Nostalgia & History > Illinois Central, Monday Morning Rails...

Here are three for Monday morning.    Illinois Central sold off the Iowa division to the Chicago Central and Pacific in December of 1985.  CC&P operated the lines until Illinois Central repurchased the line in 1966.  Just two years later, the Illinois Central was acquired by Canadian National.  Changes came quickly after CN took over.  Millions of dollars were spent upgrading the track structure and signal system. CN also demolished most of the structures that gave the line its character. Having said that, the Iowa division was a favorite place to photograph trains.  The newest IC power was common along with locomotives from just about every  major railroad in the country.  The SD70's were the last new power to wear the IC "deathstar" paint scheme and I was definitely a fan!  Here are three scans (unfortunately, I don't have dates available) from the early 2000's


Image 1  east bound M338 at WSS Scales Mound, Illinois
Image 2  eastbound  M338 at Apple River, Illinois
Image 3  eastbound  waiting for new crew at Wallace yard ( Freeport, Illinois)

Enjoy!

Dave
 

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Excellent,   close to our neck of the woods...

PWM

Nice stuff, and I love the title!
"I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done"

DJ Sir L

Thanks for the nice winter scenes, they are like having a cool drink during this heat wave!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA