly completed railroad, and into 
 Chicago by water. We found it difficult to get 
 a team to take us to Springfield, but an oiTer 
 of fifteen dollars induced a liver\-man to agree 
 to take us there, about forty miles, in a day. 
 Leaving Decatur Friday morning, November 
 26. we toiled through mud. water and ice to a 
 small town within twelve miles of Sprine^'^M 
 
 arriving about dark with our team tired out 
 and unable to proceed. A train left Springfield 
 at 8 o'clock the following morning. An offer 
 of fifteen dollars more induced a man to take 
 us there in time for the train or else forfeit the 
 money. We started at 2 o'clock in the morning. 
 It was ver\' cold. Ice of considerable thickness 
 formed on the water, cutting the horses' legs 
 badly. We arrived in Springfield twenty min- 
 utes before the train left. He earned the fifteen 
 dollars and we had a comfortable journey to 
 St. Louis, where we staved over Sunday and 
 took a steamboat Monday morning for La Salle, 
 continuing to Chicago by stage." 
 
 Typic.\L Railway Construction Scene — The building of a railroad across the sparsely settled prairies was a formidable undertaking 
 in the early days. There were thea do powerful steam shovels or track-laying machines to perform the prodigious tasks. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Da^wn of tte RaiWay Era 
 
 THE. year 1850 marked the real beginning 
 of the railway era in Illinois. When that 
 year opened there were about 7.400 miles of 
 railroad in the United States, more than four- 
 fifths of which were in states bordering on the 
 Atlantic Ocean. Ohio had 319 miles of railroad; 
 Michigan, 270 miles: Indiana, eighty-six miles; 
 Kentucky, fifty-five miles; Tennessee, none; 
 Wisconsin, none ; and there was not a mile of 
 railroad west of the Mississippi River. 
 
 In Illinois the old Northern Cross between 
 Springfield and Meredosia was being restored 
 as the Sangamon and Morgan Railroad, with 
 its western terminal at Naples. Chicago, the 
 future railway center of the continent, boasted 
 one steam locomotive, well named the "Pioneer," 
 which had been operated for several months 
 over a few miles of railroad extending westward 
 from the city. In 1850 this railroad, known as 
 the Galena and Chicago Union (now a part of
 
 24 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Chicago's First Locomoti\-e— The "Pioneer" was the first loco- 
 motive to run west of Chicago. It arrived at Chicago on board 
 a sailing vessel in the fall of 1848. By 1850 it was running as far 
 west as Elgin. Courtesy, Chicago & North Western Railroad. 
 
 the Chicago & North Western), was completed 
 to Elgin, forty-two miles from Chicago, and 
 in September of that year a 10-mile branch con- 
 nected this line with Aurora. Like the old 
 Northern Cross, the Galena and Chicago Union 
 was built of wooden rails capped with thin 
 "straps" of iron. Over this primitive "strap- 
 railroad" the noisy little "Pioneer" was bring- 
 ing the first shipments of grain ever to reach 
 Chicago by rail. 
 
 Of even greater significance to most of the 
 people of Illinois was the passage by Congress, 
 in September of that year, of an act providing 
 for a grant of public lands to the state of Illinois 
 to aid in the construction of the long-awaited 
 Central Railroad. 
 
 Senators Sidney A. Breese and Stephen A. 
 Douglas of Illinois each in turn had introduced 
 and championed a bill in Congress for a grant 
 of public lands to aid in the construction of the 
 railroad. The Douglas bill, which finally passed, 
 was for the three-fold purpose of speedily open- 
 ing up the fertile but then inaccessible interior 
 of Illinois for settlement, of increasing the value 
 and speeding the sale of 11,500,000 acres of un- 
 occupied public lands in Illinois, and of increas- 
 ing the taxable wealth of the state. Moreover, 
 even then the rift between the North and the 
 South was widening, and it may be that some 
 far-seeing statesmen recognized of what incal- 
 culable value this north-andrsouth railroad 
 would be to the federal government in the event 
 of war between the free and slave states. 
 
 Prominent among those who supported the 
 Douglas land grant bill in Congress were Sena- 
 tors Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Thomas H. 
 Benton, Lewis Cass, Jefferson Davis, James 
 Shields, William R. King, William H. Seward 
 and Sam Houston, and Representatives William 
 
 H. Bissell, John A. McClernand, John Went- 
 worth and Alexander M. Stephens. 
 
 The act, as signed by President Millard Fill- 
 more on September 20, 1850, provided that the 
 railroad should extend from a point at or near 
 the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers 
 to the western terminus of the Illinois and Mich- 
 igan Canal, at Peru or La Salle, with a branch 
 line from that point to the extreme northwest- 
 ern corner of the state, opposite Dubuque, la., 
 and with another branch to Chicago on Lake 
 Michigan. 
 
 The passage of the act was a triumph not 
 only for Senator Douglas but also for the state 
 of Illinois. It rendered certain of fulfillment the 
 long-cherished dream of the people of Illinois 
 of a great railroad through the sparsely settled 
 portions of the interior. 
 
 During the next few months the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad was the paramount issue in state 
 politics. Two major questions confronted the 
 people of Illinois: First, should the state under- 
 take to build and operate the railroad, or should 
 it transfer the land-grant lands to a company 
 financed by private capital? Second, if not built 
 by the state, which of three groups seeking the 
 charter should be intrusted with the under- 
 taking? 
 
 The citizens had not forgotten the disastrous 
 results of the internal iinprovement scheme of 
 1837. At that moment the state was burdened 
 with a debt of nearly $17,000,000, of which more 
 than $3,000,000 was overdue interest. The state 
 was in bad repute among investors due to its 
 failure to meet interest obligations when they 
 fell due, and, until it redeemed its reputation ancl 
 credit, it could not hope 
 to borrow additional 
 millions to finance such 
 a stupendous project as 
 the proposed Central 
 Railroad, "especially as 
 the line was to run 
 through undeveloped 
 territory where there 
 was no likelihood of 
 immediate profit from 
 traffic." 
 
 Of the three groups 
 of promoters which 
 sought to obtain a 
 charter, the one finally 
 
 RAILWAY MAP 
 
 I lli'no I S 
 1850
 
 D A \V X OF THE RAILWAY ERA 
 
 selected by the Illinois legislature to earn- out 
 the great undertaking was composed of out- 
 standing business leaders of New York and New 
 England. They included David A. Neal, Boston 
 shipowner and president of the Eastern Rail- 
 road of Massachusetts; Robert Schuyler, prob- 
 ably the foremost railway man of his day and 
 president of the New York & New Haven Rail- 
 road ; Franklin Haven, head of the largest bank- 
 ing house in New England : John F. A. Sanford, 
 noted fur trader and Indian agent : Jonathan 
 Sturges, prominent New York coffee importer; 
 Morris Ketchum, pioneer locomotive manufac- 
 turer; Gouverneur Morris, pioneer railway pro- 
 moter; George Griswold, merchantman and im- 
 porter; Thomas W. Ludlow, American agent of 
 the Dutch banking house of Crommelin; Wil- 
 liam H. Aspinwall, president of the Panama 
 Railroad and founder of the Pacific Mail Steam- 
 ship Company, and Robert Rantoul. Massachu- 
 setts statesman and successor to Daniel Web- 
 ster in the United States Senate. 
 
 To this distinguished group of petitioners the 
 Illinois legislature granted on Februan.' 10, 
 1851, the charter of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company, with authority to build and op- 
 erate a railroad 705 miles in length — more than 
 twice the length of the longest railroad then ex- 
 isting in America. 
 
 The 2,595,000 acres of public lands which the 
 federal government had granted to the state 
 of Illinois were transferred to the railway com- 
 pany, but not without several provisions which 
 would assure substantial and permanent bene- 
 fits to both the state and the federal govern- 
 ment. Among the provisions were : 
 
 1. That the railroad should be completed 
 within a period of six years; 
 
 2. That the railway lands should not be of- 
 fered for sale until the federal government 
 had disposed of all of its lands within a dis- 
 tance of six miles of the railroad at double 
 the former price. 
 
 3. That the railway company would pay into 
 the state treasury- 7 cents out of even.- dol- 
 lar received for the transportation of pas- 
 sengers, freight, express and mails. 
 
 4. That the railroad would transport United 
 States troops and property at one-half of 
 standard passenger and freight rates. 
 
 5. That the railroad would transport United 
 
 States mails at 20 per cent less than stand- 
 ard rates. 
 
 As we shall see later, the railroad, through 
 these provisions, has paid dearly for the lands 
 which it received. 
 
 Within a few months from the time the char- 
 ter was granted, the Illinois Central Railroad 
 Company had a large force of engineers in the 
 field. On December 23, 1851, ground was 
 broken at Chicago and .Cairo, and the construc- 
 tion of what was destined to become the prin- 
 cipal railway system in Illinois was definitely 
 under way. Within a few months the road was 
 under construction at several points, and thou- 
 sands of laborers were arriving in Illinois to 
 aid in the undertaking. 
 
 Although the population of the state was then 
 in the neighborhood of 900,000, the majority of 
 these settlers were located in counties border- 
 ing on the Mississippi, Wabash and Illinois riv- 
 ers. Lake Michigan and the Illinois and Michi- 
 gan Canal. The prairie countr\' was still but 
 sparsely settled. 
 
 The 366-mile route of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad between Chicago and Cairo did not 
 pass through a single settlement of more than 
 100 inhabitants, and it passed near only three 
 settlements of any importance — Bourbonnais, 
 on the Kankakee River, with 1,710 inhabitants; 
 Urbana, in Champaign County, with 210 in- 
 habitants, and Jonesboro, in Union County, 
 with 584 inhabitants. 
 
 From the junction of the Chicago branch, 
 near the present city of Centralia, to Galena, the 
 
 Douglas akb Bseese — Senators Stephen A. Douglas (left) and 
 Sidney Breese championed the Illinois land-giant measures which 
 led to the building of the Illinois Central Railroad. Douglas 
 photo by courtesy of Chicago Historical Society.
 
 26 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 324-mile route encountered only eight towns or 
 villages of more than 100 inhabitants: Vandalia, 
 the old state capital, with 360 inhabitants ; Deca- 
 tur, with 600; Bloomington, with 1,594; Clin- 
 ton, with 367; La Salle, with 200; Amboy, with 
 540; Dixon, with 540; and Freeport, with 1,436 
 inhabitants. Aside from these few small towns 
 the route traversed a wild and desolate region, 
 over which deer and wild game roamed with- 
 out molestation and one might travel for a 
 whole day without coming in sight of a human 
 habitation. 
 
 The building of a pioneer railroad across the 
 
 ^•" 
 
 WANT 
 
 i^3ai 
 
 3,000 LABOBMS 
 
 On the 12th Division oT the 
 
 'ILUNOIS CENTRAL SAMOAD 
 
 "Wages, $1.25 per Day. 
 
 Fare, from New- York, only - - $^)x^' 
 
 By Railroad and Steamboat, to th^work in the 
 State of Illinois. 
 
 Constant employment for two years or more 
 given. Good board can be obtained at two 
 doliar.o per week. 
 
 This is a rare chance for persons to go 
 West, being sure of permanent employment 
 in a healthy climate, where land can be ,, 
 bought cheap, and for fertility is not surpassed 
 • in any part of the Union. 
 
 Men with famihes preferred. 
 
 For further information in regard Co it, c«ll 
 at thd^eatral KailroatTOflSi*,' 
 
 173 BROADWAY, 
 
 CORNER OF COURTLANDT ST. 
 NEW^-TORK. 
 
 "^ R. B. MASON, Chief Engineer. 
 
 ^v «. PHELPS, Agbnt. 
 
 |v JpLT, 18 S3. * ■"'' V' .- 
 
 Advertisement for Laborers — The Illinois Central recruited 
 thousands of workmen in Eastern and Southern cities and 
 brought them to Illinois to work on the railroad. As many as 
 10,000 men were engaged at one time on the project. 
 
 prairies of Illinois was a formidable undertak- 
 ing for that early day. Many and difficult were 
 the problems confronting the builders. There 
 were then no powerful machines to reduce the 
 hills and level the valleys and swing the heavy 
 timbers into place. The work had to be done 
 by men of brawn, with shovels and picks and 
 sledge hammers and crow bars. 
 
 Crews of "lumber jacks" were sent into the 
 forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and southern 
 Illinois to produce the cross ties and bridge tim- 
 bers. Quarries were opened to supply the stone 
 for the bridge and building foundations. Hun- 
 dreds of ox- and horse-teams were employed to 
 transport rail, ties, lumber, stone and provisions 
 for many miles over miserable roads or across 
 open prairies to the construction sites. Other 
 hundreds of teams were used to move the earth 
 from cuts and side borrows to embankments. 
 
 Iron rails were purchased in England and 
 shipped across the Atlantic in sailing vessels, 
 thence from Eastern ports to Illinois by way 
 of the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes, or from 
 New Orleans by the Mississippi and Illinois 
 rivers. One vessel laden with rails for the 
 Illinois Central foundered in a storm in mid- 
 Atlantic. 
 
 Laborers were recruited in New York, Bos- 
 ton, New Orleans and other distant cities — 
 hardy Irishmen, thrifty Scots, industrious Ger- 
 mans and Scandinavians, many fresh from the 
 old countries. One contractor brought 1,000 
 men direct from Ireland. The railway company, 
 with an eye to settling up its territory, gave 
 preference to men with families. Arriving in 
 Illinois, by rail, lake or river, these men were 
 sent overland in prairie wagons to the numerous 
 construction camps along the route. At times 
 as many as 10,000 workmen were employed on 
 the construction. It is estimated that within a 
 period of five years at least 100,000 men were 
 brought to Illinois to work on the railroad. 
 Workmen were paid in cash, and the paymas- 
 ters were obliged to make their way from camp 
 to camp under heavy^ armed guards. 
 
 In those days Illinois was not as healthful 
 as it is now, and the prevalence of cholera dur- 
 ing the summer months created much unrest, 
 "scattering the workmen like frightened sheep." 
 Men at work one day were in their graves the 
 next. Many panic-stricken workmen aban- 
 doned the camps at the first signs of the
 
 DAWN OF THE RAIL \\^ AY ERA 
 
 V 
 
 Early Officers— Col, Roswell B. Mason (left), chief engineer 
 of construction, under whose direction the original lines of the 
 Illinois Central Railroad were built, and Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, 
 resident director of the railroad prior to the Civil War. Banks 
 portrait from Harfcr's Xeu' Monthly Magazine, March, 1865, by 
 courtesy of Harper's Magazine. 
 
 epidemic. Hundreds died at Chicago, Central 
 City, Cairo and other points. The prevalence 
 of fever and ague and the fact that it was 
 dangerous during the summer months to eat 
 either beef or butter or to drink milk because 
 of the dread "milk sickness" alarmed the work- 
 men and added to the difficulties of the builders. 
 
 At many points, especially on the Chicago 
 branch, there was much difficulty in obtaining 
 good water. 
 
 Notwithstanding these handicaps, the work 
 proceeded at an astonishing pace. On May 20, 
 1852, the first completed section of the road 
 between Chicago and Kensington was opened. 
 On May 16, 1853, the road was opened between 
 La Salle and Bloomington, and on July 11 of 
 that year the rails of the Chicago branch 
 reached the Kankakee River. On November 14 
 the line was opened from La Salle to Mendota. 
 In 1854 the following sections were opened: 
 Freeport-Nora, January 6; Bloomington-Clin- 
 ton, March 14; Kankakee-Ludlow, May 13; 
 Ludlow-Champaign, July 24 ; Nora-Apple River, 
 September 11; Clinton-Decatur, October 18; 
 Apple River-Galena, October 28; Cairo-Sando- 
 val, November 22; Mendota-Amboy, Novem- 
 ber 27. 
 
 On Januar>' 6, 1855, the line between Sando- 
 val and Decatur was completed, and on January 
 15 the Amboy-Freeport line was opened, pro- 
 viding a continuous railroad from Galena to 
 Cairo. On June 11 the rails reached the Missis- 
 sippi River opposite Dubuque, and on June 25 
 
 the section between Champaign and Mattoon 
 was opened. 
 
 The joy with which the early settlers hailed 
 the coming of the "Iron Horse" knew no 
 bounds. It brought an end, once and for all, to 
 the isolation they had experienced on the lonely 
 prairies. It brought the merchandise and the 
 markets of the world to their doors. It put an 
 end to the long and difficult journeys to distant 
 markets. It enhanced the value of their lands. 
 It brought new neighbors, new comforts, new 
 interests, new opportunities. 
 
 The pioneer children, no less' than their 
 parents, eagerly watched the progress of the 
 engineers and builders and plied them endlessly 
 with questions about the speed of the trains, 
 the size of the engines and cars, the cost of 
 travel, and so on. 
 
 The arrival of the first train was the signal 
 for an enthusiastic celebration in the towns, 
 with speech-making, music, a parade and a bar- 
 
 OUNLtl 
 
 DUBUpUE' 
 
 A Map of 1861, showing the original lines ot the Illinois Central 
 Railroad, completed in 1856.
 
 28 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Abraham Lincoln w-as an attorney of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road for several years prior to his nomination for the Presidency. 
 Picture by courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 becue or picnic on the program. The festivities 
 sometimes lasted throughout the day and 
 evening. 
 
 Sun-browned settlers rode for miles, in ox- 
 carts and prairie wagons and on horseback — 
 men in snuff-colored jeans and high-boots, 
 women in calico dresses and big sun-bonnets, 
 and children in their "best bib and tucker" — 
 to witness for the first time in the lives of most 
 of them a steam locomotive and a train of cars 
 bowling along at the terrific speed of fifteen or 
 twenty miles an hour ! 
 
 A passenger who rode the first train through 
 southern Illinois said that people lined the track 
 on either side and as the train passed they 
 "stood dumb with amazement, as if they had 
 just come out between the shakes of fever and 
 ague." 
 
 The last rail in the construction of the origi- 
 nal lines of the Illinois Central Railroad was 
 spiked into place near Mason, III, on September 
 27, 1856 — only five years and eight months after 
 the railway company had received its charter — 
 signalizing the completion of the longest rail- 
 
 road on the American continent at that time. 
 
 From its inception the Illinois Central had 
 attracted the interest of investors both in this 
 country and abroad. At the time the company 
 was organized there were no banks doing busi- 
 ness in Illinois, and there were no capitalists of 
 consequence in this whole western country. 
 
 Most of the funds used in building the road 
 came from European and Eastern investors, the 
 majority of whom were persons of moderate 
 means. Besides the incorporators, these inves- 
 tors included Richard Cobden, British states- 
 man, for whom Cobden, 111., was named; Wil- 
 liam Gladstone, the great British premier; 
 Lawrence Heyworth, member of parliament, 
 for whom Heyworth, 111., was named; Sir 
 Joseph Paxton, for whom Paxton, 111., was 
 named ; James C. Fargo, of the famous Wells- 
 Fargo express company; Abram S. Hewitt, son- 
 in-law of Peter Cooper, builder of the loco- 
 motive "Tom Thumb"; Wendell Phillips, noted 
 abolitionist; Harriett Beecher Stowe, author of 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin, and many other persons 
 of prominence. 
 
 The unusual importance of the Illinois Cen- 
 tral project naturally attracted the services of 
 many persons of outstanding attainments. The 
 chief engineer of construction was Col. Ros- 
 well B. Mason, a canal and railway builder of 
 wide renown. Col. William H. Bissell, hero of 
 the Mexican War and eleventh governor of 
 Illinois, was one of its early officers. 
 
 Gen. George B. McClellan, of Civil War 
 fame, was chief engineer and operating vice- 
 president of the Illinois Central in the late 
 1850s. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and Gen. 
 
 f^lSioiTtotva! ^Jviulgonil i 
 
 gSV. 
 
 J/t^t^mi<x, f^o ; 
 
 
 LinculnV Illinois Central Pass — The future War President 
 made frequent trips over the Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes 
 on business of the company, sometimes on speech-making tours.
 
 ILLINOIS IS TRANSFORMED 
 
 29 
 
 Nathaniel P. Banks. Civil War commanders, 
 were treasurer and resident director, respec- 
 tively, in the period prior to the war. Gen. 
 Grenville M. Dodge, builder of the first rail- 
 road across the Rocky Mountains, Sir William 
 C. \'an Home, builder of Canada's first trans- 
 continental railroad, and Marvin Hughitt. whose 
 name will forever be identified with the devel- 
 opment of the Chicago & North Western 
 railway system, began their railway careers 
 with the Illinois Central in the early days. 
 
 By a unique provision of the railroad's char- 
 ter, every governor of Illinois since the days 
 of Augustus French has been a member of the 
 board of directors of the Illinois Central. This 
 was probably a wise provision, because the 
 Illinois Central has for more than eighty years 
 been one of the foremost factors in Illinois, out- 
 
 ranking every other railroad and probably every 
 other private enterprise in the state in invest- 
 ments, employment, payrolls and taxes. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was an attorney for the 
 Illinois Central for several years, representing 
 the railroad in the circuit courts of Champaign. 
 Macon. DeWitt, McLean. Shelby and \'ermil- 
 lion counties on the old Eighth Judicial Circuit, 
 as well as before the Supreme Court of Illinois. 
 The famous McLean County Tax Case, in 
 which he represented the Illinois Central, was 
 probably the most important law case of his 
 career. In 1859, Lincoln, as an Illinois Central 
 attorney, was host to a group of state officers 
 and prominent citizens on a complete tour of 
 the Illinois Central Railroad lasting several 
 days for the purpose of appraising the railway 
 property. 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 inois Is Transformed 
 
 WHILE the Illinois Central Railroad was 
 under construction Illinois was under- 
 going a transformation such as few other re- 
 gions of the world ever experienced. The 
 railroad ushered in a new'era in Illinois. The 
 great project itself, by its magnitude, attracted 
 widespread attention. Thousands of industri- 
 ous engineers, mechanics and laborers came to 
 Illinois to work on the railroad, later to pur- 
 chase farms, enter business and become sub- 
 stantial citizens, the grandfathers of many 
 present-day Illinoisans. 
 
 In order to promote the development of its 
 territory, so essential to its success, the Illinois 
 Central launched a widespread publicity cam- 
 paign — the first important publicity campaign 
 ever undertaken by an American railroad — for 
 the purpose of drawing attention to the cli- 
 mate, resources and opportunities of this then 
 "far \Vestern country." 
 
 The advertising columns of many news- 
 papers, farm journals and magazines were used 
 in the effort. Thus, into tens of thousands of 
 homes in New England, New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, the Southland, as well as in England, 
 Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Nor- 
 way, went these Illinois Central advertise- 
 ments, carrying illustrations of luxurious crops 
 of grain, shocks of wheat, baskets brimming 
 
 .^gggfr^S™ 
 
 a.> 
 
 t 
 
 -^1 
 
 p'_b--/;s>^^ 
 
 (^f^JI'^-^'f^ 
 
 
 
 
 :^f:^ 
 
 k. 
 
 The Illinois Central's No. 1 — The arrival of this old "wood- 
 burner," signalizing the opening of the railroad, was celebrated in 
 many towns up and down the Illinois Central in the 1850s. 
 
 with corn, vegetables piled high, and with 
 horses and cattle grazing on the fertile prairies 
 — a scene of peace and plenty, beckoning the 
 hardy sons of toil to "Illinois, the Garden State 
 of America." 
 
 "The Finest Farm Lands — Equal to Any in 
 the World!!!" ran one of the advertisements 
 that attracted thousands to Illinois in the 
 1850s and 1860s. "The Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company offers, on long credit, the beau- 
 tiful and fertile prairie lands lying along the 
 whole line of railroad, 700 miles in length, 
 upon the most favorable terms for enabling 
 farmers, manufacturers, mechanics and work- 
 ingmen to make for themselves and their fam- 
 ilies a competency and a home they can call 
 their own.
 
 30 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 "No State in the Valley of the Mississippi 
 offers so great an inducement to the settlers 
 as Illinois. . . . There is no part of the world 
 where all the conditions of climate and soil so 
 admirably combine to produce corn and wheat. 
 In central and southern Illinois uncommon 
 advantages are presented for stock raising. The 
 great resources of the state, in coal, iron, lead, 
 zinc, limestone, sandstone, etc., are almost un- 
 touched; they await the arrival of enterprising 
 and energetic men. . . . Mechanics and work- 
 ing-men will find a free-school system encour- 
 aged by the state. . . . Children can live in sight 
 of the school, the college, the church, and 
 grow up with the prosperity of the leading 
 state in the Great Western Empire." 
 
 The railroad supplemented its newspaper and 
 magazine advertising with hundreds of thou- 
 sands of illustrated pamphlets, as well as large 
 numbers of posters and handbills, telling of 
 the opportunities which Illinois offered the 
 homeseeker. Colonization agents were located 
 in Eastern cities and at the seaports. Repre- 
 sentatives of the railroad toured Europe, de- 
 livering lectures on the opportunities which 
 Illinois offered the immigrant and colonist. 
 
 In his book The Illinois Central Railroad 
 and Its Colonisation Work, Dr. Paul Wallace 
 Gates says that in two months one Illinois 
 Central agent distributed 26,000 land pamph- 
 lets in Massachusetts, New York and Connec- 
 ticut. Another agent distributed 300,000 
 pamphlets to newspaper subscribers in Ohio, 
 Kentucky, Virginia and western Pennsylvania. 
 Eight thousand pamphlets were sent to sub- 
 
 McClell.an and Blrnside — These distinguishrd Civil War com- 
 manders, George B. McClellan (left) and Ambrose E. Bumside, 
 were ofificers of the Illinois Central Railroad prior to the Civil 
 War. Courtesy, Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 scribers of the Maine Farmer. Thousands of 
 copies were published in foreign languages for 
 distribution in Europe. Large numbers were 
 sent out from the Chicago office of the Illinois 
 Central in response to inquiries which poured 
 in by mail. 
 
 Indeed, so extensive and widespread were 
 the railroad's efforts to attract settlers that 
 nearly every person in the United States and 
 millions in foreign countries must have read 
 or heard a great deal about Illinois and its 
 varied opportunities. 
 
 How many thousands of persons migrated 
 to Illinois as a result of the construction of 
 the Illinois Central and of the widespread pub- 
 licity campaign which the railway company 
 carried on, no one will ever know, but unques- 
 tionably the number was very large. Hardly 
 was the construction of the railroad well under 
 way before a tide of migration of unprecedented 
 proportions set in toward Illinois. 
 
 Under the provisions of the federal grant, 
 the Illinois Central could not offer any of its 
 lands for sale until all government lands, in 
 alternate sections, within six miles of the rail- 
 road had been sold. In 1850 the government 
 owned 11,500,000 acres of wild land in Illi- 
 nois, which had been offered to the public for 
 twenty years, without purchasers, at $1.25 per 
 acre. Holders of government war script could 
 purchase these lands for 62^/2 cents an acre. 
 
 Following the passage of the land-grant bill, 
 the government withdrew from the market all 
 lands within six miles of the proposed railroad. 
 When again put on the market, in the fall of 
 1852, they were offered and quickly sold at 
 $2.50 an acre, or for two to four times the 
 prices which no one was willing to pay before 
 the railroad was assured. 
 
 Thus the government lost nothing by the 
 transfer of the lands to Illinois in return for 
 the assurance that a railroad would be built 
 through these vast areas of wild lands in the 
 interior of the state. On the contrary, the 
 government profited by the ready sale at in- 
 creased prices of the millions of acres which it 
 retained — lands which, without the railroad, 
 would have been reduced to I2y2 cents an acre 
 under the Graduation Act of 1854. 
 
 When the Illinois Central lands were placed 
 on the market in the summer of 1854, the land
 
 ILLINOIS IS TRANSFORMED 
 
 SI 
 
 An Early Illinois Central Train 
 
 office at Chicago was besieged by applicants 
 eager to take advantage of the railroad's low 
 prices and liberal credit terms under which 
 some of the richest farm lands in Illinois could 
 be purchased for a down payment of only 50 
 cents an acre, with seven years in which to pay 
 the remainder. 
 
 By this time the railroads had reached Chi- 
 cago from the East. Every incoming train 
 brought its quota of homeseekers; others were 
 arriving by lake steamer or covered wagons, 
 to tarry a day or two in Chicago and then 
 press on to contribute their bit to the making 
 of Illinois. 
 
 Over the old National Road and other pikes 
 from the East the white tops of prairie schoon- 
 ers, slowly wending their way westward, ever 
 westward, met the eye of the arriving settler 
 as the "Iron Horse" bore him across the prai- 
 ries to his new home to be. 
 
 Where but a short time ago spread a deso- 
 late, unpeopled waste, the newcomer now be- 
 held many evidences of human enterprise. 
 Around nearly every little wooden railway sta- 
 tion streets were being laid out; houses, stores, 
 schools and churches were being erected. The 
 sound of saw and hammer and the fragrance 
 of spruce lumber were in the air. 
 
 Here and there and everywhere across the 
 prairies farm houses were springing up; fences 
 were being built; trees and hedges were being 
 planted; cattle and sheep were grazing; fields 
 of grain were yellowing in the summer sun. 
 
 Not to be outdone in enterprise by his new 
 
 neighbors, the old settler on the edge of the 
 grove was erecting a frame dwelling to replace 
 the crude little log cabin which he had built 
 years ago, before the railroads brought sawed 
 lumber and other building materials to the 
 prairies. 
 
 On every hand were unmistakable evidences 
 of the transforming, energizing influence of 
 railroads, which were now being flung across 
 the state and beyond its borders, into Iowa and 
 Missouri and Wisconsin, pushing back the fron- 
 tier and laying the foundations for agricultural 
 and industrial development such as the Illinois 
 Central was bringing to its territory in Illinois. 
 
 Wherever the "civilizing rails" went they 
 brought the settler, the investor, the merchant, 
 the mechanic, the promoter, the teacher, the 
 preacher, to establish farming communities, 
 villages, towns. 
 
 Assured of reliable transportation service, 
 month after month, year after year, summer 
 and winter, the manufacturer and the mine 
 operator came to add their substantial influ- 
 ence to the building of new communities. Thus 
 not only were new and nearby consuming cen- 
 ters created for the products of the farm, but 
 cheap railway transportation enabled the Illi- 
 nois farmer to ship his products to consuming 
 centers hundreds of miles distant. Flourish- 
 ing trade currents were thus set up on every 
 hand, and Illinois entered upon an era of prog- 
 ress and prosperity hitherto unknown. 
 
 Numerous villages and towns sprang up like
 
 32 
 
 TRAI LS TO RAILS 
 
 magic along the routes of the "Iron Horse." 
 Centralia was typical. An unredeemed prairie 
 at the beginning" of 1854; a railway station in 
 midsummer; a few months later a fast-grow- 
 ing town of 1,900 inhabitants, with 275 dwel- 
 lings, eleven stores, three hotels, two churches, 
 a railway repair shop, a flour mill and a school. 
 Two hundred and twenty-five farms were 
 opened in the vicinity within two years. 
 
 At Champaign the Illinois Central estab- 
 lished a station on the open prairie in the sum- 
 mer of 1854. \\ithin a few months a flourish- 
 ing village had sprung up. A year later Cham- 
 paign was a community of 100 houses and four 
 or five hundred inhabitants. Settlers were 
 swarming in to take up the vacant lands in 
 the surrounding countrv. 
 
 RAILRO.\D M.\P 
 
 or 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 1857 
 
 From The Colonisation Activities of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road, by Dr. Paul Wallace Gates, copyright 1934, reproduced by 
 courtesy of Harvard University Press. 
 
 In 1850 there were only 23,000 acres of im- 
 proved land in Champaign county; by 1860 
 improved acreage had increased to 170,000 
 acres. The growth continued until in 1950 
 there were 604,900 acres of improved land in 
 the county. When the railroad was opened 
 there were no manufacturing plants in Cham- 
 paign County. In 1948 there were about 
 171 maufacturing plants in the county, and 
 their output in that vear was valued at nearly 
 $100,525,000 
 
 When the railroad was surveyed Carbondale 
 was not on the map. When the railroad was 
 opened it was a thriving village of 300 inhab- 
 itants. In another five years its population 
 had quadrupled. 
 
 Mattoon sprang up almost overnight. In 
 April, 1855, there was not a sign of human 
 life; by August there was a large hotel, with 
 another in process of erection, a postofiice, a 
 dry goods store and two groceries to supply 
 the rapidly increasing population. By 1856 
 Mattoon was a village of 500 inhabitants, with 
 113 homes completed and others going up on 
 every hand. 
 
 When the Illinois Central was projected in 
 1850 the value of all farm property in McLean 
 County was only $1,665,000. Seven out of 
 every eight acres of land in the county were 
 in a wild state. In 1950 McLean was the rich- 
 est agricultural county in the Middle West, 
 with farm property valued at $204,500,000, or 
 over 123 times what it was before the Illi- 
 nois Central was built. 
 
 In a single decade, from 1850 to 1860, the 
 population of Illinois more than doubled. That 
 of the thirty-two counties traversed by the 
 Illinois Central Railroad mounted from 248,- 
 000 to 609,000, a gain of 145 per cent. In 1950 
 the population of these counties was approxi- 
 mately 5..500,0OO- twenty times that of 1850. 
 
 Still more striking was the agricultural and 
 industrial growth of Illinois as a result of rail- 
 way development. In 1850 only 5,036,000 
 acres, or 14 per cent of the land area of Illi- 
 nois, were classed as improved. Ten years 
 later 13,196.000 acres, or 37 per cent of Illinois' 
 area, were improved. The census of 1950 re- 
 ports 30.900,000 acres, or 86 per cent of the 
 state's area, as improved farm lands. 
 
 The development of manufactures is another 
 striking phase of progress. In 1850 the total
 
 A GREAT RAIL^VA^• CENTER 
 
 33 
 
 
 ^^• 
 
 ^.^m^- -^'^'^^i^jaff^^r; 
 
 '}r^\ -A" 
 
 ? 
 
 v:^ 
 
 The Express Train — A Currier and Ives print of 1859, 
 
 value of manufactured products in the thirty- 
 two counties traversed by the Illinois Central 
 amounted to only $6,247,000. In 1948 the 
 value of manufactured products in the city of 
 Decatur alone was more than twenty-two 
 times that sum! 
 
 In 1850, aside from the lead mines near 
 Galena and two or three small coal mines in 
 the vicinity of East St. Louis, the vast mineral 
 resources of Illinois were almost wholly un- 
 touched. Railway transportation, providing 
 direct year-round service from the mines and 
 quarries to every market in the country, en- 
 abled these hidden reservoirs of wealth to be 
 developed. As a result, Illinois' income from 
 mineral production was a hundred times 
 greater in recent years. 
 
 The growth of the great coal-mining in- 
 dustry of southern Illinois was coincident with 
 the development of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road. The first shaft mine was opened at 
 DtiQuoin a few months after the railroad was 
 completed through that part of the state. 
 
 The only locomotives then operating in Illi- 
 
 . ^r-MagipMagcaibk.- 
 
 reproduced by courtesy of the .American Steel Foundries. 
 
 nois burned cord-wood. In 1855 the Illinois 
 Central began experimenting in the use of Illi- 
 nois coal for locomotive fuel. Some were skep- 
 tical; they did not believe it could be done. 
 One railway man declared that attempts to 
 btirn Illinois coal in locomotives were irrational 
 and absurd; that it couldn't be done. 
 
 But within a few months from the time his 
 letter was written the experiments were pro- 
 nounced a success, and in 1856 the company 
 placed orders for several coal-burning locomo- 
 tives. By 1859 twenty-two of the railroad's 
 112 engines were burning Illinois coal. At the 
 close of the Civil War practically every loco- 
 motive on the Illinois Central was burning 
 Illinois coal exclusively. 
 
 Under the stimulus of railway development 
 and the tremendous industrial expansion 
 which followed, coal production in Illinois 
 mounted from 400,000 tons in 1855, to 6,000.000 
 tons in 1880 and to 25,800,000 tons in 1900, 
 with the Illinois Central ranking throughout 
 this period as the leading consumer of coal in 
 the state. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A Great RaiWay Center 
 
 '^/T^HICAGO," said Charles H. Markham, 
 ^— • "is a majestic monument to railway en- 
 terprise and achievement — a mighty tribute 
 to the faith and courage of the empire build- 
 ers whose genius and daring brought the 
 
 great American railway system into being." 
 Nowhere in Illinois — or in the world, for that 
 matter — are the benefits of railwav develop- 
 ment more strikingly in evidence than in this 
 great mid-western metropolis — the transporta-
 
 34 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 tion center of the North American continent. 
 
 When the first Chicago railroad was pro- 
 posed, in 1831, Chicago was "a mere collection 
 of huts in a swamp." By the time the second 
 railroad was proposed, in 1834, it was a flourish- 
 ing village. Chicago continued to grow under 
 the stimulus of these "paper" railroads and the 
 promise of prosperity which they and the pro- 
 posed canal were expected to bring. 
 
 By 1850, when the Illinois Central Railroad, 
 with a "branch line" to Chicago, was first def- 
 initely assured, and the Galena and Chicago 
 
 The Northern Indiana Railroad won the race, 
 reaching the city on February 20, 1852. The 
 Michigan Central entered the city over the 
 Illinois Central tracks three months later. Both 
 roads now belong to the New York Central 
 System. 
 
 In the meantime other railway companies 
 were being organized to push lines into the 
 undeveloped territory westward and north- 
 ward from Chicago. 
 
 Late in 1852 the Chicago & Rock Island 
 Railroad was opened to Joliet; the following 
 
 Chicago in 1853 — The Illinois Central originally entered the city on a trestle in the lake. This location was designated by the city 
 council in order to relieve the city of the heavy e.xpense of protecting the shore line against lake storms. The railroad built a 
 breakwater at a cost to itself, and a sa\ ing to the city, of millions of dollars. 
 
 Union Railroad and the Aurora Branch were 
 opened to Elgin and Aurora, Chicago had at- 
 tained a population of 29,000. These pioneer 
 projects brought Chicago into prominence as 
 a railway center and stamped it at once as the 
 coming city of the West. 
 
 "On to Chicago !" was the new slogan that 
 resounded through the land. "On to Chi- 
 cago!" said John Murray Forbes, of Boston, 
 and straightway the Michigan Central Rail- 
 road, which then ran from Detroit to Michigan 
 City, Ind., began its extension around the lake 
 to Chicago "On to Chicago!" said John B. 
 Jervis, of the IMichigan Southern & Northern 
 Indiana Railroad, and promptly that road was 
 engaged in a spirited race with Forbes' road to 
 see which should have the distinction of being 
 the first to reach Illinois and Chicago from 
 the East. 
 
 year it was extended to a junction with the 
 Illinois Central at La Salle; in 1854 it reached 
 the Mississippi River at Rock Island. This 
 was the first railroad to link Chicago and the 
 rail lines from the East with the Mississippi 
 River. It was also the first railroad to cross 
 the Mississippi River on a bridge, which was 
 opened to Davenport, la., in April, 1856. 
 
 The Galena and Chicago Union reached 
 Freeport in the summer of 1853, and two 
 years later, by using the tracks of the Illinois 
 Central west of Freeport, its trains were run- 
 ning from Chicago to the Mississippi River 
 opposite Dubuque. Late in 1855 the Galena 
 and Chicago Union completed a line of its own 
 through DeKalb, Dixon and Sterling to the 
 Mississippi River at Fulton — now the main 
 line of the Chicago & North Western to 
 Omaha.
 
 A GREAT RAM 
 
 35 
 
 In 1853 the Central Military Tract Railroad 
 was opened from Aurora to Mendota, thu>^ 
 providing in conjunction with the Aurora 
 Branch (Chicago and Aurora) and the Illinois 
 Central a through rail route between Chicago 
 and Bloomington. It was over this route that 
 the first passenger train between Chicago and 
 Cairo was run on January 8, 1855, before the 
 Chicago branch of the IlHnois Central was 
 completed. 
 
 The Military Tract road was completed as 
 far west as Galesburg in 1854, and in the fol- 
 lowing year the Peoria and Oquakwa Railroad 
 between Galesburg and the Mississippi 
 River, opposite Burlington, la., was opened. 
 Shortly thereafter the Chicago and Aurora, the 
 Central Military Tract and the Peoria and 
 Oquakwa, forming a through rail route be- 
 tween Chicago and the Mississippi River op- 
 posite Burlington, were consolidated as the 
 Chicago. Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The 
 present Burlington line between Galesburg and 
 Quincy was also one of the pioneer railway 
 lines of Illinois, having been built in 1854-55 
 under the old Northern Cross charter. 
 
 The present Chicago & North Western lines 
 between Chicago and Milwaukee and between 
 Chicago and Madison, Wis., were opened in 
 1855. 
 
 In the fall of 1852 the Chicago and Mississippi 
 Railroad, later the Chicago & Alton, was opened 
 between Alton and Springfield. Two years 
 later it was completed to Joliet. The com- 
 pletion of the Joliet 
 and Chicago Railroad 
 in 1856 provided a 
 through rail route 
 from Chicago to the 
 Mississippi River at 
 Alton. Meanwhile sev- 
 eral other important 
 railway projects were 
 in progress. A com- 
 pilation published in 
 Gerhard's Illinois As It 
 Is in 1857 lists forty- 
 eight railway projects 
 then completed or un- 
 der construction in Illi- 
 nois or coming from 
 adjoining states. Seven 
 of these roads were 
 
 George M. Pullman — Prob- 
 ably no man contributed more 
 to the comforts of passenger 
 travel. The company which he 
 founded has long been the larg- 
 est manufacturer and operator 
 of sleeping cars in the world. 
 
 Illinois Central Trrminal, Chicago, 18S9 — The grain trade 
 of Chicago was facilitated by these huge elevators, erected by 
 the railroad. From Harper's Weekly, September 10, 1859, by 
 courtesy of Harper's Magazine. 
 
 then actually in Chicago and several others were 
 projected to terminate at Chicago. 
 
 During this period of feverish railway expan- 
 sion, Chicago was a beehive of activity, growing 
 by leaps and bounds. The following extracts 
 from a letter written by an Illinois Central 
 official in 1855 vividly portrays the scene: 
 
 "The census of 1850 gave Chicago 28.620. The 
 papers of the city are glorying over the results 
 of a census just taken which gives our city 
 80,023 inhabitants on September 1, 1855. Mr. 
 Neal remarks 'this is the most astonishing thing 
 that ever happened in the world.' There are 
 2,700 new buildings now going up. . . . Mr. 
 Edgar was astonished, as every- one is, at the 
 magnitude and growth of the city. . . . On all 
 hands I hear that more extensive preparations 
 than for any previous year are now being made 
 to build and improve over the whole city. . . . 
 Hotels, depots, grain houses, store blocks, pri- 
 vate dwellings, not to mention several churches 
 and a theater, are to be erected in almost ever>- 
 division of the city. 
 
 "In eight blocks bounded by the Chicago 
 River, the Illinois Central Railroad, Clark Street 
 and Randolph Street, thirteen five-story brick 
 warehouses are in course of construction; also 
 nine five-stor>' stone and brick warehouses and 
 fifteen four-story common brick warehouses, 
 one stone hotel six stories high and forty tene- 
 ments. The Illinois Central is putting up a 
 beautiful structure for office purposes. . . . 
 These improvements are within that por.tion of 
 the city nearest the station of the Illinois Cen- 
 tral and are more extensive than those going 
 up in other parts, but they are a fair measure 
 of the progress of the town. ... I wonder if 
 there is or was ever anything like it!"
 
 36 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 Pioneer Sleeping Car— The introduction of sleeping cars on the Illinois Central in 1856 marked a great forward step in passenger 
 
 travel. The Amboy, shown above, was in use in 1857. 
 
 Company and other railway equipment and 
 railway supply companies have been highly 
 important factors in the making of Chicago. 
 
 Chicago's superior transportation facilities 
 also led to the establishment of the great inail 
 order and wholesale houses which have con- 
 tributed so much to the city's growth and pres- 
 tige as a merchandising center. 
 
 Thus, hand in hand with railway develop- 
 ment, the industrial development and com- 
 mercial growth of this great mid-Western 
 metropolis have gone forward. 
 
 Chicago's present-day importance is in large 
 measure due to the fact that it is the focal center 
 of the greatest network of railroads in the 
 world. In order to understand the importance 
 of Chicago as a transportation center, one's 
 view must comprehend the entire railway 
 system of the United States, because the rail- 
 way lines which terminate at Chicago are but 
 the delivering and receiving ends of many of the 
 busy arteries of commerce that reach out — like 
 the spokes of a wheel — to the far corners of 
 the land. 
 
 The thirty-odd railway lines which radiate 
 from the Chicago district belong to railway 
 systems which embrace more than two-fifths of 
 the total railway mileage of the United States. 
 These systems own more than one-half of all 
 the locomotives and cars and they perform more 
 than one-half of all the railway freight, pas- 
 senger, express and mail service in the country. 
 
 In the Chicago terminal district alone there 
 are about 8,000 miles of railway trackage — 
 enough to form twenty railroads abreast reach- 
 ing the length of the state from the Wisconsin 
 line to Cairo. Between three and four thousand 
 
 Chicago, which in 1850 had fewer than 29,000 
 souls and. only one partly completed railroad, 
 had become by 1860 a city of 109,000 souls with 
 eleven important railroads! It was now the 
 undisputed railway and distributing center of 
 the West. 
 
 Large quantities of railway construction 
 materials and manufactured goods were being 
 shipped in by rail and boat for redistribution 
 to the North and West and South. As the rail- 
 roads opened up these fertile regions, increasing 
 quantities of grains and livestock were shipped 
 to Chicago by rail for transshipment by lake 
 or rail to the Eastern states. 
 
 To take care of the growing grain traffic, 
 large grain elevators were erected by the Illinois 
 Central and other railroads, as well as by private 
 interests. Railway transportation soon made 
 Chicago the world's largest grain market. 
 
 In order to promote the livestock trade and 
 to bring together the buyers, sellers, manufac- 
 turers and transporting agencies, the Illinois 
 Central and other railroads w'ere chiefly instru- 
 mental in organizing the Union Stock Yards 
 and Transit Company, which greatly increased 
 Chicago's importance as a livestock market and 
 meat-packing center and led to the development 
 of the great meat packing houses whose names 
 are now household words throughout the world. 
 
 Chicago's importance as a railway center also 
 attracted steel and car manufacturers and others 
 engaged in supplying the railroads with equip- 
 ment, materials and supplies. One of these firms 
 was the Pullman Palace Car Company, now 
 The Pullman Company, which has for many 
 years been the largest manufacturer and oper- 
 ator of sleeping cars in the world. The Pullman
 
 GROWTH OF RAILROADS 
 
 37 
 
 passenger and freight trains enter or leave 
 Chicago every day. In a recent year a passenger 
 train arrived or departed at Chicago every fifty- 
 eight seconds and a freight train arrived or 
 departed every thirty-six seconds, on the aver- 
 age, day and night. 
 
 The railroads have been a dominant factor in 
 
 Chicago's growth and prosperity from the 
 beginning of the railway era down to the pres- 
 ent day, surpassing in wage earners and wages 
 any other single industry in the Chicago indus- 
 trial area and performing a transportation 
 service of tremendous proportions, vital to the 
 welfare of the city, the state and the nation. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Growth of Railroads 
 
 WHILE the railroads were extending their 
 first lines northward, westward and 
 southward from Chicago in the 1850s, other 
 railway projects were under way elsewhere in 
 Illinois, and all Illinois was astir with railway 
 activity. 
 
 In the summer of 1855 a broad-gauge railroad 
 known as the Ohio and Mississippi, was com- 
 pleted between Illinoistown (now East St. 
 Louis) and \'incennes, intersecting the Illinois 
 
 Central at Sandoval and Odin. The entire line 
 between St. Louis and Cincinnati, completed in 
 1857, was later changed to standard gauge. It 
 is now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio System. 
 The old Northern Cross Railroad, which had 
 been reorganized in the late 18-K)s as the 
 Sangamon and Morgan, with its western ter- 
 minal at Naples, was acquired by the Great 
 Western Railway Company and extended east- 
 ward from Springfield through Decatur, Tolono 
 
 HOW ILLINOIS MAS GROWN SINCE BEGINNING OF RAILWAY ERA. 
 
 POPULATION 
 1850 - 851,000 
 1950 - 8,700,000
 
 38 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 and Danville to Lafayette, Ind. This road, com- 
 pleted in 1856, subsequently became a part of 
 the Wabash Railway system. 
 
 In 1856 the Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis 
 (now the Big Four Railroad) was opened 
 between Terre Haute and Alton, forming con- 
 nections with the Illinois Central at Mattoon 
 and Pana. A branch line was extended to 
 St. Louis, and over this route in the early days 
 ran the Illinois Central's famous "Lightning 
 Express," a Chicago-St. Louis train, equipped 
 with "magnificent state room cars," and de- 
 scribed as one of the finest passenger trains in 
 the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 By 1857 Illinois was interlaced by a network 
 of railroads — the early lines of several of the 
 great American railway systems of the present 
 day. Persons could travel and ship goods all 
 the way by rail from the Eastern seaboard to 
 Illinois and from Illinois into the newly opened 
 regions of Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. 
 
 From fewer than 100 miles of short "strap" 
 railroads in 1850, the railway mileage of Illinois 
 mounted to 2,790 miles in 1860 — more than 
 existed in any other state in the Union except 
 Ohio. 
 
 The twelve principal railroads in Illinois at 
 that time, with their mileage and investment in 
 the state, were as follows: 
 
 Mileage Investment 
 
 Illinois Central 705 $27,195,000 
 
 Galena and Chicago Union 261 9,352,(X)0 
 
 Chicago, Alton and St. Louis 220 10,000,000 
 
 Mileage Investment 
 
 Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis. . . 208 $8,865,000 
 
 Great Western 182 5.086,000 
 
 Chicago and Rock Island 181 6,914,000 
 
 Logansport, Peoria and Burlington.. 171 5,000,000 
 
 Ohio and Mississippi 148 4,871,000 
 
 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 138 7,469,000 
 
 Quincy and Chicago 100 1,979.000 
 
 Peoria and Oquawka 94 3,770,000 
 
 Chicago and Northwestern 66 3,311,000 
 
 Railway expansion was temporarily checked 
 by the Civil War. During that great national 
 emergency the railroads proved of inestimable 
 value to the government in the speedy move- 
 ment of troops, military supplies and mails. 
 Particularly was this true of the Illinois Central, 
 wnth its northern termini at Chicago and Du- 
 buque, la., and its southern terminus at Cairo. 
 
 Had the Illinois Central been designed and 
 built solely for military service, it probably 
 could not have been better suited to the needs 
 of the government in coping with the grave 
 situation with which it was confronted. No one 
 knew this better than President Lincoln and 
 General McClellan, who had been in the service 
 of the railroad in the years preceding the war, 
 or than General Grant, whose home was on the 
 Illinois Central at Galena. 
 
 As the only direct rail route from Chicago and 
 the upper Mississippi Valley region to the Ohio 
 River, the Illinois Central played an important 
 role in the transportation of soldiers, horses, 
 foodstuffs, military supplies and mails to Cairo 
 for distribution by rail and river to militarj' 
 
 GROWTH OF RAILWAY MILEAGE IN ILLINOIS 
 
 THOUSANDS OF MILES 
 
 YEARS 
 
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 RAILWAY PROGRESS 
 
 39 
 
 A Modern Giant of the Rails — Powerful locomotives of this type are used extensively for hauling perishable fruits and vegetables, 
 packing-house products and other commodities which require fast movement. 
 
 and naval forces in the lower Mississippi Valley. 
 
 Shortly after the termination of the war, rail- 
 way construction was resumed on a large scale. 
 From 1865 to 1870 nearly one thousand miles 
 of new railroad were opened in Illinois. During 
 the next ten years, from 1870 to 1880. the 
 state's railway mileage increased from 4,823 to 
 7,851 miles. 
 
 By 1870 Illinois had outstripped Ohio and had 
 become the first state in the Union in railway 
 mileage, a position which it held without inter- 
 ruption for forty years, until superseded by 
 Texas in 1910. Texas, however, has more than 
 four times the area of Illinois. 
 
 During that remarkable period of railway 
 development, from 1850 to 1880, the population 
 of Illinois increased from 851,000 to 3,078,000. 
 At the close of that period nearly every county 
 in the state was served by railroads and sup- 
 porting a thrifty and industrious population. 
 Numerous towns and cities which were not on 
 the map in 1850 had become busy centers of 
 trade and industry. Older communities had 
 experienced a remarkable growth. 
 
 Bloomington had increased in population 
 from 1,594 to 17,200; Belleville from 2,941 to 
 10,700; Aurora from 1,895 to 11,900; Alton 
 
 from 3,585 to 9,000; Danville from 736 to 7,700; 
 Freeport from 1,436 to 8,500; Galesburg from 
 323 to 11,400; Jacksonville from 2,745 to 10,900; 
 Joliet from 2,659 to 11,700; Pekin from 1,678 
 to 6,000; Peoria from 5,095 to 29,300; Quincv 
 from 6,902 to 27,300; Rock Island from l,7l'l 
 to 11,700; Springfield from 4,533 to 19,700; 
 while Chicago's population had increased 
 sixteen fold, from 29,000 to 503,000! 
 
 Among the important cities of Illinois which 
 were small towns or did not exist in 1850 
 are: Centralia, Champaign, Decatur, Elgin, 
 Kankakee, Kewanee, Chicago Heights, West 
 Frankfort, Urbana, La Salle, Lincoln, Mattoon, 
 Granite City, Harrisburg, Harvey, Rockford, 
 Moline, Mt. Vernon, Ottawa, Sterling, Streator, 
 Canton, Waukegan, Cairo and East St. Louis. 
 
 While we have paused at 1880 to take note of 
 the state's progress, that year did not mark a 
 halt in the growth of Illinois or its railway 
 system. Railway expansion continued through 
 the 1880s and 1890s until in 1900 more than 
 11,000 miles of railroad existed in the state. 
 Since then some 500 miles have been added, 
 bringing total mileage up to around 11,500, or 
 one mile of railroad for every 5 miles of land 
 area in the state. 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EVER since steam railway transportation 
 was introduced in Illinois, the science of 
 railroading has constantly improved. Progress 
 has been marked in every department of railway 
 operations. Consequently, railway service is 
 now vastly superior to that of a generation or 
 two ago. 
 
 It will be recalled, for instance, that the first 
 
 railroads in Illinois were constructed of wooden 
 rails upon which were fastened thin strips of 
 iron to provide a running surface for the wheels. 
 In the 1850s iron rails were introduced. These 
 rails, imported from England, weighed about 
 50 or 56 pounds to the yard. In the 1870s steel 
 rails came into extensive use. As the weight of 
 locomotives and cars increased and the art of
 
 40 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 rail-making was improved, the weight of the 
 rails was increased. 
 
 Steel rails of vastly superior quality, weigh- 
 ing from 100 to 130 pounds to the yard, are now 
 in common use in Illinois. Numerous other 
 improvements, such as tie plates, improved rail 
 fastenings, and ballasting have made the mod- 
 ern railway track smoother, stronger and safer 
 than ever before. 
 
 A Modern Passenger Coach designed to provide the maximurr, 
 ot comfort and convenience to tlic traveling public. 
 
 Bridges, too, have been greatly improved. 
 When the first lines of the Illinois Central were 
 built most of the watercourses were spanned by 
 wooden bridges and trestles. A few of the 
 larger rivers were spanned by bridges con- 
 structed of stone foundations and wooden 
 superstructures, which supported the light loco- 
 motives of that day but would not be strong 
 enough to bear the tremendous weight of a mod- 
 ern locomotive. The modern railway bridge is 
 built of reinforced concrete and steel and is 
 designed to stand the stress and strain of the 
 heaviest trains. 
 
 Probably no part of the railway plant has 
 undergone a greater change than the steam 
 locomotive. The first locomotive operated on 
 the Illinois Central burned wood for fuel. Its 
 headlight burned whale- or coal-oil. It was 
 equipped with two driving wheels and two small 
 pilot wheels on either side, and its most con- 
 spicuous feature was a balloon-shaped smoke- 
 stack five or six feet high. When fully loaded 
 with wood and water, it would take twelve of 
 these "Puffing Billies" to weigh as much as one 
 modern locomotive. 
 
 Passenger cars used on the Illinois railroads 
 in the 1850s would be curiosities today. They 
 were built almost entirely of wood, narrower 
 
 and lighter than the average street car of today. 
 Most of them had four sets of wheels, two at 
 each end. Few cars were equipped with springs, 
 and every bump of the rough, unballasted track 
 was immediately transmitted to the passenger. 
 Seats were hard, low-backed and uncomfortable. 
 
 There were no vestibules on the early passen- 
 ger cars, and passengers could not walk from 
 one car to another when the train was in 
 motion. The old link-and-pin coupling caused a 
 great deal of slack between cars, adding to the 
 discomfort of the passengers. Sometimes these 
 couplings failed and trains broke apart with dis- 
 astrous consequences. Cars were lighted by dim 
 whale- or coal-oil lamps or flickering tallow 
 candles and were heated in winter by wood- 
 burning stoves. Ventilation was poor, and there 
 were no screens. Sleeping cars and dining cars 
 were then unknown in Illinois. 
 
 Today what a contrast ! The modern all-steel 
 passenger trains are veritable "hotels on 
 wheels," electric-lighted, fan-cooled or air-con- 
 ditioned, steam-heated, well-ventilated through- 
 out, equipped with comfortable sleeping cars, 
 chair cars, club cars, reading rooms, and with 
 dining cars that provide a service comparable to 
 that of the finest hotels in the land. 
 
 Marked progress has also been made in 
 freight equipment and freight train opera- 
 tions. The first freight cars on the Illinois 
 Central were of 10-ton capacity. Modern 
 freight cars are capable of carrying from 40 to 
 70 tons each. Automatic air brakes have re- 
 placed the old hand brakes; automatic couplings 
 have replaced the old link-and-pin couplings; 
 steel cars have replaced wooden cars on the 
 more important trains. Where only two or 
 three kinds of cars were once used, modern 
 freight and express equipment includes coal 
 cars, tank cars, flat cars, box cars, furniture 
 cars, automobile cars, refrigerator cars, stock 
 cars, poultry cars, heater cars, milk cars and 
 so on. Today there are freight and express cars 
 especially adapted to the transportation of every 
 type of commodity. 
 
 As a result of numerous improvements in con- 
 struction and the greater size and weight of 
 present-day railway equipment, the cost of loco- 
 motives and cars now far exceeds the cost of 
 equipment used on the early days of railroading 
 in Illinois. For instance, the first locomotives 
 purchased by the Illinois Central in the 1850s
 
 RAILWAY PROGRESS 
 
 41 
 
 cost about $9,000 each. The latest locomotives 
 purchased by this railroad cost over twenty- six 
 times as much, orS241,000 each. The first pas- 
 senger cars operated on the Illinois Central cost 
 around $2,200 each. Modern steel passenger 
 coaches cost about seventy times as much, or 
 $140,000. Pullman and parlor cars cost as 
 much as $200,000 each. The little wooden 
 freight cars of the 1850s cost $600 or $700 each. 
 Modern steel freight cars cost from $6,000 to 
 $6,500 each. 
 
 In the early days the fastest passenger train 
 between Chicago and Cairo made the run in 
 twenty-four hours — sometimes. The trip is 
 now made in less than six hours. Then the 
 little locomotives could run only thirty or 
 thirty-five miles without stopping to take on 
 wood. Now a hundred miles or more between 
 coalings are not uncommon. Then locomotives 
 were capable of drawing only twelve small cars 
 of freight. Today loaded freight trains of 
 seventy-five to ninety much larger cars are not 
 uncommon. Nowadays freight trains are oper- 
 ated on regular schedules at speeds unheard of 
 a generation ago. The Illinois Central, for 
 instance, provides a daily 41 -hour freight service 
 between Chicago and New Orleans and a 24- 
 hour service between Chicago and Council 
 Bluffs, la. 
 
 The little locomotives of the fifties were 
 sometimes stalled for many hours in the snow- 
 drifts. On-time arrivals were few; derail- 
 ments were frequent; fatal accidents were all 
 too common. The modern giants of the rails 
 plunge through snowdrifts at top speed. 
 Trains are punctual. Derailments and other 
 train accidents are exceedingly rare. 
 
 Many factors have combined to increase 
 safety in railway operations. Improvements 
 in tracks, locomotives and cars and the more 
 careful selection and training of railway em- 
 ployes have helped to increase efficiency and 
 reduce accidents. Progress in these directions 
 has also been due to telegraph and telephone 
 communication and to electric signals, inter- 
 lockers and automatic train control devices, all 
 of which were introduced subsequent to the 
 beginning of railway operations in Illinois. 
 
 All railroads in the early days were single- 
 track lines. Thousands of miles of railroad in 
 Illinois are now equipped with two or more 
 tracks, which increase the capacity of the 
 
 roads, enable the speedier movement of trains 
 and reduce the hazard of accidents. 
 
 The sleeping car wrought a revolutionary 
 change in railway travel. In 1856 the Illinois 
 Central introduced what was probably the 
 first sleeping car service in the Mississippi 
 X^alley. Although these pioneer sleepers were 
 small, narrow, crudely constructed and lack- 
 ing in nearly all of the conveniences of the 
 modern sleeping car, they marked a great for- 
 ward step in passenger train comfort. 
 
 Three years after the first sleeping cars were 
 operated on the lUino'is Central, George M. 
 Pullman's first sleeping car, a converted pas- 
 senger coach, was placed in service, the first 
 run being made on the Chicago & Alton Rail- 
 road betvs'een Bloomington and Chicago on 
 September 1, 1859. This car was lighted by 
 tallow candles and heated by two stoves, one 
 at each end. There was no carpet on the floor. 
 Carpet bags were sometimes used for pillows. 
 
 Today thousands of Pullman sleeping cars, 
 embodying comforts and conveniences which 
 were vmknown even a quarter of a century ago, 
 are in use on nearly every important railroad 
 
 A Modern Passenger Station — The Illinois Central station at 
 I hampaign-Urbana is designed to provide the maximum of com- 
 fort and convenience to the traveling public. Thousands of uni- 
 versity students use this station each year. 
 
 in the United States — a service of which everj- 
 Illinoisan may be justly proud, because Pull- 
 man has been an Illinois institution from its 
 inception. 
 
 Illinois also participated in the development 
 of the railway post-office car. The necessity 
 of establishing fast and reliable mail commu- 
 nication with military forces in the lower Mis- 
 sissippi Valley during the Civil War gave 
 George Armstrong, a government postal em-
 
 42 
 
 TRAILS TO RAILS 
 
 ploye, the inspiration which resulted in the first 
 car equipped to sort mail en route. 
 
 Armstrong was then stationed at Cairo, the 
 southern terminus of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road, where he had charge of receiving and 
 dispatching army and navy mails. Here the 
 idea of the modern railway mail service took 
 root and was put into practice to the extent 
 that "a letter mailed in Chicago for any one of 
 the western and southwestern armies reached 
 its destination as soon as a passenger on the 
 fastest train could reach it." 
 
 In August, 1864, two railway mail cars, "im- 
 perfect in their conveniences and really laugh- 
 able when compared with the handsomely fur- 
 nished postal cars of today," were placed in 
 experimental service on the Chicago & North 
 Western Railroad between Chicago and Clin- 
 ton, la. Before the close of the Civil War 
 postal cars, equipped to sort and distribute 
 mails en route according to the present gen- 
 eral practice, were being operated between 
 Cairo and Chicago, between Cairo and Free- 
 port and over several other routes in Illinois. 
 These experiments were so successful that the 
 Armstrong idea spread rapidly, and within a 
 few years mail cars similarly equipped, were in 
 use on all the important railroads in the country. 
 
 Illinois was the birthplace of railway re- 
 frigeration, which represented another great 
 forward step in transportation. Thanks to the 
 
 A Majestic Railway Bridge — .^t Metropolis, the site of old 
 Fort Massac, landing place of the first Americans to establish 
 their homes in Illinois, this great structure of concrete and steel 
 spans the Ohio River, forming one of two routes of the Illinois 
 Central between Chicago and New Orleans. The other and older 
 route is through Cairo. 
 
 refrigerator car, Illinois now supplies the 
 tables of millions of distant homes with meats, 
 fresh eggs, dairy products, peaches, apples and 
 other perishable products, and Illinois draws 
 upon the groves of Florida and California, the 
 plantations of Latin America and the truck 
 gardens of the South and West for fruits and 
 vegetables in great variety and at all seasons. 
 Without this "ice-box on wheels" the meat- 
 packing industry of Illinois and the fruit and 
 vegetable industries of America would never 
 have developed to anywhere near their present 
 proportions and the diet of the average Amer- 
 ican would be far simpler, less attractive and 
 less nutritious than it is today. 
 
 The first railway shipment ever made under 
 refrigeration moved from Chicago to the East 
 over the Michigan Central Railroad and con- 
 necting lines in 1857. The shipment consisted 
 of dressed beef and was made in an ordinary 
 box car equipped with two platforms, one at 
 each end, inside the car, on which were placed 
 several blocks of ice. 
 
 The first shipment of fruit under refrigera- 
 tion upon any railroad in the United States 
 was made from Cobden, 111., to Chicago over 
 the Illinois Central Railroad in 1866. The 
 shipment consisted of strawberries, packed in 
 several large wooden chests, each fitted with a 
 compartment for ice. The berries brought 
 high prices, and from that time forward fruit 
 shipments under refrigeration increased rapidly. 
 In 1867 the Illinois Central began operating the 
 "Thunderbolt Express," the first all-strawberry 
 train ever operated in the country, between 
 southern Illinois and Chicago. 
 
 From these small beginnings has developed 
 an industry of gigantic proportions involving 
 the movement of hundreds of thousands of 
 carloads of perishable food products annually. 
 
 In these and in numerous other ways the 
 railroads have been marching steadily forward, 
 keeping pace with the nation's progress. In 
 recent years their progress has not been so 
 much in the extension of new lines as in in- 
 creasing the capacity and efificiency of estab- 
 lished lines through the construction of addi- 
 tional tracks, the enlargement of shop and yard 
 facilities, the installation of heavier rails, the 
 use of more powerful locomotives and cars and 
 the speeding up of passenger, freight, express 
 and msfil service.
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Ackennan, Williani K., £aWy ///inow i?ai/roarfj, Fergus Printing Co., Chicago, 1884; Historical Sketch of Iht Illinois 
 Central Railroad, Fergus Printing Co., Chicago, 1890. 
 
 Bateman, Newton, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, and biographical memoirs, 2 vol., Munsell Publishing Co., Chi- 
 cago, 1917. 
 
 Blanchard, Rufus, Discovery and Conquest of the Northwest, with the story of Chicago, 2 vol., R. Blanchard & Co., 
 Wheator, 111., 1879; History of Illinois, National School Furnishings Co., Chicago, 1883; Historical Map of the 
 United States, Chicago, 1876. 
 
 Boggess, Arthur Clinton, The Settlement of Illinois, 1778-18S0, Vol. 5, Chicago Historical Society Collection, Chicago, 
 1908. 
 
 Chicago Historical Societ>-, Collection of Illinois maps. 
 
 Brownson, Howard Gray, History of the Illinois Central Railroad to 1870, Vol. 1, Nos. 3 and 4, University of Illinois 
 Studies in Social Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1915. 
 
 DavHdson, Alexander, and Stuve, Bernard, A Complete History of Illinois, from 1673 to 1873, Illinois Journal Co., 
 Springfield, 1874. 
 
 Congressional Globe, U. S. Government publication, 1848-50. 
 
 Dana, EL, Description of Bounty Lands in the Stale of Illinois. Looker, Reynolds & Co., Cincinnati, 1819. 
 
 Dunbar, Seymour, A History of Travel in America; 4 vol.. The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, 1915. 
 
 Gale, Edwin O., Reminiscences of Early Chicago and Vicinity, Fleming H. Revell Co., Chicago, 1902. 
 
 Gates, Paul Wallace, The Illinois Central Railroad and Its Colonisation Work; No. 42 of Harvard Economic Studies, 
 Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1934. 
 
 Gerhard, Fred, Illinois As It Is (iSs?) ; Keen and Lee, Chicago, 1857. 
 
 Hulbert, .\rcher Butler, Historic Highways of America, 16 vol., A. H. Dark, Oeveland, O., 1902-5; The Old National 
 Road. F. J. Herr, Columbus, O., 1901. 
 
 Hungerford, Edward, The Story of the Baltimore &• Ohio Railroad; G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928. 
 
 Husband, Joseph, The Story of the Pullman Car, .\. C McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1917. 
 
 Illinois Central Magaeine; Chicago, 1909-1936. 
 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company, Annual Reports, 1854-1935. 
 
 Illinois House Journals. 
 
 Illinois in 18S7, S. -Augustus Mitchell, publisher, Philadelphia, 1837. 
 
 Illinois State Historical Societ)-, Journals, Collections and Transactions, Springfield, IlL 
 
 Industrial Chicago, Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1894. 
 
 Kirkland, Joseph, The Story of Chicago, Dibble Publishing Co., Chicago, 1892. 
 
 Peck, J. M., Gasetteer of Illinois. R. Goudy, Jacksonville, 111., 1834. 
 
 Pooley, William V., Settlement of Illinois From 1830 to 1830, Bulletin No. 220 of the University of Wisconsin Historical 
 Series, Vol. 1, No. 4, Madison, 1908. 
 
 Poor's Manual of Railroads, Poor's Railroad Manual Co., New York, 1873-1932. 
 
 Putnam, James William, The Illinois and Michigan Canal. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1918. 
 
 Quaife, Milo M., Chicago and the Old Northwest, 1673-1835, The University of Chicago Press, 1913; Chicago's High- 
 ways. Old and Neu; D. F. Keller & Co., Chicago, 1923. 
 
 Ringrwalt, J. L., Development of Transportation Systems in the United States. Railway World, Philadelphia, 1888. 
 
 Stevens, Frank £., The Black Hawk War. Frank E. Stevens, Chicago, 1903. 
 
 Thwaitei, Reuben G., The Story of the Black Hawk War, Vol. XII, Wisconsin Historical Collection, Sute Historical 
 Society of Wisconsin, Madison, 1892. 
 
 United States Cen«us Reports.
 
 44 
 
 1 Hi^H^i^lH&»..~-J 
 
 ' ' ^^LA'^lB^^^Ht^ — 
 
 
 
 1 .A '-• 
 
 ^:l *•. ! _. 
 
 ^ in.i!HWHB^i.\:i 'A 

 
 45 
 
 PART n 
 
 RURAL RAILROADS 
 - GREENE COUNTY 
 
 by Eileen Smith Cunningham 
 
 ■HHpi^^l^^^^:^' ■ 
 
 - < ,:.:^_^.,^^.,. 
 
 ^^^H - jpi 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 •1* 
 
 g^^^W^: 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^^^SS^g^SBB^KB^^Q 
 
 l^SS^^^^Sabsk^s^T^seS 
 
 ^EiSS 
 
 ROODHOUSE 
 
 "Handsomest depot from Chicago to St. Louis" 
 
 Arrival Time - Departure Time 
 Rural Railroad Saga - Greene County, Illinois 
 
 CarroUton - County Seat
 
 46 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
 I wish to thank the following for help in this creative venture: 
 Friends who loaned pictures; Greene County Historical 
 Society; the late Mr. Levi T. Whiteside for historical 
 materials [just a few days before his death in 1976); Mrs. 
 Ruth Packer, Boise, Idaho for introducing me to 'TRAILS TO 
 RAILS'; I.C.G. Corporation for permission to include 
 'TRAILS TO RAILS'; and lastly, my sister, Norma Newton, 
 Eldred, for her care and guidance and much research. 
 
 The 
 
 Author 
 
 Her 
 
 Mark 
 
 Peafowl, birds of the jangle domesticated but 
 
 tamed roam a farmstead freely. A.E.S.C.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 RAILROADS IN GREENE COUNTY 
 
 47 
 
 Levi T. Whiteside 
 Feb. 17. 1892 -May 1, 1976 
 
 Twenty four years after the first railroad was begun in 
 Illinois a railroad was constructed from Petersburg to White 
 Hall. The first train arrived in White Hall in 1862. As there 
 was no place to turn around the train had to back down. The 
 engine was a wood burner with a funnel-shaped smoke stack. 
 The road was called the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chictigo 
 Railroad. The orginal time card, dated September 28, 1863, 
 showed that the trains connected with stages for CarroUton, 
 and points south. By 1865 the road was completed to 
 CarroUton. Then work was begun to connect it to a railroad 
 from Chicago to St. Louis at Alton. Two crews worked -- one 
 working north, the other south. The two crews met Dec. 30, 
 1865. Greene County then had rail service to St. Louis emd 
 Chicago. On Jan. 1, 1866, the first through train carried an 
 excursion from Jacksonville to East St. Louis. On arriving at 
 Eaat St. Louis they left the train and crossed the Mississippi 
 on the ice. T. B. Blackstone, who later bectune president of 
 the Chicago and Alton, was the contractor who completed the 
 road. To finance the road, stock was sold, and many Greene 
 County people bought the stock. Later the original company 
 was sold to the Chicago and Alton. 
 
 By 1870 the Chicago and Alton began to look westwtird and 
 since White Hall had secured the crossing of Chicago and 
 Alton with the Rock Island road, it seemed the logical thing 
 was to put the junction of the Louisiana branch at White Hall. 
 Meanwhile some of the citizens of Roodhouse thought it 
 would be a nice thing to have the junction at Roodhouse. 
 Interest rose high. A letter was sent to T. B. Blackstone, 
 president of the road, asking what would be required to 
 secure the junction at Roodhouse. He promised to have the 
 route surveyed and would advise them later. As soon as the 
 survey was started White Hall beceime alarmed and sent a 
 delegation to see President Blackstone. Hetuing of this 
 meeting was held in Rawhng's store and a committee was 
 appointed to go see President Blackstone. The committee, 
 consisting of John Roodhouse, J. T. Rawlings, and E. M. 
 Husted, took a hand cai to Jacksonville and a train to Chicago 
 to see the president, who made the proposition to them that if 
 they would secure the right of way from the Illinois River to 
 Roodhouse and deed ten acres of land for depot grounds 
 within a week, the junction would be made at that point. The 
 funds were soon raised by subscription, the right of way 
 obtained, and the junction was secured. 
 
 The first train to carry passengers ~ an engine and caboose 
 — took sight-seers to the river across from Pearl as the Pearl 
 bridge was not completed until 1871. The bridge was built on 
 limestone abutments, which still stand today. However, a 
 new bridge was later installed, construction of which begem 
 in July, 1913. The bridge was finished in May, 1914. It is still 
 in use. 
 
 The first depot in Roodhouse stood north of the Palm Street 
 crossing. Later a very fine depot, said to be the best between 
 Chicago and Kansas City, was built in the western part of the 
 city. It was remodeled in 1966 and is still in use. A notation 
 from the White Hall Register, dated Nov. 4, 1871, says that 
 
 the first through train on the Louisiema Branch was put 
 through last Monday, on which a number of our people took 
 passage as a novelty. After a number of years of success the 
 C&A began to have fintmcial trobles and it was taken over by 
 the B&O, and the name changed to the Alton. In 1947 it was 
 acquired by the GM&O, which still owns and operates it. 
 
 CBANDQR.R. 
 
 The Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis R.R. was built 
 from Beardstown to East St. Louis in 1870. It crossed the 
 Chicago and Alton just north of White Hall. It was sold to the 
 CB & Q May 18, 1876. The first depot at White Hall was 
 destroyed by fire October 9, 1884, but it was soon replaced by 
 one stiU in use. On February 12, 1870, the first train went 
 through Greenfield. About 3,000 persons congregated to see 
 the train go through. From Greenfield Argus, April 10, 1880, 
 all of the workmen employed on the construction train struck 
 for higher wages. They were receiving $1.15 per day and 
 asked for an increase of 10 cents a day. The only satisfaction 
 they received was their time checks which were duly paid the 
 next day and work was promptly resumed with a new set of 
 laborers. 
 
 LC&WR.R. 
 
 There was some talk of buUding a railroad from Roodhouse 
 east to some place in Macoupin County. Nothing came of it. 
 But a company was formed called the Litchfield, CarroUton 
 and Western with a plan to build an east-west road from 
 Litchfield through CarlinvUle, Greenfield, CarroUton, emd 
 Eldred to the Illinois River. Work was soon begun and late in 
 1886 the road was completed. Two trains each way were 
 provided between CarroUton and Litchfield and one trtun 
 daily between CarroUton and Columbiana. The road did a 
 good business for several years. In the early 1900's a new 
 organization was formed which gave the road a new name — 
 Quincy, CarroUton and St. Louis -- with the idea of extending 
 the road from Columbiana to Quincy, but the plan was never 
 carried out. About September 1, 1905, the old LC & W was 
 purchased by the C&A. Sometime later the track was taken 
 up from the river to Eldred. A little later the track was ex- 
 tended southward from Eldred to East Hardin and Nutwood. 
 Business was good for a long time. Calhoun apples were 
 shipped by train loads in apple season over the newly buUt 
 road, and tons of rock and limestone were shipped from the 
 Eldred Quarry. Car load after car load of farm products were 
 carried to market. Business fell off and the track was 
 removed from CarroUton eastward. The Eldred branch 
 continued in use until 1952. 
 
 Other short lines were built. A narrow guage electric line 
 hauled clay from the pits north east of White Hall to the kilns 
 of the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company. 
 About the same time a short rail line was used to haul clay 
 from the pits at Drake to the railroad. This was used only a 
 short time. Many persons have wondered why a railroad was
 
 48 
 
 RAILROADS IN GREENE COUNTY 
 
 built across the east side of the square in Carrollton. Ripley, 
 in "Believe it or not", said this was the shortest railroad in 
 the world. Back in 1907 the AJ&P inter-urban was to come 
 through Carrollton on its way north. But it ended in Jer- 
 seyville. It was thought the track could be laid at a better 
 advantage than after paving which was to be done at a later 
 date. 
 
 At one time the C&A was double tracked from Murrayville 
 to Roodhouse. Due to cost of up-keep and taxes the second 
 track was removed. In 1888 and 1889, in order to get a better 
 grade, the C&A track, beginning at Drake and extending 
 about two miles east, was replaced by another section of track 
 somewhat north of the original one. With the coming of 
 larger engines and heavier equipment, new heavier steel 
 rails replaced the lighter ones on both the C&A and the 
 CB&Q. During the 90's, the automatic couplers and air 
 brakes were installed on all cars and engines. These im- 
 provements made railroading much safer. 
 
 TRAINS 
 
 After the beginning of the century steel passenger cars 
 took the place of the wooden ones and the small engines with 
 4 drivers were replaced for the most part by large freight 
 engines with six and eight drivers, built for power, and large 
 passenger engines with six drivers built for power and speed. 
 Some of these engines were still in use after almost one half e 
 century. 
 
 Many freight trains were on the roads, day and night, 
 carrying farm products, merchandise, cattle and hogs. In the 
 early 1900's most freights consisted of about 40 cars, but at 
 present, freights pulled by Diesels, consist of 100 cars or 
 more. However, freight trains have decreased in numbers. 
 When business was good, 18 or more passenger trains 
 passed through Roodhouse each day. In 1904 large crowds of 
 persons rode the trains to the St. Louis World's Fair. 
 Sometimes extensions were run to St. Louis, Kansas City, 
 and Chicago. Round trip to St. Louis on Sunday — $1.00. 
 Excursion tickets to Chicago and Kansas City were as low as 
 $5.00 round trip. In this period the road was known as "The 
 Only Way." Of all the passenger trains passing through 
 Greene County in this period, "The Alton Red Hummer", 
 nmning between Chicago and Kansas City, was the finest. It 
 was claimed by some to be one of the best in the United 
 States. Train crews changed at Roodhouse. Passenger crews, 
 for the most part, lived in Roodhouse, but freight crews 
 generally lived in Stater, Missouri, or Bloomington. The 
 round house in Roodhouse serviced the steam engines, 
 turned them around and got them ready for the next run. A 
 reservoir, west of the depot, furnished water for the engines. 
 Coal was shipped in, transferred from coal cars to the tenders 
 of engines by means of a chute. When the Diesels came the 
 reservoir and chute were no longer needed. Car repair shops, 
 and an icing station edong the tracks, gave employment to 
 many men. Icing refrigerator cais was a principal business of 
 the icing plant. The average total wages paid to employees 
 was $15,000 or more per month, and in the icing season 
 considerably more. 
 
 Stations along the line of the C&A were Roodhouse, White 
 Hall, Berdan, Carrollton, Kane, Drake, Hillview (the old time 
 
 cards show that Hillview was originally called Happyville, 
 and later Pegrtun), Fayette, Greenfield, Kahm, Daum, 
 Hurrictme, Eldred, Clarke, King Station and East Harkin. 
 Kahm, Daum, Hurricane, Clarke and King Station were flag 
 stops. All others had a regular agent, but the larger places 
 had one or two operators beside the agent. At present, 1968, 
 the following is a list of the personnel at the depot in 
 Roodhouse: a trainmaster, track supervisor, agent and 
 operator, two telegraph operators, two crew dispatchers, and 
 a swing dispatcher. 
 
 On the CB&Q, freight trains from Beardstown to St. Louis 
 and return ceuried about the same class of freight as the 
 freights did on the C&A, but serviced different places. 
 Barrow, West Roodhouse (one time called Btddwin Station), 
 White Hall, Wrights, Greenfield, and Rockbridge, were 
 stations along the line of the CB&Q in Greene County. For 
 mtmy years the CB&Q ran 4 passenger trains per day bet- 
 ween St. Louis £md Rock Island. A reservoir about 2 miles 
 north of White Hall furnished water for the engines. Later 
 water was purchased from the city of White Hall, the water in 
 both cases being pumped to an overhead tank near the depot. 
 At Rockbridge the engines took water from a tank near the 
 depot. The water had been pumped from a station at 
 Macoupin Creek about one mile south of town. A coal chute 
 at Rockbridge replenished the engines with fuel. 
 
 Some stations have been discontinued, such as West 
 Roodhouse, euid Berdan, and all stations along the line of the 
 LC&W. When the tracks were no longer used, the right of 
 way was generally sold to the individual who owned the land 
 lying next to the tracks. 
 
 There were two crossing interlocking towers — one, one 
 and one half mUes west of Roodhouse, and one just north of 
 White Hall. These were so constructed so that if Signals 
 showed clear on one road it was impossible for the towerman 
 to make a mistake and give a clear signal on the other road. 
 
 A good railroad could not function long without a good 
 track and a good road bed. At first tracks were ledd on the 
 dirt, but as time passed ballast was used. The C&A ballasted 
 its track with crushed limestone from the Pearl Quarry. The 
 CB&Q used cinders and gravel. Several section crews kept 
 the tracks in a good state of repair. Telegraph lines along the 
 tracks and telegraph operators at the stations, who kept in 
 constant touch with a train dispatcher, made the roads safer 
 and more efficient. Western Union wires along the telegraph 
 lines transmitted all other kinds of messages. 
 
 When extra work, as repairing washouts, or laying new 
 steel, or repairing tracks after a wreck, was taken care of by 
 extra gangs brought in from some other points. Bridge gangs 
 repaired and painted the bridges. Some washouts should be 
 mentioned. The Patriot dated February 22, 1912, states that 
 30 years ago long stretches of track were washed out near 
 Apple Creek and Macoupin Creek. On the CB&Q, in August 
 1915, the track was washed out across Macoupin bottom 
 south of Rockbridge. One of the latest washouts occured east 
 of Hillview June 14, 1947. 
 
 After World War 11 rtulroading made a decided change in 
 character. Passenger trains were being removed. Freight 
 trains became less and less. In the 40's and 50's Diesels 
 replaced the old steamers. Business in general slumped. 
 Grass could be seen growing between the ties and the rails in 
 the empty north yards in Roodhouse where once hundreds of 
 cars stood loaded with valuable freight, ready to be made up
 
 RAILROADS IN GREENE COUNTY 
 
 49 
 
 into trains and shipped to distant points. 
 
 Railroads were one of Greene County's greatest assets. 
 Originally, excepting the Illinois River, they furnished about 
 the only method of shipping commodities any distance. They 
 paid their taxes and furnished employment to hundreds of 
 people who have lived in Greene County. 
 
 Here are two stories seldom told, pertaining to Greene 
 County railroads: The White Hall Register, date August 21, 
 1869, states that a former citizen of White Hall, now living in 
 San Francisco, A Col. Henry S. Fitch, with possibly some 
 other claimants, orginated the idea of a transcontinental 
 railroad. At any rate, it is a historical fact that Col. Fitch did 
 much to the government officials and construction companies 
 interested enough to make the scheme a success. This is 
 taken in part from ' ' American Rfiilways' ' , a publication of the 
 20 's and in part from an article in the "Brotherhood of 
 Railroad Trainsmen's Journal", published in about the same 
 period, and written by the late Ray Pearce. A man by the 
 name of David Lemon, well-known in White Hall, and who 
 spent his last days there, an engineer, ran one of the two first 
 engines over the f)ortion of the track just completed when the 
 two sections of the transcontinental railroad were joined at 
 Promontory Point, Utah. The driving of the gold spike and 
 the celebration of the event, are facts well known. But after 
 the gold spike was driven and removed, an iron spike was 
 driven into the same hole to make the road complete. Mr. 
 Lemon asserted that the iron spike was the last spike driven 
 in the track at the junction. He prevailed on Leland Stanford, 
 President of the Central Pacific, to give him, (Lemon) the iron 
 spike which Mr. Stanford did. In order to keep souvenir 
 hunters from pulling a lot of spikes near the junction, signs 
 were pyosted stating that the last spike had been removed and 
 taken away. Mr. Lemon brought the iron spike back to White 
 Hall. It was on display at the centennial celebration at White 
 HeJl in 1932, with an affadavit attached stating the facts. 
 
 A few celebrities, besides Henry T. Redney, used the 
 Greene County rail lines. Just to mention a few — President 
 Franklin Roosevelt came to Speaker Rainey's funeral by 
 special train. The presidential train went on to Roodhouse, 
 was turned around on the "Y" and brought back to 
 Carrollton so the President could make the return trip. Wm. 
 J. Bryan rode the C&A from Jacksonville to Alton on one of 
 his famous campaign tours back in 1896. The body Speaker 
 Champ Clark was brought back to Bowling Green, Missouri, 
 by special train, via Roodhouse. 
 
 LAST PASSENGER TRAINS 
 
 A Deisel powered passenger train from Godfrey to 
 Roodhouse made its last trip January 2, 1951. Guy Langley 
 was the conductor. An Alton Telegraph reporter rode the 
 train and took pictures which were published in the Alton 
 Evening Telegraph. That left one passenger train on the C&A 
 through Greene County- the one from Bloomington to 
 Kansas City. But its time was to come. On April 14, 1960, a 
 passenger train, consisting of a Deisel engine and one 
 passenger coach, made its last run from Kansas City to 
 Bloomington. A number of persons, riding the train for 
 sentimental reasons, got off at Roodhouse. As we stood there 
 and watched the train leave for its final destination, one old 
 railroader, looking on, remarked that the "Casey Jones" era 
 
 of railroading was just about ended. Sometime later the 
 CB&Q discontinued the last passenger train on the road. At 
 this writing, 1968, a few long freight trains are about all that 
 is left to transport heavy and long distance freight. 
 
 L. T. Whiteside 
 
 For Greene Co. History 
 
 1968 
 
 AMTRAK REVIVES INTEREST IN 
 HOBBY OF 70 YEARS AGO 
 
 Lee Whiteside of Eldred, retired school teacher, 
 displays his collection of miniature trains made by him and 
 his two brothers seventy years ago. The hobby was developed 
 by the three farm boys who became interested in "rails" as 
 they watched the trains pass their farm. 
 
 With Amtrak, the new national railway passenger service 
 May 1 creating a major chemge in railroad history, interest 
 has been revived in a seventy-year old hobby of a Greene 
 County resident. 
 
 Back in 1901 when the now much abused statement "I 
 don't have anything to do" was not commonly heard among 
 youth, Lee Whiteside and his two brothers, Guy and 
 Russell, did "their own thing." The Whiteside boys lived on 
 a farm near Roodhouse and they would spend endless hours 
 watching trains pass by on the C and A which ran west out of 
 Roodhouse. One day they decided to make their own trains — 
 of course on a much smaller scale. 
 
 Gathering materials from whatever they could find around 
 the farm, including tin cans and wood, they started 
 fashioning the exacting models such as pictured above. The 
 first wheels were made of poured lead, but later the boys 
 fashioned them of wood turned on lathes. The molds for the 
 lead wheels were devised by whittling out pieces of wood 
 with a knife or sometimes clay was used. 
 
 The rails for the track were made of split lathes, and the 
 lies on which the rails were laid were boards split to the 
 proper size. The rail gauge was 3 ^n inches and the ties were 8 
 inches long. Each unit of the train measured 6" wide, 8" 
 high, and were 18-20 " in length. The painting and lettering 
 on the "mini-trains" were done by the oldest brother, Guy. 
 The track measured a total of 540 feet. The boys had five 
 stations with side tracks at each station, and at each end of
 
 50 
 
 the track was a turntable. A train shed, in Casey Jones 
 language, a "roundhouse" held all the trains. 
 
 Though vandalism was not as widespread as it is today, the 
 Whiteside boys kept the shed locked so that visitors could 
 not seriously damage their handwork. Mr. Whiteside points 
 out that it also protected the trains from the weather. 
 
 At the peak of the project, the brothers had eight engines 
 and tenders with supplement cars to go with them. Lee 
 Whiteside has the only remaining units, 13 in all. These 
 include two refrigerator cars, one cattle car, one caboose, and 
 two engines with tenders. 
 
 Their interest in making the trains sparmed a decade, with 
 the boys spending most of their leisure time on their hobby. 
 At times their father was known to complain that "he 
 couldn't find a board on his farm." 
 
 The self developed pastime of the three boys seventy years 
 ago has resulted in a collection that will increase in interest 
 and value with the "passing of the passenger trains." Mr. 
 Whiteside , a retired school teacher, Lives across from the 
 Eldred Grade School and will be glad to show the models and 
 discuss them at greater length with anyone interested. 
 
 RAILROADS IN GREENE COUNTY 
 
 OBITUARY— LEVI T. WHITESIDE— MAY 6, 1976 
 
 Levi T. Whiteside, 84, a resident of Eldred for the past 46 
 years, died at 4:05 p.m. Saturday, May 1, 1976, at Reisch 
 Memorial Nursing Home where he had resided two weeks. 
 
 Bom Feb. 17, 1892, in Roodhouse, he was the son of 
 William L. and Emma Johnsten Whiteside. He graduated in 
 1909 from White Hall High School and received his degree 
 from Bradley University. He also attended Western Illinois 
 University and MacMurray College. 
 
 Employed as a teacher in the Eldred School System for 35 
 years, he also served as principal there and retired in 1944. 
 He taught at Carrollton High School until 1950. Following 
 retirement, he substituted in Greene and Calhoun county 
 schools. 
 
 The deceased was a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church 
 in rural White Hall and Greene-Jersey Retired Teachers 
 Association. He was a trustee of the Carrollton Fire 
 Protection District. 
 
 Mr. Whiteside married the former Helen K. Greene on 
 Nov. 10, 1917, and she died Nov. 16, 1972. 
 
 Survivors are nieces and nephews. He was preceded in 
 death by two brothers and a sister. 
 
 Visitation was from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Hires Funeral 
 Home where funeral services were Tuesday at 2 p.m. with 
 Rev. Warren Brown of JerseyviUe, pastor of Eldred's Baptist 
 Church, officiating. Mrs. Lawrence Thien, organist, played 
 "How Great Thou Art"and"ItisNo Secret . ' ' 
 
 Casketbearers were Bill Banghart, Charles Vinyard, 
 Robert Holford, Dick Pisarek, Lyndell Phillips, and Eugene 
 Lemon. Interment was in White Hall Cemetery. 
 
 .Train leaves Eldred 
 
 Passenger engine No.JoS and working crew on C. Q A. near Greenfield, III., Feb. 2y, I gi4- 
 
 — C. H. Burghardt, Photographer.
 
 51 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE pioneer settler drove his slow-moving 
 ox-team across the lonely prairies, some- 
 times for a hundred miles or more, to have a 
 few bushels of wheat ground into flour or to 
 exchange the products of his toil for salt, 
 thread, calico and other necessities which he 
 could not produce at home. Luxuries were rare. 
 Food was plain. Reading matter was scarce. 
 Life was primitive. 
 
 Railway transportation was the "key to the 
 prairies." It enabled farms far removed from 
 navigable streams to be opened and cultivated 
 profitably. It created towns and cities and great 
 industrial centers — markets for the farmer's 
 products. It made possible the development of 
 Illinois' rich mineral resources. It attracted the 
 manufacturer, the artisan, the investor, the 
 merchant, the preacher, the teacher. It en- 
 hanced the value of property and created new 
 wealth for the benefit of all. 
 
 Moreover, railway transportation enabled 
 Illinois, far removed from the seacoast, to 
 extend its commerce to all parts of the world. 
 Great manufacturing enterprises and great 
 merchandising establishments, forming the 
 backbone of Illinois' industrial and commercial 
 structure, owe their tremendous growth to the 
 fact that these transportation facilities gave 
 them a world-wide market.
 
 52 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HISTORICAL EXCERPTS 
 
 Excerpts From 
 
 ELDRED 
 
 by 
 
 Norma Newton, 1974 
 
 RAILROADS 
 
 The coming of steamboats was considered a miracle, but 
 was no compfirison with the coming of railroads and trains to 
 the midwest and Illinois. 
 
 SCENERY STILL THERE 
 [Undated Item From Scrapbook The CarroUton Patriot] 
 
 Fifty years ago this week, the Litchfield, Ceirrollton, and 
 Western railroad was completed to the lUinois River to 
 Columbiana. The Patriots' railroad editor dubbed it the 
 "Rabbit's Foot Route" and indulged in this high-flown 
 description of the scenic wonders between CarroUton and its 
 western terminus: 
 
 "The Rabbit Foot Route can already lay claim to scenic 
 wonders between CarroUton and its western terminus. From 
 CarroUton to the Illinois River the travelers can see from the 
 car window a variety of the most grand and lovely of Illinois 
 scenery. For the first four miles the road passes through a 
 prairie of as rich and beautiful farming lands as ever 
 deUghtful to the eye of man. 
 
 The plain is dotted with frequent groves and comfortable 
 and spacious farm buildings. From this road runs through the 
 beautiful Hurricane VaUey for about four mUes, foUowing the 
 wanderings of the creek and flanked on each side by lofty, 
 wood-covered hiUs. But the grandest view is at Pedmer. Here 
 is a rugged bluff of soUd rock, whose perpendicular sides look 
 like the buttresses of a monster fortification and towers just 
 above the track hundreds of feet high, whUe stretching north- 
 ward is a phalanx of rocky sentinels whose gray seamed sides 
 give them the appearance of battle-scarred veterans. The 
 remainder of the route to the river is over the rich Illinois 
 bottoms, with the grand background of the Calhoun hiUs in 
 the distemce. The view here is unobstructed, and the eye can 
 foUow the course of the river for many miles in either 
 direction." 
 
 Footnote ~ The scenery is stiU there, but the railroad has 
 floated down through the Illinois bottom from Palmer (now 
 Eldred) and no passenger looks out from car windows at 
 these rocky sentinels. 
 
 EXCERPTS FROM HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY 
 by Clement L. Clapp 
 
 1879 
 
 The charter of the JackBonville & CarroUton Railroad was 
 granted in 1851, but the first effort to raise money for its 
 construction was during the next year. 
 
 At a meeting of the commissioners of the road, held in 
 JacksonviUe Monday, September 13, 1852, Hon. D. M. 
 Woodson in the chair, it was "resolved that books for the 
 subscription of the capital stock be opened from and after the 
 15th day of Sept., 1852, at CarroUton, under the control and 
 direction of A. W. Cavarly, C. D. Hodges, and F. P. Vedder, 
 at such time as they may deem proper. At White HaU under 
 the control and direction of L. E. Worcester, Asbury Davis, 
 emd Emanuel Metcalf, at such time as they may deem proper. 
 At Kane under the control and direction of Z. H. Adams and 
 N. M. Perry, at such time as they may deem proper. At 
 JerseyviUe under the control and direction of A. B. Morean, 
 C. H. Knapp, and J. Ploughman, at such time as they may 
 deem propyer. At Alton under the control and direction of 
 George T. Brown, Edward Keating, Levi Davis, at such time 
 as they may deem proi>er. At Manchester under the control 
 and direction of Jas. Clinton, W. S. Andrews, and A. Hicks, 
 at such time as they may deem proper. At JacksonviUe under 
 the control and direction of D. A. Smith, J.J. CasseU, and W. 
 B. Warren, at such time as they may deem projjer." 
 
 KANE HISTORY 
 
 1879 
 
 In 1854, when Josiah T. Hunt with Mr. OUendorf his 
 assistant was making the preliminary survey for the railroad, 
 now known as the JacksonviUe branch of the Chicago and 
 Alton, it was earnestly hoped by the citizens of Kane that the 
 road might pass through that town. The engineer made every 
 effort to find a feasible route by which this could be ac- 
 compUshed, but when he made his report at the completion of 
 his work he stated that he regretted exceedingly that it was 
 impracticable. Three lines were run, but the nearest of them 
 left Kane a half mile to the west and the route finally adopted 
 w£is StiU further distant. The road was opened from White 
 Hall to Godfrey, January 1, 1865, and in November of that 
 year, Tobias HoUiday, who owned a tract of land on the 
 railroad, laid out a town on the east side of the road which 
 was known untU the establishment of the post office as 
 HoUidaysburg. Subsequently HoUiday's addition west of the 
 track was annexed and became the business center of the 
 town.
 
 HISTORICAL EXCERPTS 
 
 53 
 
 .the Kane Depot 
 
 1873 Atlas of Greene County 
 
 Now, however, it has three excellent Unes of railroads 
 running through it: the Chicago & Alton (Jacksonville 
 Branch), the Rockford, Rock Island, & St. Louis, and the 
 Louisiana branch of the Chicago & Alton. The first of these 
 intersects the county from north to south, nearly through the 
 center, and passing through its county seat and principal 
 villages; the second named road runs in a somewhat zig-zag 
 course, nearly through the center of the county, entering it in 
 a south-westerly direction, and diverging at White Hall in a 
 south-easterly direction, to the beautiful eind enterprising 
 village of Greenfield, then running south to the county line, 
 whence it continues to St. Louis. The last named (Louisiana 
 Bramch), crosses the western half of the county from 
 Roodhouse, and with a proposed road soon to be constructed, 
 connecting Roodhouse and Virden, Macoupin county will 
 form a continuous road across the northern p£irt of the 
 
 HOMER HISTORY 
 1905 
 
 Dr. Peter Fenity commenced the practice of medicine in 
 Old Kane May 18, 1857. During the years 1854 and 55, while 
 the preliminary survey for the railroad, now the Chicago & 
 Alton, was being made by J. T. Hunt and Charles Allendorf, 
 endeavors were made to find a practicable route into and out 
 of the town, but nothing like k proper grade could be found, 
 and much to the regret of the citizens, the line adopted ran 
 about a mile to the east of the place. This sealed its doom. 
 The road was opened for business from White Hall to 
 Godfrey, January 1, 1866. 
 
 1885 History 
 
 Depots 
 
 The C.&A. R.R. has had two depots in this city. The first 
 
 one was erected in 1863, and was 20x40 feet in size. It gave 
 
 place to the present structure which is 30x100 feet, m the fall ^ 
 
 of 1870. The first agent in the old building was Mell Leighton, 
 
 and Geo. McFadden, in the new one. He was succeeded by 
 W. K. Morley, and he by G. W. Secor, the present agent, 
 who took the post in 1871. 
 
 The first depot of the C.B.&Q R.R. at White Hall was built 
 in the winter of 1870. It was destroyed by fire, Oct. 9, 1884. 
 The work of rebuilding soon commenced, and the present 
 structtire was ready for occupancy in Dec., 1884. The old 
 depot was 24x60 feet in size; the new one is 10 feet longer. 
 The first agent was named Hesser. Thomas P. Raferty now 
 manages the business of the company at this point in a 
 gentlemanly and oblig^g manner. He succeeded John Beaty 
 in this position. 
 
 TOWN OF WRIGHTS 
 Post Office 
 1885 History 
 
 This was established in March, 1871, when A. J. Wright 
 was commissioned as postmaster. He held the office until 
 1875, when he was succeeded by Jerry Bethard, the present 
 incumbent. The office is in the store of the postmaster. 
 Railroad 
 
 Wrightsville has connection with the outside world by 
 means of the C. B. & Q. R.R. This railroad was constructed as 
 the R.R.I . & St. L. R'y, and was completed through this 
 place in the early part of 1870. In 1878, the company which 
 built and owned it became bankrupt. A receiver was ap- 
 pointed and the road finally became the property of the C. B. 
 & Q. R'y Co., who still continue to own and operate it. The 
 first station agent at this point was A. J. Wright, who took 
 charge of the business shortly after the road was completed, 
 continuing in that capacity for about five years, and tran- 
 sacting the business of the road at his store building. He was 
 succeeded by his son, James W., for five years. In March, 
 1870, the depot building was completed, and a telegraph 
 office established, when John Ewald became agent and 
 telegraph operator. There has been several changes since 
 then, the present incumbent of the station being Charles 
 Stone. 
 
 The American Express Co. have carried on business here 
 since the construction of the railroad, and when the depot and 
 telegraph office was established in 1880, an express agency 
 was formed at Wrightsville by that company, who still 
 continue to do business. 
 
 Came to Carrollton 70 Years Ago
 
 54 
 
 HISTORICAL EXCERPTS 
 
 Railroads 
 
 The pilgrim who makes Carrollton his Mecca will enter 
 the place over one or the other of two raUroads— the Chicago 
 aad Alton, nmning north and south, and the Litchfield, 
 CarroUton and Western, which nms east and west. These two 
 competing Unes give CarroUton good transportation facilities 
 and reasonable rates therefor. This place and the adjacent 
 territory contribute a considerable volume of business for 
 both roads. 
 
 CarroUton first saw a railroad September 2, 1865, and the 
 first passenger train CEime into the town two days later. The 
 road was known as the Chicago, Jackson\lUe and St. Louis, 
 and for three months CarroUton was its southern terminus. 
 At the same time the road was built northward from Alton, 
 and on December 30 the two gangs of workmen met between 
 this city and Macoupin Creek, in the big cut. which has 
 proven the most difficult and expensive piece of engineering 
 on the line. T. B. Blackstone, now president of the Chicago 
 and Alton, weis the contractor who completed the connecting 
 link. On New Year's day, 1866, the first through train carried 
 an excursion from Jackson viUe to East St. Louis, and several 
 himdred CarroUton people joined the party. On arriving at 
 East St. Louis, they left the train and crossed the Mississippi 
 on the ice. A nimiber of CarroUton people were stockholders 
 in the road, but the city made no appropriation to aid in its 
 construction. Greene coimty, however, voted to take $50,000 
 in stock. This was after^^-ard sold at 24, and the county poor 
 
 house was buUt with the proceeds. Judge C. D. Hodges 
 became a director of the company eaily in its organization, 
 and was for some years secretEiry and treasurer. Judge 
 Worcester of White Hall was also a director. 
 
 A few years later the road was purchased by the Chicago 
 and Alton company, and when operated in connection with 
 the Kansas City line, became the most profitable branch of 
 that system. 
 
 The Litchfield, CarroUton and Western railroad owes its 
 existence very largely to the town from which it takes its 
 middle name. The road was first projected by CarroUton 
 enterprise, and the larger part of its origined stock was 
 contributed by CarroUton capitalists. It is so thoroughly a 
 CarroUton enterprise that a brief sketch of its history is quite 
 proper here. 
 
 Application for a charter was made March 7, 1882, and the 
 fist meeting of the stockholders was held here AprU 11, of 
 that year. The records show that the capital stock of $10,000 
 was all taken at this time, and that of the eighty-six 
 stockholders, thirty-eight were residents of CarroUton and 
 vicinity. Geo. W. Davis, Oman Pierson, H. C. Withers and 
 Thos. H. Boyd were members of the first board of directors. 
 The first officers chosen were Geo. W. Davis, president; I. J. 
 Peebles, vice presidnt: Oman Pierson, treasurer; H. H. 
 Montgomery, secretary; all of CarroUton except the vice 
 president. On June 27, 1882, $50,000 was added to the capital 
 stock, and of that amount $39,500 was subscribed by 
 CarroUton people.
 
 HISTORICAL EXCERPTS 
 
 Work on track-laying from Carrollton eastward was begun 
 in May, 1883, and the road reached Greenfield in July. The 
 first train for the use of the public was an excursion running 
 out from Carrollton to Greenfield on the evening of July 2, 
 1883. It was made up of a borrowed C & A locomotive and flat 
 car, fitted up with amphitheater seats from the fair ground. 
 Supt. N. J. Andrews was conductor, and he collected thirty- 
 five round-trip fares from citizens who enjoyed the first ride 
 over the new road. It should be added that the train got back 
 to Carrollton the same night. Two days later a monster 
 Fourth of July celebration at Robley's grove, near Daum 
 station, gave the road its first rush of business. The road's 
 first locomotive, the "Daniel Morfoot," and a passenger 
 coach were purchased in October. 
 
 For the purpose of extending the road westward, the 
 Western Illinois Construction Co. was organized October 12, 
 1883. H. S. Carroll was president, John Long, Vice President; 
 and C. W. Keeley. secretary. This company look the contract 
 for, and in January, 1884, completed, the road west of 
 Columbiana. The eastern extension to Litchfield was not 
 completed until May, 1887. 
 
 The present officers of the Litchfield, Carrollton and 
 Western Railroad are: President, H. S. Carroll of Clarksville, 
 Mo.; vice president G. W. Davis of Carrollton; secretary, 
 H.H. Montgomery of Carrollton ; treasurer, Oman Pierson of 
 Carrollton. The road was operated for some time by the 
 Jacksonville Southeastern Line, tmd is now in the hands of a 
 receiver, Joseph Dickson of St. Louis. The present general 
 manager of the road is C. B. McCall. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 HILLVIEW-WESTWARD ACROSS THE RIVERS 
 
 RETIRED RAILROAD MAN WRITES OWN HISTORY 
 August 1944 
 
 Lee Coates of Hillview who retired last August from 
 railroad work on the Alton, after 55 years of faithful and 
 efficient service, has written his own life story, which follows, 
 as related by him in his own words. 
 
 "On March 24, 1850, at high noon, a party of gold seekers, 
 namely, Lee Coates, C.C. Eaton, Alfred Pruitt and Lee Lakin, 
 left Patterson, 111. for California in a covered wagon drawn by 
 two oxen named 'Buck' and 'Bride', crossing the Illinois 
 River at Bedford Pike County and the Mississippi River at 
 Louisiema. My father, who was the youngest man of the four, 
 walked every mile from the west bank of the Mississippi to 
 their destination carrying a single-shot cap and ball rifle and 
 a single-shot cap and bill pistol the entire distance, landing in 
 Placerville, Calif, on the last day of August. They had several 
 encounters with bears and Indians and many other hard- 
 ships. 
 
 Much of the early history of the Gulf Mobile and 
 Ohio Railroad is written around Roodhouse, part- 
 icularly as the railroad pushed its line westward 
 before the turn of the century. 
 
 The first steel railrood bridge in the world 
 
 being con- 
 
 structed over the Missouri River ot Glosgow 
 
 Mo. OS the 
 
 Chicago and Alton (now GM&O) pushed its 
 
 roils west- 
 
 ward from Roodhouse in 1879. 
 
 
 "They fell in with other wagons going west to the gold 
 country and finally had quite an emigrant train crossing the 
 desert. It was slow traveling and water became very scarce. 
 On one occasion they came upon a spring boiling up out of the 
 sand and an Irishman in the crowd, jumping up and down, 
 dove to the spring to be the first to drink. After a sip he 
 
 jumped streught up and exclaimed: ' , Hell is just a half 
 
 mile from this place'. 
 
 "When the group reached its destination they all found 
 work as they could, my father falling in with a man named 
 Suter, the discoverer of gold in California. He worked with 
 Mr. Suter two years and a half and returned to Illinois, 
 leaving San Francisco on a sailing vcessel and crossing the 
 Isthumus of Panama where the Panama Canal is now located, 
 walking the 28 miles to the Gulf of Mexico where he caught a 
 boat to New Orleans and a river steamer to St. Louis, then a 
 Peoria Packet to Grand Pass. The entire distance, except the 
 28 mile walk, was traveled by water. 
 
 On Nov. 30, 1854 he and my mother were married, he built 
 a building in Patterson and started a store, living there for 
 several years. 
 
 When the Chicago & Alton was built from Roodhouse to 
 Booth in 1871-72, my father was checked in as freight and
 
 56 
 
 HISTORICAL EXCERPTS 
 
 ticket agent at Drake on May 4, 1872. He worked there until 
 the disastrous flood came down Hurricane Creek on Sunday 
 night, June 20, 1875, when track and bridges in Drake and 
 Dutch Mills were all washed back to Patterson, spending the 
 remainder of their lives there and in Hillview. 
 
 There was no depot in Happyville. About the year 1892, 
 Cyrus Hartwell, Alvin Pegram and John Kaiser built a store 
 building about one half mile west from where the depot now 
 stands in Hillview. They built their store next to the raikoad 
 right of way, and built a wide platform from the store to the 
 railroad track, and a one hundred foot landing platform along 
 the railroad track. They had contracted with the raih-oad to 
 handle freight and passenger service. Trains stopped only 
 when flagged. Mr. Hartwell, Mr. Pegram, and Mr. Kaiser 
 asked the Post Office department to establish a Post Office in 
 their store. Their request was granted, a Post Office was 
 established and named Pegram, in honor of Alvin Pegram. 
 
 "I became interested in railroad work in later years and 
 learned telegraphy under the late J. O. Raines at Drake 
 during 1888 and on Dec. 21, 1888 I was checked in as agent at 
 Strout for three weeks. On August 24, 1889 I was checked in 
 as agent at Drake and remained there about S years, 
 returning to Strout for a year and a half. On March 24, 1900 I 
 was transfered to Happyville, now Hillview, and have lived 
 there almost 45 years. On August 15, 1944 I retired from the 
 service of the Alton Railroad after 55 years of service. 
 
 "I am thankful to the Almighty that I have been able to 
 withstand these many years of strenuous work on a railroad 
 and retire with best wishes to my many friends and 
 acquaintances. 
 
 "I have Uved and worked all my Ufe within 15 miles of the 
 place where I was bom in Bedford, Pike County Illinois on 
 June 17, 1865. Lee Coates." 
 
 TURN TABLE AT ROUND HOUSE
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 ROODHOUSE ■■ RAILROAD TOWN 
 
 57 
 
 Golf Mobile and Ohio 
 
 Much of the early history of the Gulf Mobile and Ohio 
 Railroad is written around Roodhouse, particularly as the 
 railroad pushed its line westward before the turn of the 
 century. 
 
 GM&O while a comparatively new railroad, is made up of 
 many predecessor lines going as far back as 1847. The 
 Company as it is known today was formed in 1940, when the 
 Gulf Mobile and Northemand the Mobile and Ohio Railroads, 
 which paralleled each other in Alabama, Mississippi and 
 Tennessee were consolidated. The northern terminus of the 
 railroad was at East St. Louis. In 1947 the GM&O acquired 
 the Alton Railroad and a new 3,000-mile system was formed, 
 stretching from the Great Lakes at Chicago and Kansas City 
 on the west to the Ports of Mobile and New Orleans on the 
 Gulf of Mexico. This is the system today. 
 
 The Une from Bloomington to Godfrey was chartered in 
 1851 as the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago Railroad and 
 was used by the old Chicago and Alton RaQroad under a lease 
 arrangement for many years before the C&A bought it. 
 
 In 1870 the C&A began to look westward. It entered into a 
 number of agreements to get segments of the Une built to 
 Kansas City. The first segment from Roodhouse to a point on 
 the east bank of Mississippi opposite Louisiana, Missouri, 
 was completed in 1871. In the same year traffic opened from 
 Roodhouse to Mexico, the Mississippi River crossing being 
 by ferry boat. Two yeeu-s later the river was bridged. 
 
 1873 
 
 When the line reached Glasgow a great bridge was 
 necessary. The Railroad hired General William Sooy Smith of 
 Civil War fame as the engineer. He made a drastic proposal; 
 that the bridge be built of steel. Previously all such big 
 structures had been constructed of wood or iron. Steel was 
 thought to be too brittle to handle the action of freight trains. 
 Gen. Smith persisted and the bridge was bviilt, the first steel 
 railroad span in the world. 
 
 There is much impotant history in the early annals of the 
 Company George PuUman built his first Pullmtm cars in the 
 shops at Bloomington, and they made their first runs bet- 
 ween Chicago and St. Louis. Later Pullman pioneered a 
 dining car and the railroad was again the guinea pig route for 
 this latest invention. 
 
 In recent years, also GM&O has been recognized for its 
 many transjwrtation firsts. It is the first American railroad to 
 completely retire steam engines for the more modem diesel 
 locomotive. 
 
 It was the fist railroad to coordinate highway and railroad 
 service, operating buses and trucks over highways 
 paralleling its tracks. The first highway post office, a bus 
 equipped as a railroad mail car carrying a mail clerk had it 
 beginning as a GM&O operation. The railroad also originated 
 the train hostess idea and brought the South its first 
 streamlined train back in 1935. 
 
 This year the Railroad will spend about $17,000,000 for 
 new freight cars and locomotives to better serve its 
 customers. Its entire fleet of road freight engines, numbering 
 more than 100, is being replaced with newer more powerful 
 ones. 
 
 A new style single purpose train that hauls coal around- 
 the-clock from Percy to Joliet, Illinois, is said by experts in 
 this new field to be the "most efficient" and "most ad- 
 vanced" of the three year old idea to meiss move large 
 volumes of goods moving regulary between two {xtints at low 
 costs. 
 
 At the head of GM&O is President Glen Brock, a native of 
 Palestine, Illinois, whose father was a railroad engineer. Last 
 year the Company had total revenues to $84,160,000 and net 
 earning of $6,382,000. 
 
 G.M.&O. Depot 
 The G.M.&O. Depot which stands west of the tracks has 
 recently been remodeled to meet today's needs. The 
 remodeling started in February of this year (1966) and was 
 completed in April. This work was done by the G. M. & O. 
 R.R. carpenter crew. 
 
 The second floor was converted into 13 private, air con- 
 ditioned sleeping rooms plus an air conditioned lounge. This 
 accommodates 9-15 sleeping people in each 24 hours. Each 
 room is furnished daily with clean linens by the company. 
 
 The cost of the remodeling was approximately $25,000 
 including painting of the entire building inside and out. 
 
 In the downstairs the former dining room houses lockers 
 for each employee, and the old kitchen has been converted 
 into a shower room for the employees use. The old express
 
 58 
 
 room is now Yardman's Headquarters including lockers for 
 each man. 
 
 Also on the first floor are the trainmaster's office, 
 supervisor's office, the old waiting room, agent and 
 operator's offices of which the latter three are unchanged. 
 
 The personnel for the G.M.&O R.R. in the Depot: F. D. 
 AUman, trainmaster; T. B. Hillman, track supervisor; J. F. 
 Pilarski, agent and operator; L. R. Cloninger, operator; Paul 
 Marsh, operator; Paul Roady, operator; Robert Shaw, crew 
 dispatcher; and H. K. Mehrhoff, swing dispatcher. 
 
 The Round House employees are M. D. Hannaford, 
 general formeman; C.B.Ruyle, rip track foreman; Cloyd 
 Sawyer, clerk; machinists, Harry Vinyard, Lloyd Vinyard, Joe 
 Donnelly, Bille Monroe. Clarence Carmean is a laborer. 
 Claude Smock serves as supply man. 
 
 In the North Yards are ten switchmen, two engineers, one 
 fireman, two hostlers and seven car inspectors. The clerks 
 are L. W. Ballard, J. H. Whitworth, Louis Dee and Wayne 
 Smock. 
 
 There are 14 trains in and out daily except on Sunday when 
 there are 12. 
 
 .Hfflvlewiiil922 
 
 .Pulling out of station for last time 
 
 .nilnois River Bridge at Pearl
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 T 
 
 I .irt*!>^l 
 
 I 
 
 J4411i4ilii— — ■> 
 
 ... .Hailing the train 
 
 
 'WiT 
 
 w 
 
 111 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 4»!a^J^ 
 
 .Stuck in the snow 
 
 EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are new headlines, news 
 items, news stories, and other contributed materials. 
 Resource newspapers of Greene County were: The Carrollton 
 Gazette; The Carrollton Patriot; The Greene Argus; The 
 VMiite Hall Register-Republican; The Roodhouse Record. 
 
 .leaving in the snow 
 
 at Eldred
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 JUNE 19, 1852 
 
 Jacksonville and 
 
 CarroUton Railroad 
 
 We are gratified to learn that steps will shortly be taken to 
 procure subscriptions to the «tock of the Railroad from 
 Jacksonville thru Manchester, WhitehaU, CarroUton, and 
 Jersey to Alton. 
 
 1854 
 
 Josiah Hunt former engineer of Alton and Terre Haute 
 engaged to survey a route for the Jacksonville and CarroUton 
 Railroad. Reports that he found the entire route from Alton to 
 JacksonviUe favorable for the construction of a Railroad. 
 
 PRESIDENTS REPORT 
 MAY 1, 1858 
 
 Office of the Jacksonville, Alton and St. Louis Railroad 
 Company, CarroUton, AprU 19, 1858. To the Stockholders of 
 the JacksonviUe, Alton and St. Louis Railroad Company: 
 respectfuUy submits the foUowing report of the operations 
 and condition of the work for the past year. At the date of the 
 last able report made by my predecessor the Hon. D. M. 
 Woodson, AprU 21, 1857 the contract for buUding and 
 equipping the entire road has just been closed with Messrs, 
 Edgertons & Sage, who shortly after sublet the grading and 
 masonry of the eight nules of heavy work on the south end 
 from Delhi to the point of intersection with the Chicago, Alton 
 and St. Louis Railroad: Also those portions of the road 
 between the Macoupin Creek and CarroUton, and between 
 Manchester and JacksonviUe. 
 
 Active operations were commenced on these severed 
 divisions in June, and by July a large and effective force was 
 employed and continued with satisfactory progress untU 
 October. 
 
 It is needless to remind you that at this period a sudden 
 financial crisis enveloped the business operations of the 
 entire country with doubts and misgivings, and the general 
 finemcial derangement coupled with almost the total faUure of 
 the wheat crops in the counties lying contiguous to the road, 
 rendered it desirable, if not necessary to reduce the ex- 
 penditures. 
 
 A proper regard for the pecuniary condition of the 
 stockholders, and the consequent tnabiUty to negotiate the 
 county bonds and other resources of the road without ex- 
 traordinary and ruinous sacrifices, dictated a more prudent 
 course - a husbanding of resources, and thus avoid incurring 
 debts or sacrifices. It give me pleasure to be able to 
 congratulate you, that the season promises to be propetious 
 and the financial clouds are disappearing, affording us a most 
 cheerful prospect for a speedy renewed of more active 
 operations and an opportunity for those who are already 
 engaged in this enterprise, as weU as those who have 
 hesitated, to push on the work with renewed energy. 
 
 The heavy work on the Piasas, also between the Macoupin 
 Creek and CarroUton, is very weU advanced. 
 
 December 15, 1860 
 
 The farmers beyond White HaU, and in the vicinity of 
 Manchester, are already experiencing benefits and ex- 
 pressing their deUght at the completion of the railroad at the 
 latter place. It is giving them an easy access to market and we 
 hope soon to, "enjoy the same blessing". 
 December 2, 1864 
 Last week the large stone culvert on our raUroad, 2 nules 
 south of town caved in, about 20 tons of dirt had been placed 
 on it when it gave way. 
 
 April 29, 1865 
 Work on the railroad has been pushed almost into town. A 
 few hundred yards north they have the machine digging up 
 the field. 
 
 September 9, 1865 
 The first passenger train, on its arrival at this Monday last, 
 brought a large number of the officers and employees of the 
 railroad company, who, together with a number of invited 
 guests from JacksonviUe and White HaU, and accompanied 
 by leading citizens and the brass band of this place, repaired 
 to the CarroUton House, where they partook of a most ex- 
 ceUent dinner prepared and furnished by John Headrick Esq. 
 proprietor of the house, in honor of the event. It was a joyous 
 occassion, and aU parties manifested their appreciation of 
 Mr. Headrick 's kindness by partaking beautifuUy of the 
 viands. Neat Uttle speeches were exchanged by the gen- 
 tlemen, appropriate and happy in their effect. We observed 
 among the gentlemen present, Messr's. W. T. Beekman, 
 superintendent, and Wm. Bacon, general agent and train 
 conductor. Judge Worcester and George Wright, Esq. 
 represented the board of directors. There were also a number 
 of lady guests. 
 
 September 9, 1865 
 R. C. Samuel ("Dick Sam") son of Dr. J. B. Samuel of 
 CarroUton has been appointed freight and express agent at 
 CarroUton Station. 
 
 June 5, 1869 
 The incorporators of the "Pana, CarlinviUe, CarroUton and 
 ClarksviUe Railroad Co.," met at the CarroUton Courthouse 
 June 1 , 1869 for the purpose of organizing the Company. 
 August 21, 1869 
 Pacific railroad, origination of plan. Honor due to old 
 White HaU Citizen, Col. Henry S. Fitch. 
 August 28, 1869 
 New one needed, the old one being small, inconvenient, 
 and inadequate depot. 
 
 September 4, 1869 
 Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis completed to within 5 
 nules of Chapin, 23 mUes of White HaU. 
 September 18, 1869 
 Location of R.R. and St. Louis depot undeterminded. 
 
 November 20, 1869 
 A man-trap. 
 
 September 11, 1869 
 Incorporators of P. & L. RR meet 
 
 September 11, 1869 
 R.R. & St. L. through to Winchester - 16 days 
 
 September 18, 1869 
 Another railroad for White HaU.
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 61 
 
 September 25. 1869 
 Quincy, Alton & St. Louis RR important to White Hall. 
 
 October 2. 1869 
 Meeting of incorporators at Taylorville. 
 More about the RR. 
 
 October 9, 1869 
 Election of board of directors of P . & St . L . 
 
 October 16. 1869 
 R.R. L. & St. L. expected to reach White Hall by Nov. 1. 
 
 October 23, 1869 
 Vote for railroad. 
 
 Meetings at White Hall, Greenfield, Wilmington, 
 Walkerville. Athensville, Mineral Springs, Roodhouse. 
 Special dispatch from Quincy. 
 Laborers on road paid. 
 
 Prominent railroad men here. First installment of iron 
 delivered. 
 
 October 30, 1869 
 Editorial on coming election. 
 About voting. 
 
 Mortgage of Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis to Union 
 Trust Company of New York. 
 
 November 6, 1869 
 Report of election 
 
 Patriot of Carrollton thinks meeting of incorporators of P. 
 & L. RR mistake. 
 
 Bridge 
 Across Seminary Creek County below Ford near Mr. 
 Crafford's residence. 
 
 Railroads 
 November 20, 1869 
 Survey of Pana & Louisiana road is complete. Incorporators 
 meeting report — officers. 
 
 November 27, 1869 
 Estimated cost of R.R. & St. L. is 16 million dollars. 104 
 carloads of iron here. 
 
 Bond Issue 
 Railroads 
 December 4, 1869 
 To vote on issuing 810,000 bonds for capital stock of Rock- 
 ford. Rock Island & St. Louis railroad. 
 Depot 
 December 4, 1869 
 New lantern. 
 
 December 11, 1869 
 Quincy, .Mton & St. L. RR subscriptions. Distance from 
 Pana to White Hall. 
 
 Railroads 
 December 11. 1869 
 Proposed to have watchman at depot. 
 
 December 18. 1869 
 Description of roads passing through W. Hall 
 
 December 24. 1869 
 White Hall to vote on S25.000 stock. 
 December 4. 1869 
 An election will be held on Tuesday, January 4, 1870 at 
 office of L. A. Brewster in W.H., County of Greene, State of 
 lU. to vote on authorizing the Trustees of said town to sub- 
 scribe $10,000 ten thousand dollars to the Capital Stock of the 
 Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis R.R. Co. Said bonds to be 
 
 issued when said line of road is completed and in running 
 order from Beardslown, Cass Co.. to W.H., Greene Co., 111.; 
 and to be made payable in 20 years from date and to bear 10 
 percent interest per annum. Said interest to be pd. annually. 
 Also, notice is given, an election will be held Tuesday, 
 January 4, 1870 at office of L. A. Brewster, in W.H. Co. of 
 Greene, state of 111. to vote for or against authorizing the 
 Trustees of said town to subscribe ($25,000.00) twenty-five 
 thousand dollars to the Capital Stock of the Pana & Louisiana 
 R.R. Co. Said bonds to be issued when said road is completed 
 to the Town of W.H. from either direction; said Bonds to be 
 made payable in 20 years from date of issue, to bear 10 
 percent interest per annum, interest to be paid annually. 
 Railroads 
 January 1, 1870 
 Railroad bonds real estate value. 
 R.R. & St. L. having trouble with contractors. 
 R.R. & St. L. fi-om Rockford to Rock Island completed last 
 week. 
 
 January 8, 1870 
 Result of election. 
 
 January 15, 1870 
 Regular trains began to run on R.R. I. & St. L.. time card 
 Railroad election in Carrollton. 
 
 January 22, 1870 
 Railroads in this part of state. 
 
 Rally at Union Hall to take action to secure Pana & 
 Louisiana RR for White Hall. 
 Report of meeting at Union Hall. 
 
 January 1. 1870 
 Conditions observed by the editor 
 R.R.I. & St. L. brought in material for their station. 
 
 January 8, 1870 
 Citizen of White Hall voted on a proposal to subscribe 
 S25,000 to the Capital Stock of the Pana and Louisiana 
 Railroad, also SIO.OOO to the Rockford Co. The proposal was 
 carried. 
 
 January 15, 1870 
 The $50,000 subscription for the Railroad passed. 
 January 22, 1870 
 Accident. Railroad 
 John Doyle injured. 
 
 January 22. 1870 
 \V. H. making up: Railroad Meeting on Wednesday 
 evening last, pursuant to notice, some 250 of the citizens of 
 this town and vicinity assembled at Union Hall for the pur- 
 pose of considering what should be done to further our in- 
 terests in relation to the Pana and Louisiana Railroad. 
 
 The meeting organized by the choice of B. F. Baldwin Esq 
 as chairman and I. D. Vedder Esq. as Secretary. Speeches 
 were made by Messrs. Davis, Winter and Pearce and con- 
 siderable enthusiasm was evoked. After the speeches, the 
 books were opened for subscriptions to stock and a goodly 
 amount was received not enough to build the road, but 
 sufficient to indicate that the men of means in this vicinity 
 were making up to a sense of the importance of the 
 emergency. 
 
 It was decided to prepare and circulate, at once a petition 
 to the Town Trustees asking them to order an election for the 
 subscription of another $25,000 to the Pana & Louisiana road.
 
 62 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 This petition, as we write, is being numerously signed the 
 Board will hold a special meeting on Monday evening and 
 undoubtedly make the order and it is safe to say that the 
 people will, by an overwhelming majority, vote the sub- 
 scription. 
 
 Railroad Accident: On Wednesday afternoon as the Peoria 
 Express was coming north and was within about a mile of the 
 depot, a man was discovered sitting on the R.R. track in a 
 very comfortable position. The warning whistle, sounded, but 
 the man sat still. He wasn't going to get out of the way. Let 
 the train go round him if it wanted to pass. These were ap- 
 parently the sentiments of the man on the track. 
 
 But there was a want of sympathy therewith on the part of 
 the iron horse and on it came, tho with considerably reduced 
 speed. The man was lifted from his comfortable seat by the 
 remorseless cowcatcher and summarily pitched off the track. 
 It would naturally be supposed that the fellow was killed. He 
 was not, however! And here is an argument against the total 
 abstinence chaps. If the fellow hadn't been drunk, he would 
 have been killed or horribly mangled, without doubt. Being 
 drunk, he made no resistance to the assault of the locomotive 
 and consequently fell very easily, escaping with a bruised 
 side, a torn scalp and skinned hand. 
 
 It may be that the force of this argument is somewhat 
 impaired by the other consideration that if the fellow hadn't 
 been drunk, he wouldn't have been sitting on a R.R. track, 
 indifferent to approach of a coming train. The fellow's name 
 was John Doyle. He resides in he country not far from this 
 town. 
 
 February 5, 1870 
 
 Mrs. John Stowers killed 
 
 Time and place of meetings 
 
 February 12, 1870 
 
 Letter from C. B. Ebey 
 
 Rock Is., Alton & St. L. through to Greenfield 
 
 The R.R. I. & St. L. R.R. is finished to Greenfield and the 
 first train went through on Thursday. There were some 3000 
 persons in attendance. An excellent free dinner was served. 
 
 Report of Pana & Louisiana RR meeting on Apple Creek 
 predrie 
 
 February 19, 1870 
 
 Editorial-necessity for raising subscription amount 
 March 5. 1870 
 
 Meeting of directors 
 
 March 12, 1870 
 
 Engineer of CarroUton railroad project 
 
 Pana Meeting 
 
 Depot 
 AprU9, 1870 
 
 Petition circulated to move express office to Main Street. 
 Railroads 
 April 30, 1870 
 
 Last rail into St. Louis. 
 
 Officers return from New York. Place for crossroad not yet 
 determined. 
 
 May 7, 1870 
 
 C.A. & St. L. R.R. waiting until crossroad is settled before 
 building new depot 
 
 May 21, 1870 
 
 R.R.I. & St. L. has good rolling stock. 
 
 May 28, 1870 
 Band of disorderly men congregate near depot. 
 June 4, 1870 
 Well built by Rockford road full of water. 
 
 June 18, 1870 
 Annual meeting of stockholders of Peoria, Pekin, and 
 Jacksonville RR. 
 
 Directors of C. & A. RR elected 
 Sleeping cars not yet convenient. 
 July 9, 1870 
 Route from here to St. Louis over R.R. I. & St. L. in 
 operation but incomplete. 
 
 September 3, 1870 
 Branch railroad 
 Crossroad through CarroUton. 
 
 State Senator, took the contract for grading and bridg^g 
 the railroad from White Hall to Louisiana, 38 mUes. 
 September 10, 1870 
 Court will not reduce assessment. 
 
 September 24, 1870 
 Bonds sold in Greene County. 
 
 October 1, 1870 
 Work has commenced at Grand Pass 
 
 October 15, 1870 
 Work on railroad west of White Hall to Louisiana, Mo. 
 
 November 26, 1870 
 Meeting in Hardin to consider road through county. 
 
 December 17, 1870 
 50,000 stock of C. & A. RR sold to Hon. CD. Hodges for 
 $12,000 
 
 December 31, 1870 
 C. A. to build new depot south of old one. 
 
 January 7, 1871 
 James Daniels, right of way agent, successful in settling 
 with land owners. 
 
 January 14, 1871 
 What Wilmington thinks of new road 
 
 February 18, 1871 
 Total mmaber of miles in Illinois, 5423 mi. 
 
 March 4, 1871 
 Freight car derailed and broken at curve south of town — 8 
 cars thrown into Wolf Run. 
 
 March 11, 1871 
 New building completed. 
 
 March 25, 1871 
 Rcdlroad too costly. 
 
 April 8, 1871 
 On March 22, 1871 the president of the Litchfield and 
 Western Railway Co. prsesented the form of an agreement 
 between the city councU and his company with references to 
 the subscription of the city to Eiid its construction. At the 
 regular meeting on Monday last, the matter was taken up. 
 The terms of the agreement was endorsed and acceded to by 
 a vote of 3 for and 2 against. 
 
 May 13, 1871 
 Trip by editor on Southern 111. and Southeastern railway. 
 
 May 27, 1871 
 Trip by editor on Louisiana branch road. 
 
 June 3, 1871 
 To be shipped from here — 40 trunks and boxes and a great 
 deal other tackle to be used in erecting the Dl. River railroad
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 63 
 
 bridge at Grand Pass on Louisiana branch. 
 July 1, 1871 
 Directors elected for St. L., Jacksonville, and Chicago RR. 
 
 July 29. 1871 
 Rails laid almost across county, Louisiana branch 
 
 August 12, 1871 
 Depot will be at Drake, Straut or Shepherd 
 
 September 16. 1871 
 Louisiana branch about finished. 
 
 November 4, 1871 
 First through train from Roodhouse. 
 "To Kansas City" 
 The first through train on the Louisiana Branch from 
 Roodhouse, was put thru last Monday on which a large 
 number of our people took passage as a novelty. 
 
 An exceedingly good emd interesting time was had smd the 
 excursionists are convinced that the road is first class euid just 
 as it should be. 
 Grand Pass RR advantage to Sandridge. 
 
 November 25. 1871 
 History of struggle between Roodhouse and White Hsdl for 
 Kansas City road. 
 
 Boarding house completed. 
 
 December 9, 1871 
 Iowa and Illinois shipping much freight on new railroad 
 
 December 23, 1871 
 Greene County voted SIOO.OOO to Litchfield road and 
 $200,000 to Pana and Carrollton corporation. 
 January 27, 1872 
 How to go west 
 
 February 3, 1872 
 Railroad items 
 
 March 23, 1872 
 Incorporators of Springfield, Carrollton and St. Louis RR 
 meet to organize 
 
 May 4, 1872 
 White Hall citizens obtained writ of injunction to prevent 
 issuance or execution of bonds for Pana. Carlinville, C & C 
 RR 
 
 June 22, 1872 
 Greene County bond and injunction case settled. 
 
 September 28, 1872 
 C. & A. RR will begin construction at point near west end 
 of switch for turn table. 
 
 February 15, 1872 
 Well finished and success. 
 
 March 14, 1873 
 Mail robbery. 
 
 June 14, 1873 
 Election of directors of St. Louis, Jacksonville & Chicago. 
 
 November 15, 1873 
 Passenger schedule for Illinois railroad. 
 
 July 4, 1874 
 Railroad debt. 
 
 December 26, 1874 
 Railroad Statistics 
 
 December 19. 1874 
 "Catastrope Averted" 
 The northern bound passenger train on the Jackson\'iUe 
 division of the Chicago and Alton railroad pulled through to 
 
 this city on Wednesday 2 hours late, after encountering 
 serious obstructions and averting an impeding catastrope. It 
 seems the train which left Ksme on time, only 15 minutes 
 ahead of an extra freight in the rear, and intending to pass 
 the regular southern bound freight at Riverdale, (the station 
 halfway between this city and Kane), encountered a lot of 
 cattle which had broken out of the pasture on the down grade 
 just south of Macoupin Creek bridge. The cattle kept to the 
 track until approaching a smaller bridge were crowded so 
 close that a number jumped down into the ravine on both 
 sides while two or three rem upon the bridge and lodged 
 between the rails and bridge timbers, the engine coming to a 
 halt within five feet of the imprisoned bovines. It was now 
 after 8 o'clock, amd the train already 5 minutes behind. The 
 night was exceedingly dark, but stout men rushed to the 
 front, and in 5 minutes more had succeeded in dislodging one 
 of the animals, while yet another remained with no time to 
 spare. Five minutes more and trains were due from both 
 directions. As one of the rtiilroaders expressed it, "there was 
 hell in front, and damnation in the rear!" Rimners were sent 
 in both directions to flag the approaching trains, while the 
 command was given for the passengers to withdraw from the 
 cars. At this juncture affairs assumed the nature of a 
 stampede, and the men and women did not "stand on the 
 order of their going." Off they hustled, and down the em- 
 bankment many of them rolled in utter confusion while the 
 red glare of the headlights from two approaching trains was 
 thrown upon them, certainly the situation for a few moments 
 was fearful. At the foot of the embankment there was a 
 slough of mud and water which it was necessary to cross 
 before getting out of harms way; and varied were the shrieks 
 of women and children as they plunged into it, aided as best 
 they could be by male peissengers. It is said the wafe of Hon. 
 H. C. Withers, of this city, became so frightened that she 
 sank down in the mud and water, under the impression that 
 she was drowning, but was promptly assisted and saved. 
 Luckily, however the flagmen had succeeded in arresting the 
 progress of the nearing trains, so that they came to a halt a 
 short distance from the passenger train at either end. 
 Meanwhile the news spread to Kane and Carrollton, and the 
 excitement ran high, as hand cars were dispatched to the 
 scene. Those of the passengers from this place gave evidence 
 of having been in the thickest of the battle. 
 
 Other passengers of Carrollton say the fright attributed to 
 Mrs. Withers was some other lady passenger unknown to 
 them. 
 
 Railroads 
 July 3, 1875 
 
 Established telegraph office at Drake 
 
 Railroad catastrophe 
 
 October 23, 1875 
 
 Assessment of railroad. 
 
 November 6, 1875 
 
 Agent reports business of Oct. 
 
 AprU29, 1876 
 
 C. & A. owes $40,000 taxes 
 
 May 6, 1876 
 
 Advised not to levy for tax. 
 
 April 28. 1877 
 
 Survey made from Hannibal, Mo. to White Hall by C. & B. 
 & Q.
 
 64 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 July 28, 1877 
 Trains not running 
 
 Augusts, 1907 
 The C. & A. road put in a side track at Schutz's mill, then 
 known as "The Dutch Mill" west of Roodhouse. 
 AprU 13, 1878 
 Work is in progress on the narrow gauge Quincy and 
 Louisville via Wilmington Railroad. 
 
 New steel rails will be put down between Greenfield and 
 Rockbridge. Mr. Cantrells section will be the first to be 
 supplied with these rails in this division. 
 April 27, 1878 
 Finding that Sheriff Jones was about to levy on their road 
 bed, rolling stock etc. The C. & A. R.R. Company paid over to 
 him on Monday and Tuesday lost their taxes for 1875-76-77 
 amounting to something over $15,000 and it is well they did. 
 The railroad company is putting in a permament coal bin 
 near the depot. This will be a permanent coaling station. 
 There is also some talk of putting in a round house here at no 
 distant day. Greenfield figures prominently as one of the 
 principal town on the line. 
 
 May 18, 1878 
 The coal shute is almost completed and for Greentield is 
 very ostentatious for a railroad building. 
 June 15, 1878 
 The tressel work for the new coal shute is being put in. 
 
 June 29, 1878 
 The tressel and track up into the coal shute is completed. 
 Several car loads of coal have been unloaded there. 
 July 27, 1878 
 Excursion 
 From Greenfield to Emparia, Kemsas and return August 
 12th, 1878 Round trip from Greenfield $21.90 - Good Land for 
 sale on ihis route, for from $1.50 to $2.00 per acre. 
 November 2, 1878 
 Business Rockbridge 
 Thirty men are at work on the new tressel across the 
 Macoupin bottom south of the Mill. 
 
 The Rtdlroad Company are tiling a distance of 75 rods from 
 the slough to the tank already established in the bottom on 
 the line of R. R. south of the Mill. 
 
 February 22, 1879 
 Roodhouse, pump in coal shaft. Prospects of Roodhouse, 
 end of division emd erection of stock yards. 
 May 3, 1879 
 Six car loads of steel rails are on the side track tmd will be 
 laid soon from Taylor Creek to the Macoupin. 
 Accident, Railroad 
 November 22, 1879 
 South of Carrollton, engineer, fireman and brakeman 
 killed. Every man on train injured. 
 
 December 27, 1879 
 Wreck at Berdan, 2 killed, 21 injured. 
 
 January 3, 1880 
 Accident north of Berdan caused by broken rail. Two 
 killed, one employee, a negro Charles Payne and Col. Bond of 
 Sangamon County, tuid 27 wounded. Train ninning too fast. 
 January 31, 1880 
 C. B. & Q. purchased charter for proposed railroad from 
 Hannibal to White Hall 
 
 Controversy at Carrollton between William C. Rainey and 
 C. & A. R.R. concerning lands where elevator was built 
 C. & A. reservoir at Roodhouse completed 
 R.R. Company purchased 3 acres of land from Frank 
 Knight to complete 14 acre stockyards. 
 March 6, 1880 
 Surveyors located additional side tract one mile long at 
 Greenfield depot. 
 
 AprU 10, 1880 
 Railroad 
 On Monday, March 29th, all of the workmen except two 
 that were employed on the construction train under conductor 
 D. Burleigh, struck for higher wages, they were receiving 
 $1.15 per day and asked for an increase of 10 cents per day. 
 The only satisfaction they received was their time checks 
 which were duly paid off the next day, and the train started 
 out with a new set of laborers and business resumed as 
 though nothing had happened. 
 
 May 25, 1900 
 Wreck in railroads yards here broke one car completely in 
 two and damaged several others. No one hurt. 
 October 16, 1880 
 C. B. & Q. contemplated with White HaU Clay Works 
 building reservoir on land owned by Simeon Ross. 
 November 13, 1880 
 The C. B. & Q RR Co. is filling the gaps that are not 
 already laid with steel rail from the city south. This makes a 
 solid steel rail from Chapin in Morgan Co. into Jersey Co. 
 south of Rockbridge. 
 
 November 20, 1880 
 John Ewald is night operator at the depot. 
 
 December 25, 1880 
 C. & A. constructed iron bridges across Hurricane Creek, 
 two at Schutz's MiU, one at Drake Station. 
 January 1, 1881 
 Petition circulated to issue bonds for reservoir. 
 
 June 4, 1881 
 Three freight cars were pitched topsy turvy over the 
 embankment into the ditch in the bottom, just south of Rock- 
 bridge June 2 cause, broken wheel. 
 September 3, 1881 
 CoUison between two trains on the I & St. L. railroad on 
 Aug. 29. One of the train was No. 3 of the C.B.&Q. 
 November 12, 1881 
 Description of C.B.&Q. reservoir 
 
 November 12, 1881 
 Accident on new railroad south of J. W. Hettick's Sunday, 
 November 6 hurting conductor and another person badly. 
 Railroad collision several cars jammed up. Nobody 
 seriously hurt. November 8th, Tuesday. 
 November 19, 1881 
 The wreck train arrived in town Sunday and cleaned up the 
 debris caused by the collision on the Thursday night, Nov. 12. 
 Railroad men's reading room, Roodhouse opened. 
 
 December 17, 1881 
 "A Smash up" train wreck between Rockbridge and 
 Kemper Dec. 11. No one hurt. 
 
 December 3, 1881 
 C.B.&Q. to build new depot. 
 
 December 31, 1881 
 About 2 a.m. on the 24th a wreck on the railroad.
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 65 
 
 February 22, 1882 
 
 The biggest item of the week was the great flood of Sunday 
 and Monday, Feb. 19 and 20, 1882. Railroad and telegraph 
 communication was shut off during the week and no daily 
 papers were received. The C.&A. had long stretches of track 
 washed out near both Apple & Macoupin Creeks. The 
 Mississippi River rose 95 inches at St. Louis and Macoupin 
 Creek was four feet higher than ever before. 
 August 26, 1882 
 Litchfield, CarroUton & Western 
 
 A meeting of representative citizens of Carrollton and 
 Greenfield was held at the latter city in the interest of the 
 building of the Litchfield, Carrollton and Western Railroad. 
 Carrollton pledged $10,000 if Greenfield would raise that 
 amount. 
 
 October 7, 1882 
 
 Bonds signed for Roodhouse and Scottville RR. 
 November 25. 1882 
 
 Survey of Roodhouse-Scottville RR completed. 
 ELDRED STATION 
 1883 
 
 The name of Palmer Station on L.C.&W road changed to 
 Eldred, to correspond to the name of the post office (1880). 
 
 Item: (About 1883) by Ruth Schwallenstecker, Eldred 
 Correspondent. 
 
 Originally the tracks were laid from Carlinville by the 
 L.C.&W. (Litchfield, Carrollton & Western) and ap- 
 propriately nicknamed "Hellwestem and Crooked". Later 
 the Quincy, Carrollton and St. Louis assumed ownership. 
 March 1883 
 
 That new building on "Cap' ' Fry's farm north of Carrollton 
 is not the L.C.&W. round house, but an octagonal bam! 
 June 1883 
 
 The L.C.&W. R.R. was completed between Greenfield and 
 CarroUton and w£is ready to go on east from the former, or 
 west from the latter — depending upon where the most money 
 was raised for the building of it. As soon as the road was 
 completed between Greenfield and this city, suggestions of a 
 name for the station, which was finally called Daum, were 
 made. 
 
 July 2, 1883 
 
 The first trin for the use of the pubUc ever to run on the 
 L.C.&W. R.R. was an excursion leaving Carrollton at 7:45 
 p.m. Monday, July 2, reaching Greenfield at 8:40 and 
 returning at 11:30 p.m. The train consisted of an entire 
 engine and a flat car furnished with seats from the am- 
 phitheatre at the fair grounds and covered with a canopy of 
 domestic. 
 
 October 20, 1883 
 
 "Dan'l Morfoot" was the name of the locomotive on the 
 new L.C.&W. R.R. to the east of here. The whistle of the 
 "Dsm'l Morfoot" on the L.&W. makes our citizens 
 (Carrollton) feel good from head to foot. 
 December 1, 1883 
 
 The railroad stations west of Carrollton on the L.C.&W. 
 have been named as follows: the first station was Bandy's; 
 about four miles west was Hurricane Station (also Stone's 
 crossing) ; the next at the bluffs was Palmer Station, named in 
 honor of Governor M. Palmer; and the station at the river, 
 Columbiema Station. 
 
 December 8, 1883 
 
 W. B. Farrow donated ground for the L.C.&W. depot at 
 Eldred. Some compromising was done to secure the Stone 
 Jug and the Bechdoldt mill which were in the line of the new 
 L.C.&W. R.R. at Eldred. 
 
 The city bus (Carrollton) run by Oman Bridges made all 
 trains at both depots, the C.&A. and the L.C.&W. 
 December 22, 1883 
 
 A special train was run over the L.C.&W. R.R. to ac- 
 commodate those who wished to attend the supper at the 
 Greenfield Methodist Church. 
 
 One hundred twenty five dollars was raised to build a depot 
 at Daum on the L.C.&W. R.R. 
 
 December 29, 1883 
 
 Horatio Bandy boasted of being the first passenger from 
 the west on the L.C.&W. 
 
 The L.C.&W. track-layers were putting down steel at the 
 rate of from Vi to one mile a day and were within four miles of 
 the river ... (completed January 15, 1884). 
 
 1884 
 January 26, 1884 
 The new railroad to the river at Columbiana was bringing 
 many of the thrifty Calhoun residents to Carrollton to trade. 
 C. W. Pong was the engineer. 
 
 Palmer was going to have to change its name because there 
 was another place in the state by that name. 
 
 The people here at Pioneer think that riding to Carrollton 
 via the L.C.&W. R.R. beats going by wagon. 
 
 February 6, 1884 
 
 As "Dan'l Morfoot" was coming from the river last 
 Tuesday, he ran off the track and did some loud tooting for 
 help. He must have become overjoyed by being just across 
 the river from Kemipsville. Joe King and George Bechdoldt 
 say they put him back on the track and he went on his way. 82 
 passengers were aboard. 
 
 July. 1884 
 
 The first locomotive ever run on the L.C.&W. R.R. was a 
 Chicago and Alton engine No. 47 on May 23, 1883. The line 
 from Carrollton to Columbiana was completed January 15, 
 1884. Carrollton was named as the place of business for this 
 railroad. Its capital stock was $1,200.00. 
 October 10, 1884 
 
 C.B.&Q. depot destroyed by fire. 
 
 July 1886 
 
 Local stockholders of the L.C.&W. seemed happy that the 
 contract for the dirt work for the whole line of the L.C.&W. 
 from Greenfield to Litchfield by way of Fayette, Hageunan 
 and Carlinville was let. This railroad rtm special trains for a 
 grand picnic and holiday celebration at Palmer, July 5. Horse 
 races, foot races, a ball game, a platform dance and fireworks 
 at night, were among the attractions. 
 
 The first locomotive ever run on the L.C.&W. railroad was 
 a C.&A. engine No. 47 on May 23, 1883. The first train for the 
 use of the pubUc was run July 2, 1883. The line from 
 Carrollton to Columbiana was completed January 15, 1884. 
 Carrollton was named as the place of business for this 
 railroad. Its capital stock was $1,200,000.00.
 
 66 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 Like a faUen steed, the wrecked engine lies. This engine went 
 off the tressel at VaUey City, Illinois Nov. 11, 1918. Bluff 
 Times Sesquecentennial Edition. 
 
 December 25, 1886 
 Wednesday witnessed the laying of the last rail. "The 
 L.C.&W. completed on time." 
 
 January, 1887 
 S. C. Bass was manager of the Hurricane Elevator at 
 Bandy Station. 
 
 January 18, 1887 
 The Litchfield, Carrollton and Western road opened 
 regularly for business, the first time card appearing Jan. 16. 
 Two trains a day each way were provided between Carrollton 
 and Litchfield and one train daily between Carrollton and the 
 river. George Avery was conductor, O. O. Kimball, engineer 
 and John Huges, fireman. R. O. Soper was agent at 
 Carrollton. 
 
 1888 
 J. T. Henley 
 July 27, 1888 
 With L. T. Whiteside, instituted condemnation suit against 
 C. & A. R.R. for mutilation of land. 
 
 March 23, 1888 
 Accident 
 Engineer Downey killed west of Schutz's Mill. 
 
 Julys, 1892 
 A brakeman on the C.B.&Q. was instantly killed Monday 
 evening at Taylor Creek bridge, being struck by the top of the 
 bridge while on top of the car. His home was in Rock Island. 
 1896 
 May 22, 1896 
 There were no trains running on the L.C.&W. redlroad 
 Tuesday or Wednesday. The Tuesday morning passenger on 
 its way from Carrollton to Greenfield ditched two cars the 
 engine remaining on the track. The cars were thrown on their 
 sides. No one w£is injured. 
 
 August 28, 1896 
 The morning passenger train going east on the L.C.&W. 
 Tuesday collided with a steer between Fayette & Hagaman. 
 The tender of the engine was derailed and the train delayed. 
 No further damage reported except to the steer. 
 November 6, 1896 
 A northbound freight trciin collided with a couple of mules 
 just south of town yesterday. One was killed outright the 
 other had to be shot. Train okay. 
 AprU 9, 1897 
 The L.C.&W. excursion train that goes to Eldred neart 
 Sunday to give those who may desire to see the flood a chance 
 to view the waste of water, will leave this station (Greenfield) 
 at 9:29 a.m. returning at 5:56 p.m. Round trip only 50 cents. 
 September 3, 1897 
 Burlington Pump House destroyed by fire. 
 
 November 12, 1897 
 The L.C.&W. is getting back in shape for business again. 
 Beginning last Monday the train schedule was changed to 4 
 trains a day. 
 
 January 28, 1899 
 Litchfield, Carrollton & Western Railway Co. went out of 
 existence its property being turned over to Quincy, Carrollton 
 & St. Louis Railway Co. , a new corporation. 
 March 1, 1901 
 Tower house at junction of C.&A. andC.B. & Q. completed 
 with inter-locking switches. 
 
 January 3, 1902 
 About 2 a.m. on the 24th a freight train was standing on 
 the track here, and a sleepy conductor allowed another 
 freight from the opposite direction to run into it. The result 
 was several cars and two engines badly smashed and one 
 conductor given the G.B. 
 
 June 20, 1902 
 Wreck West of Pegram, one half mile track damaged. 
 Trains blocked. 
 
 July 3, 1903 
 Wreck between White Hall and Wrights, June 28. One 
 man killed, another missing, 818 cars destroyed, traffic 
 delayed 3 days. 
 
 August 14, 1903 
 Eldred, track of I.C.&St. L. taken up. All of track between 
 Eldred & Carrollton removed. 
 
 October 16, 1903 
 People of Eldred celebrated arrival of first train since 
 Aug. Made regular daily trips.
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 67 
 
 Uecember 2, 1904 
 
 Alton, Jacksonville & Peoria Railway Co. Move started for 
 line from Alton to Jacksonville, Route proposed. 
 January 6, 1905 
 Petition presented to White Hall for operation and 
 maintanance. 
 
 June 16, 1905 
 New tires distributed along line of old L.C.&W. from 
 Barnett to Eldred. 
 
 August 18, 1905 
 Surveyors reach Jerseyville. 
 
 August 25, 1905 
 By Sept. 1 the Z.C.& St. L. R.R. will drop its name and 
 become the C. & A. 
 
 September 8, 1905 
 Interlocking switch north of White Hall. Surveying party 
 located at Manchester. 
 
 October 27, 1905 
 Injunction sworn out in Edwardsville Circuit Court, 
 refraining company from starting work. 
 December 8, 1905 
 Injunction dissolved. 
 
 December 29, 1905 
 Chicago and Alton Gasoline motor car made first trip thru 
 White Hall, Dec. 27. 
 
 August 31, 1906 
 Pump house dismantled north of White Hall. Lease for 
 reservoir expired. 
 
 August 3, 1906 
 Train wreck neeu- Fayette. Louis White, the brakemtm 
 killed, several people injured. He had been working on the 
 road about 4 years and leaves a wife and 2 small children. 
 July 30, 1906 
 Q.C.&St. L. train wrecked near Fayette. C. E. White 
 brakeman killed. 
 
 September 8, 1906 
 Masked men rob Burlington depot at Greenfield. 
 
 AprU 26, 1907 
 The first spike was driven yesterday afternoon in actual 
 construction work of the A., J., & P. interurban line through 
 Carrollton. Also a number of other spikes were driven, tmd 
 there is now quite a little stretch of rock ballasted raUroad 
 track extending northward from the south-east comer of the 
 public square. While some of our neighbor towns are busily 
 engaged in building electric roads on paper, CarroUton is 
 getting the real thing. 
 
 Severed car loads of ties, rtuls and rock ballast arrived here 
 the first of the week for the Alton, Jacksonville & Peoria 
 interurban line, and during the past two days about twenty- 
 five men have been at work, hauling material, grading and 
 laying track on the east side of the public square. With the 
 exception of the track that has been laid in Alton, this is the 
 first track laying done on the road. The material used seems 
 to be of the very best, and the rails are very heavy said to be 
 85-pound steel. 
 
 The track is being laid here now because it can be done to 
 better advantage before the paving is put down. It may be a 
 long time before this 500 feet of interurban track is connected 
 with the outside world and before a car wheel turns upon it, 
 but in the meantime it will stand as a silent guarantee that 
 
 the road is coming to Carrollton. Many people have doubted 
 it until now. 
 
 January 18, 1907 
 The name of Stewart station on the C&A west of 
 Roodhouse, was changed to Strout. (1877) 
 January 25, 1907 
 Much damage done by high water. Apple Creek on 
 rampage. Apple Creek was four miles wide in some places. 
 Four hundred feet of the C.B.&Q. track washed out south of 
 White Hall. The bottom ranches were all under water and the 
 levees were badly damaged. 
 
 October 31, 1907 
 Harry S. Christy, connected with the Clay industry at 
 White Hall, and superintendent of the electric railway 
 running out to the Clay field, died at his residence in White 
 Hall Monday evening of the Brights disease. Mr. Christy was 
 a son of Mr. and Mrs A. W. Christy of Jerseyville and was 
 about 35 years of age. He was married to Miss KiUen of 
 Jacksonville in 1895. Funeral at Jerseyville. 
 August 7, 1908 
 Ice house at Roodhouse burned. 
 
 January 1909 
 Sixty barrels of carp (fish) were shipped from Keunpsville 
 by way of Eldred January 9, to be served at the Waldorf- 
 Astoria in New York City, as the rarest delicacy of the season. 
 Accident 
 October 14, 1910 
 Wreck on C. & A., near Jerseyville. 14 persons injured. 
 Local people in wreck. 
 
 December 30, 1910 
 Norman J. Crabtree with two others killed in C.&A. wreck, 
 Farbor, Mo. 
 
 March 4, 1910 
 Robert Walker, Mrs. Myrtle Lorton, andson, victims. 
 
 1912 
 In 1912 the trtiin went to Clark, King and Titus Stations. 
 Tracks and trtun did run to Clark and King Stations before 
 1923. 
 Excerpt from Mr. L. T. Whitesides: 
 The old L. C. & W. or the P. C. & St. L. (Quincy, CarroUton 
 and St. Louis) did extend its tracks a way into the bottoms, 
 but it was on a different route (?). This would explain the new 
 line to East Hardin in 1923 by the C. & A. (Chicago & Alton.) 
 July 11, 1912 
 Eldred - Houses are shipped in ready to put up, for the 
 laborers to live in while working on the new rtulroad that has 
 begun here. 
 
 August 16, 1912 
 John (Jack) Burris killed on crossing on Carlinville St. near 
 Standard Oil Tanks. 
 
 October 25, 1912 
 Walker Owens and Mamie Little struck by Burlington 
 train, injured. 
 
 Accident 
 December 13, 1912 
 "Bob's train " (Eldred-Springfield daily) wrecked near 
 Greenfield.
 
 68 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 February 3, 1916 
 Flood and Train 
 
 This Eirea had a triple dose of bad weather with the break in 
 the Eldred levee, the heavy and damaging sleet storm in 
 Carrollton and the Hartwell levee bretik that flooded 9000 
 acres of rich land the last part of January 1916. This flood 
 backed up the water in Macoupin Creek, found a weak spot in 
 the levee of the Eldred District and again flooded most of the 
 10,000 acres that had been covered with water the previous 
 August. 
 
 While it was not anticipated that the levee would break, it 
 was decided it was safer to move out. Accordingingly, the job 
 of loading the household goods of the entire camp at 
 Clarksville on freight cars was about completed in the ex- 
 pectation that the railroad train on arriving at Eldred would 
 come and take everyone out. 
 
 Then came the unexpected news that the levee had broken, 
 and no one knew when the train would come. Fifteen women 
 and perhaps twenty-five children strarted out on foot on the 
 icy tracks to meet the train. This procession of women and 
 children was followed by the freight cars pulled by horses. 
 The wall of rising water approached but did not overtake the 
 fleeing women and children on the 2 H miles to the safety of 
 the train that came to meet them. 
 
 The five freight cars loaded with the goods of the campers 
 were pulled by horses and pushed by men who splashed 
 through water up to their waists for the 2 V2 miles before the 
 train was sighted. No railroad train was ever quite so much 
 appreciated. When the cars were coupled to the engine, the 
 water was up to the firebox of the locomotive. The twenty-five 
 other families living in the district over next to the river were 
 rescued by boats from Hardin. 
 
 Editorial note by Norma Newton: 
 
 These camps consisted of people who were clearing timber 
 from lands of the Clark Ranch and Wilcoxon Ranch. They 
 lived in tents. Mrs. Janie Borman Wiles, Eldred, has pictures 
 in her girlhood picture album of the Girl Scouts of Eldred, of 
 which she was a member, taking gifts to the children in these 
 camps at Christmas time. They had been taken down to the 
 camps by a special train. 
 
 The Clark Ranch was later sold and became known as 
 Cooke Valley Farms. 
 
 March 25, 1915 
 
 Wreck on southern extension of the C&A near King 
 Station. March 18, 1915 
 
 October 22, 1915 
 
 Tracks of Chicago, Jacksonville, & St. Louis reached 
 Carrollton, account of 50 yesirs ago. 
 March 24. 1916 
 
 On Friday afternoon of last week while Mrs. Lee Crouch 
 and Mrs. Charles Jackson were walking down the Burlington 
 track north of Matthew Welchs's they discovered some ties 
 torn up and when they turived at the crossing near Mr. 
 Welch's home they discovered that the cattle guard had been 
 torn up and was lying on the track. They knew it was almost 
 time for the afternoon passenger and the south bound local 
 freight was in sight headed that way so they waved their 
 handkerchiefs and tried to wtuTi the engineer, but he af- 
 terwards said he thought the ladies were flirting with the 
 fireman so didn't try to stop the train. The trainmen did not 
 see the danger and dashed into the debri full force, which 
 shook things up pretty lively. The train was stopped as soon 
 as possible thereafter and the track was cleared away before 
 the passenger train arrived. The trainmen apologized to the 
 ladies and thanked them for their efforts to warn them of the 
 danger. We did not learn what caused the cattle guard to act 
 up that way. 
 
 August 30, 1918 
 
 Train wreck of freight, no 83. 9 cars derailed in Apple 
 Creek bottom. 
 
 October 18, 1918 
 
 Conductor Goad was between two cars removing the 
 coupling pin and the air hose parted and struck him in the left 
 eye. It caused a black eye and a painful wound. 
 February 18, 1921 
 
 It was fifty-one years ago this month that the first train 
 made its appearamce in Greenfield. 
 
 ■* 
 
 1923 
 
 In 1923, the tracks were extended from Eldred to East 
 Hardin (12 miles) transporting grain and a large portion of 
 the yearly apple crop from Calhoun County. 
 
 Changing hands again the Chicago and Alton became 
 owners, under their ownership and the tracks to Columbiana, 
 no longer in use, were torn out.
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 69 
 
 November 8, 1923 
 
 The apple crop from all parts of Greene and Calhoun 
 Counties were to be gathered by the end of the week and 
 ready for shipment by rail. The northern part of Greene 
 aggregated 588 car loads, which was said to be 100 more than 
 1922. Hillview alone shipped 30 cars of apples this season. 
 For the first time in its history, Calhoun shipped apples by 
 rail, ferrying them across the river at Hardin and loading at 
 the New C & A extension. 
 
 February 14, 1924 
 
 The new terminal station on the C & A railroad branch, 
 opposite Hardin, had quite a time getting st«uted. One of its 
 problems was in getting a name. It was called Lutzport, for a 
 C & A official. Then the Hardin people, who had contributed 
 liberally for the extension, named it East Hardin. In 1924 it 
 was called Mamer for L. H. Mamer, who was principal owner 
 of land in the drainage district. What the "town" would call 
 itself didn't matter, because there were no people Living 
 there to express a choice. 
 
 December 4, 1924 
 
 Apple shipments from McClay orcheu-d near Hillview 
 amounted to 330 car loads, about 175,000 bushels, for the 
 season. 
 
 September 17, 1925 
 
 The new gasoline motor car on the CarUnville-Eldred 
 branch of the C & A Railroad £trrived September 9. 
 
 The train consisted of a baggage and express car with the 
 motor in front, and a new passenger coach. Three men were 
 in charge - R. M. Estel, motorman; B. M. Goad, conductor; J. 
 W. Rathgeber, messenger. 
 
 The nickname of this train was Goad's goose, noted for the 
 similarity to that familiar sound. John King of Carrollton 
 recalls his father, Albert King's saying, as he took the train 
 from Eldred to the Stone's Crossing, "You can get off at 
 either end. They both stop at the same time. ' ' 
 August 19, 1929 
 
 Wreck, Hillview, 15 cars off track, Aug. 12. Two men died. 
 
 May 24, 1929 
 Are We To Lose a Railroad? 
 
 Word has been received to the effect that the C.&A. has 
 petitioned the State Commerce commission at Springfield for 
 permission to discontinue their agent at Greenfield, all of 
 which indicates that the company is figuring on junking the 
 line between Carrollton and Carlinville, perhaps on the plea 
 that the proposed hard road will make the branch line a 
 heavier financial drag than heretofore. 
 
 This same condition prevails over along the Bluff Line. 
 That line seems to be headed for the junk heap and the 
 proposed hard road to be built close along the right of way 
 will hurry up the inevitable. 
 
 These changes would leave a large territory without 
 railroad facilities and will prove quite a handicap to the 
 farmers. But what's to be done about it? Nothing that we can 
 see. The pubUc isto blame. The only time the railroads are 
 used for passenger service or stock shipments is when the 
 roads are such that the public ceui't reach the hard roads. It is 
 all right to sign petitions in an effort to keep the railroads 
 running, but what about guaranteeing the railroad a profit for 
 the service rendered? It is a serious question and has grown 
 out of the tendency of the times to get the world on rubber 
 wheels instead of iron ones. 
 
 December 20, 1929 
 
 Remodeling completed, C. & A. station. 
 
 March 2 1,1930 
 
 Ralph C. Curtis, Henry Harris, Vincent Gidney, killed 
 March 17, C. & A. crossing, north of Manchester. 
 June 24, 1932 
 History of Linder Twp. Litchfield, Carrollton & Western 
 Railroad "Look, Cuss, & Wait." 
 
 Automatic signals 
 August 5, 1932 
 Plant controlling movements of trains over railroad junc- 
 tion north edge of White Hall completed.
 
 70 
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 February 12, 1932 
 
 C. B. & Q. to close Depot Wrights 
 Railroads 
 June 8, 1934 
 
 Burlington Zephyr train passed thru, June 6. Exhibition 
 tour. 
 
 AprU 12, 1935 
 Zephyr, passed thru White HaU, April 6, transported 80 
 members St. Louis "Good Will" delegation. 30 min. stop. 
 December 8, 1950 
 Alton, Jacksonville & Peoria Railway Co. All passenger 
 trains to be discontinued after Dec. 26, 1950. 
 
 Passenger service to Eldred was discontinued in 1930, 
 
 although station agent retained at the depot untU all service ^ "^"^ -^"^*^= P'^rchased the depot and a part of the nght- 
 
 discontinued and door locked, August 1, 1951. "^"'^^y surrounding it. (1954) 
 
 Work was begun tearing up the tracks of railroad, 18 miles, T^e woodshop of Otto C. Newton and Sons was buUt on old 
 
 from CarroUton to East Hardin also several bridges. (1952) railroad right-of-way. 
 
 Eldred Depot 
 Closed 
 
 By Ruth Schwallenstecker 
 
 Eldred, August 1, 1951. (Special) — The old Eldred depot is no 
 more! 
 
 The commerce commission has granted permission to discon- 
 tinue the agency stations at Eldred and East Hardin, and maintain 
 them as prepay stations. 
 
 The hetiring was held at Springfield July 7 and the decision was 
 handed down last week. The depot doors were locked Monday, 
 August 1. 
 
 For the first time in over half a century Eldred is without depot 
 agency service. With the advent of express and freight delivery via 
 truck lines the need of railroad service in the community became 
 less apparent and the G. M. sind O. stockholders claimed they were 
 operating on a losing basis. 
 
 Freight and express service wiU continue as in the past however, 
 with invoicing to be htmdled at the CarroUton depot. 
 
 For several yesrs, since passenger service was discontinued in 
 1930, freight trains made the trip on an average of twice weekly. 
 Their principal business was the transporting of grain from the 
 territory, and a large portion of the apple crop yearly during the 
 apple season from Hardin. 
 
 The engines have been of the Diesel type the past three years, 
 replacing the old style steam engines. 
 
 Originally when tracks were first laid they extended from 
 Carlinville to Columbiana and were built about the year 1877 by the 
 Litchfield, CarroUton and Western. (L. C. and W.), appropriately 
 nicknamed the "HeUwestem and Crooked", because of the 
 numerous bends along the route. 
 
 Later the Quincy, CarroUton and St. Louis, (Q. C. and St. L.) 
 assumed ownership. In 1923 the tracks were extended from Eldred 
 southwestward to East Hardin, a distance of 12 miles. Changing 
 hands again the Chicago and Alton became sole owners of the 
 lines, and they in turn sold to the Toledo, St. Louis and Western, 
 who continued operations under the title of C. and A. 
 
 At one time the Baltimore and Ohio purchased the lines. They 
 also operated under the title of C and A. The Alton railroad bought 
 
 .starting of Eldred Rock Quarry
 
 NEWS CHRONOLOGY OF RAILROADS 
 
 71 
 
 the holdings from the B and O and reorganized with Harry S. 
 Gardner of Chicago as trustee. The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio acquired 
 all the Alton railroad property in 1945. 
 
 The depot agent of the past 14 and one-half years, George Curtis, 
 has seniority rights and will be transferred to either Chenoa or 
 Chicago, which ever he prefers. Mr. Curtis has been an active 
 member of the village board for eight years and interested in the 
 civic affairs of the community. 
 
 Guy Fox will continue as section foreman, a position he has filled 
 for over 25 years. His assistants are Roy Goans of Eldred, and 
 "Snowbadl" Haneline of East Hardin. Haneline was section 
 foreman at East Hardin for memy years. The East Hardin defKtt 
 agent, John Gaither, is being transferred to Murrayville. Western 
 Union Telegraph service which has been so ably handled by George 
 Curtis at the Eldred depot, wUl be received and relayed through the 
 Red and White store at Eldred. 
 
 i0^^ 
 
 September 14, 1962 
 C. B. & Q Local Freight discontinued Sept. 1, 1962. 
 
 
 ■•1^— *-— «■ 
 
 .Hillview flood of 1947
 
 72 
 
 af^T^ 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^V^^^ .^^^ 
 
 ^F' ^inimiih. ^^H 
 
 
 " P^-'l^ni^M'W 
 
 
 ?/ -,!E^."S-.-;- 
 
 
 . - ... ..--rif : •.. - " ' ■'- 
 
 ..the CarroUton Depot [1976] 
 
 .the CarroUton Depot [early 1900's] 
 
 the White HaU Depot [C.B. & Q. 
 
 ...the White HaU Depot [C. &A.] 
 
 Rockbridge Centennial ntTS^ 
 
 1871 - 1971 'I' B ■ 
 
 .the Rockbridge Depot
 
 From rails to trails 
 
 God keeps on making children 
 but he has quit making land. 
 
 With these words Reub Long, central Oregon's cowboy philosopher, summed 
 up one of the most urgent environmental challenges now confronting the 
 Nation. As population Increases, human development sprawls across the land- 
 scape. Open spaces are carved into tiny plots, each to bear its own individual 
 and specialized structure. The fields and forests around our cities are being 
 covered with a crazy quilt of asphalt, shingles, and blinking neon lights. This 
 intricate pattern of private property rights that has developed raises a multi- 
 plicity of barriers to our growing needs for open space and outdoor recrea- 
 tion opportunities. In particular, two important forms of recreation and travel 
 — walking and bicycling — are barred by the fences, walls, and hedgerows 
 of modern development. At the same time, our realization that fossil fuel 
 supplies are limited is developing a tremendous demand for energy-efficient 
 modes of transportation and recreation. 
 
 Fortunately, a great network of outmoded transportation corridors 
 awaits rediscovery. Spanning the continent, linking cities with suburbs, and 
 both with the rural countcyside, they criss-cross every region of the country. 
 These are the massive grid of old transportation routes abandoned by the 
 Nation's railroads, canals, aqueducts, and interurban trolley lines. 
 
 Once these corridors have ceased to be of value for their original pur- 
 poses, they can be converted into trails for hikers and bikers, thereby provid- 
 ing recreation opportunities for a public that once depended on them for 
 transportation. 
 
 Sixty years down the track 
 
 Railroading is a dramatic chapter in our economic and cultural history. In 1916, 
 the heyday of the American railroads, 250,000 miles of rail routes carried 
 freight and passengers to and through every city and town larger than a 
 country crossroads. Sixty years later, nearly 50,000 of these miles have been 
 abandoned, and the rate at which more fall into disuse is accelerating. In 
 October 1974 the Interstate Commerce Commission (the regulatory agency 
 which must approve abandonments by interstate carriers) had 340 abandon- 
 ment requests pending, involving 7,000 miles of trackage. And Congressional 
 action to revitalize the deteriorating rail system of the Northeast through 
 regrouping into better patterns will lead to the abandonment of many thou- 
 sands of miles of rail lines. 
 
 This decline is the result of many complex and interrelated factors that 
 have altered the way we live. The most obvious and most visible is the gasoline- 
 powered motor vehicle, appearing as both the private automobile and the 
 commercial truck. An ever-expanding system of roads and superhighways 
 now takes passengers and freight virtually everywhere in the country. Addi- 
 tionally, a large majority of railway passengers was encouraged to shift to 
 air travel. 
 
 Today, however, we are beginning to realize that the environmental 
 and energy costs brought about by this type of life style are greater than we 
 had imagined. Automobiles spew more pollutants into the air, use more fuel, 
 and make more noise than railroads. Perhaps even more damaging, the high- 
 ways required for our ever-increasing number of gas-guzzling combustion 
 engines gobble up the landscape at an alarming rate. But dependence on 
 automobile and air travel is not the only way to meet our transport needs. 
 
 73
 
 There is an urgent need for a more balanced, energy-efficient vehicle mix. 
 Bicycles should be more numerous and more frequently used, and mass 
 transportation and rail facilities should be improved and more extensively 
 utilized. 
 
 Bridges and Tunnels. Bridges and tunnels are examples of civil engi- 
 neering feats of the past, and on trail rights of way, they represent a great 
 recreation windfall. Spanning ravines and waterways, railroad bridges are 
 often left intact along abandoned rights of way. t^ore visible and generally 
 of more interesting construction than highway bridges, they serve as a link 
 with the past, and many are worthy of preservation in their own right. 
 Where they span streams, railroad bridges can be used as fishing piers. 
 Likewise, the tunnels that took railroad lines through mountainous areas 
 provide a memorable experience for trail users. They add exciting variety 
 to the hike or ride, and their cool, damp air offers refreshment on mid- 
 summer outings. 
 
 74
 
 Station Houses. Railroad rights of way consist of much more than 
 raised roadbeds. Thousands of buildings, ranging from small passenger and 
 freight stations to huge union terminals, were built along the track. Many 
 of these abandoned stations are of architectural merit, and preservationists. 
 all over the country are rallying to their rescue The concepts of adaptation 
 and reuse are playing a major role as the old terminals are transformed into 
 cultural centers, commercial shopping facilities, restaurants, and even multi- 
 purpose transportation centers. In this framework, the right-of-way trail has 
 an important place, since it can provide another form of access to these 
 ancillary facilities. Moreover, the old station houses can be auxiliary to the 
 recreation use. For example, an abandoned depot serves as the trail head- 
 quarters for Wisconsin's Sugar River State Trail Bike rentals are now avail- 
 able in the station house. On longer routes, depots can be converted into 
 hostels to provide shelter and rest facilities on overnight outings 
 
 Multiple-Use Potential. Unlike many recreation facilities, such as tennis 
 courts and swimming pools, trails are not limited to one specialized activity. 
 Instead, they can support a va.';ety of uses en a year-round basis. In 1972 
 the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation of the U.S. Department of the Interior con- 
 ducted a National Recreation Survey which estimated the total U.S. partici- 
 pation in various outdoor activities in millions of activity days. The results, 
 summarized in Table 1. demonstrate that the recreation activities suited to 
 trails rank among the most popular. 
 
 Walking, bicycling, jogging, horseback riding, and backpacking all can 
 be conducted on abandoned rights of way. Specialized activities such as 
 picnicking, nature walks, and bird watching can also be accommodated. 
 Furthermore, two growing winter sports — snowmobiling and cross-country 
 skiing — can take place where the winter snow cover and local regula- 
 tions permit. 
 
 ^ -if 

 
 The abandoned rail trail is a promising alternative to starting from 
 scratch. When land prices and construction costs are spiraling upward, an 
 
 existing right of way is less costly in terms of acquisition, manpower, mate- 
 rials, and energy. The carrier is often eager to sell, since the line is contributing 
 no revenue at the same time that it is eating into its operating budget in taxes. 
 Once the right of way is acquired, the actual construction of a trail is a 
 relatively simple matter. The roadbed is already in place, needing only the 
 removal of whatever ties and rails remain, followed by laying of a suitable 
 surface. When the modest expenditures required for construction are con- 
 sidered in light of varied and intensive use, the right-of-way trail must be 
 recognized as a notable bargain. 
 
 All aboard the right-of-way trail 
 
 While the railroad continues to be an important element in the American 
 industrial system, its role as a carrier of passengers has been greatly dimin- 
 ished. As a result, many of the pathways carved out for it have fallen into 
 disuse and are threatened with destruction. It is fitting that these rights of 
 way be acquired for conversion to trails for hiking and bicycling. 
 
 Over the same routes where Americans of the last century once took 
 excursions by rail, their descendants may be found enjoying recreation or 
 commuting from home to work. Like the railway, the trail presents a public 
 resource, a thoroughfare along which all may journey through the land- 
 scape. That it is man-made is no reason why it should be any less carefully 
 conserved than a great forest or clean water. Finally, the trail contributes a 
 sense of continuity with our past, enabling new generations of travelers to 
 understand the great economic, social, and technological forces that, like 
 hammer blows on glowing iron, shaped the Nation that was to become modern 
 America. 
 
 76
 
 MADE IN U-S.A.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS-URBANA 
 
 &rSaDS,M^TO TRAILS TO RA 
 
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