Western Railroad Discussion > Why I hate Wendy's - Ottawa, Illinois

Existing or non-existing light
So last night I am at Ottawa, IL for IAIS BICB standing in the Wendy's parking lot with all the light, I take an early shot and wait a few seconds
for the train to get close. Lights out at 1 AM.

I guess I should throw in a reasonable photo so here is EB CSX big sand train a little earlier, they didn't turn off the lights.

Bob Jordan

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Love the Ottawa, IL photos. Please don't give up. I was raised in Ottawa and was once the "Ride-The-Rocket" chairman for the Friendly City. We had a lot of fun promoting CRIP trips. Picture is of my family's private car GBW #600 "Roamer" while it was still stored at Brickton. The car is now back in regular use by the ACW in North Carolina.

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mp12point7 Wrote:
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> Love the Ottawa, IL photos. Please don't give up.
> I was raised in Ottawa and was once the
> "Ride-The-Rocket" chairman for the Friendly City.
> We had a lot of fun promoting CRIP trips. Picture
> is of my family's private car GBW #600 "Roamer"
> while it was still stored at Brickton. The car is
> now back in regular use by the ACW in North
> Carolina.

Are you the same family that had the former Rock Island pre-war sleeper and the post-war diner stored indoors at the nice facility shown in the picture?

Mmmmmm, Baconator...

Hey, you can't blame them for not being hospitable to midnight railfans. Although perhaps they should have a drive-through window for the trains...

Tor in Eugene

Torisgod Wrote:
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> Hey, you can't blame them for not being hospitable
> to midnight railfans. Although perhaps they should
> have a drive-through window for the trains...
>
> Tor in Eugene


Hey, I took my biz next door to Mc's, THEY keep the lights on all night as does the Circle K gas station.
Sorry to say, LC and an Oatmeal to go. LOL

Bob

Love to see anything from the old stomping grounds here on TO, so no apologies necessary.

Of course, in the days of the Rock Island there was no Wendy's there to mess with your lighting! That was the location of the TOFC ramp in the 60s and 70s, before that the freight house and an elevator. Here's a photo from the 1930s of the RI tracks and the lot where Wendy's sits today. That's the Columbus Street crossing in the foreground.

NZ
Native of Utica, MP 94.2

EDIT: Before some wag nails me....No, I did NOT take this shot....A bit before my time (like 40 years before).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/14 10:10 by NebraskaZephyr.

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really cool to see. Looks like they just did the crossing and looks like a good job.

thanks!!!

Bob

Wow, what rotten timing! That's when you look to the heavens and ask "Ok, what'd I do this time?"

;^)

Look on the bright side (ha!) maybe the lighting kept you from being mugged.

Yes. It was an interesting collection at one time. Now all gone. We had three pieces of passenger equipment in the building: Roamer (business car-GBW), Golden Banquet (Diner-CRIP), and Golden Fleece (Sleeper-CRIP). Outside sat a CB&Q #5600-series tender and nearby four cabooses (including GM&O road caboose, DSS&A drovers caboose). These were part of a huge transportation collection which included 18 antique autos, gasoline pumps and pump advertising globes (175,000) and railroad playing cards (70,000). It was quite a place to grow up, polishing brass on the cars before parades and visiting folks all over the country to add to my Dad's collection.