>This might be confusing so please pay attention!
>According to Mike Shafer's 1981 2-part TRAINS article, the IT had >several phases of using the PRR branch. According to Shafer, "In >December 1955 the PRR and IT effected a swap in the Morton area. PRR >bought IT's track between Morton and Allentown, and IT vacated Morton >street trackage in favor of PRR rails. " What exactly did the PRR do with >the IT between Morton and Allentown and when was it torn up? Also, did >the IT install connecting tracks at Allentown and Morton and continue to >use their line north of Morton to East Peoria?
I read a post from a few years ago on the IT yahoo! group that said Mike Schafer confused some of the details in that article. I know the mention of ITC unit trains of "soybean pellets" (should be corn gluten feed pellets) and "soybean mill" (should be soybean meal) was inaccurate. Decatur may have been the "soybean capital of the world" at one time but it was a pretty heavy corn processing town by the time the article was written (Staley had been processing corn for years and ADM opened its Corn Sweeteners div there in 1976; ethanol production started in 1978).
Back to the subject at hand...if Schafer is accurate then IT and PRR apparently began sharing trackage between Allentown and (South) Morton in December 1955 - the latter point is where ITC built a connection to PRR's Peoria Secondary. ITC also built a connection to the PRR on the NW end of town, thus enabling the railroad to vacate street trackage through town (to placate Morton residents, who complained about the lengthy, diesel-powered freight trains crawling through their neighborhoods). A stub of the old traction main was kept in place as far as Caldwell Hill for car storage and to serve a lumber yard and eventually, an LPG distributor.
The old IT line between Allentown and (South) Morton was closed along with Wilson Yard in June 1982 and the (South) Morton - Minier segment embargoed due to a deteriorating bridge at Mackinaw. This segment was approved for abandonment in July 1987 and the rest, in December of that year. The official abandonment took place February 24, 1988 (last train I presume).
>In December 1966, the IT started using PPR trackage rights from >Morton all the way to Farmdale Jct. It might have been then that they >tore up their own line over Caldwell Hill. Also, where exactly was Wilson Yard built Was it built on ex-PRR or IT trackage?
This actually occurred on August 1, 1966 when IT started running on the PRR Peoria Secondary all the way from South Morton to the Norfolk & Western's ex-Nickel Plate line at Farmdale Jct. Wilson Yard was built in 1975 on property at Allentown already owned by IT.
If you can find a copy, the Illinois Traction Society's Spring 1994 issue of The Flyer has a great and lengthy article on the ITC's Peoria Gateway routes. There could be copies available for sale at the ITS meet in Decatur April 30. I got mine at the ITS meet in Bloomington in May 2003 (Mike Schafer was actually there!).
DPJ
>According to Mike Shafer's 1981 2-part TRAINS article, the IT had >several phases of using the PRR branch. According to Shafer, "In >December 1955 the PRR and IT effected a swap in the Morton area. PRR >bought IT's track between Morton and Allentown, and IT vacated Morton >street trackage in favor of PRR rails. " What exactly did the PRR do with >the IT between Morton and Allentown and when was it torn up? Also, did >the IT install connecting tracks at Allentown and Morton and continue to >use their line north of Morton to East Peoria?
I read a post from a few years ago on the IT yahoo! group that said Mike Schafer confused some of the details in that article. I know the mention of ITC unit trains of "soybean pellets" (should be corn gluten feed pellets) and "soybean mill" (should be soybean meal) was inaccurate. Decatur may have been the "soybean capital of the world" at one time but it was a pretty heavy corn processing town by the time the article was written (Staley had been processing corn for years and ADM opened its Corn Sweeteners div there in 1976; ethanol production started in 1978).
Back to the subject at hand...if Schafer is accurate then IT and PRR apparently began sharing trackage between Allentown and (South) Morton in December 1955 - the latter point is where ITC built a connection to PRR's Peoria Secondary. ITC also built a connection to the PRR on the NW end of town, thus enabling the railroad to vacate street trackage through town (to placate Morton residents, who complained about the lengthy, diesel-powered freight trains crawling through their neighborhoods). A stub of the old traction main was kept in place as far as Caldwell Hill for car storage and to serve a lumber yard and eventually, an LPG distributor.
The old IT line between Allentown and (South) Morton was closed along with Wilson Yard in June 1982 and the (South) Morton - Minier segment embargoed due to a deteriorating bridge at Mackinaw. This segment was approved for abandonment in July 1987 and the rest, in December of that year. The official abandonment took place February 24, 1988 (last train I presume).
>In December 1966, the IT started using PPR trackage rights from >Morton all the way to Farmdale Jct. It might have been then that they >tore up their own line over Caldwell Hill. Also, where exactly was Wilson Yard built Was it built on ex-PRR or IT trackage?
This actually occurred on August 1, 1966 when IT started running on the PRR Peoria Secondary all the way from South Morton to the Norfolk & Western's ex-Nickel Plate line at Farmdale Jct. Wilson Yard was built in 1975 on property at Allentown already owned by IT.
If you can find a copy, the Illinois Traction Society's Spring 1994 issue of The Flyer has a great and lengthy article on the ITC's Peoria Gateway routes. There could be copies available for sale at the ITS meet in Decatur April 30. I got mine at the ITS meet in Bloomington in May 2003 (Mike Schafer was actually there!).
DPJ