Nostalgia & History > The Redmond Files... Piggyback, Snow and Steam

George Redmond was out and about with his camera on February 3rd, 1979.  That day his travels took him to Crainville, Illinois, where Crab Orchard & Egyptian 2-4-2 #5 was working the piggyback ramp at the location called Ordill on the railroad.  After a train of loaded trailers was put together, the train headed east on the seven-mile run to Marion.

In this pair of photos, #5 is running tender first as she crosses a rural road near the ghost town of Bainbridge.  Bainbridge was the original seat of Williamson County prior to the seat being moved to Marion.  The headstones from the Bainbridge cemetery still stand, but the location of the actual graves is unknown.  One of the stones features the name Samuel Dunnaway, one of the men behind the construction of the Carbondale & Shawneetown Railroad in the 1870's; the original builder of the line today operated by the Crab Orchard & Egyptian.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/20 07:33 by MaryMcPherson.

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Another pair of photos as the train passes under I-57 on Marion's west side.  At the throttle is Hugh Crane; the CO&E's president and the man whose brainchild the railroad was.  Firing on this day was Chuck Roehm Jr., who went to work on the CO&E when he graduated high school.  Chuck would work three decades for the CO&E before moving to BNSF to finish his career.

By this time, the CO&E had established the practice that all in-service locomotives would face west and all out-of-service locomotives would face east.  This practice began following the end of tourist trains and continues to this day.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/20 07:37 by MaryMcPherson.

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Boy, was that a unique operation.
JB

As a boy, my 027 gauge 2-4-2 locomotive looked realistic to me but I had read that it wasn’t really a model of any engine. And now, decades later, your photos prove that not only is there a true prototype, but it’s also a great looking one!