So I live in the Kankakee area right on the old Peoria and Eastern and IC lines. While driving around the area I notice a lot of roadbed that supposedly was the Wabash. The town of Ritchie Illinois on highway 102 comes to mind. But I cant find it on a Wabash map. I would love to know more about the Wabash here in my neck of the woods , so would anyone know which district it would have been in an employee TT? Looking also for the Reddick area. Was over there for a wedding reception and of course nothing left but weeds and roadbed. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance
Looking in an older Official Guide, Ritchie was on their line from Chicago-Decatur and on to St.Louis. 52.9 miles form Chicago.
Man I am going to have to get a guide! Just moving to the area its hard to get the bearings like I do back home. I noticed in Mahattan there is old lines extending out of there. BTW the old Ritchie Dept ( if you can call it that its so tiny) is sititng in this farmers front yard. Looks like a doll house!
Be sure you grab a photo or more of that building! Here today, possibly gone tomorrow. Getting bearings on what once was can be difficult. Even for lines we once knew. And when time has passed, memories of locals, especially later comers thoughts, can make it even cloudier for those seeking answers. In the past five years or so, I have journeyed west a couple of times to my old stomping grounds on the coast. What I thought I knew or remembered, was quite different from what I saw. What was left to be seen!
Boy, can I relate to that. I visited the area in upstate NY where I lived for 6 years, 60 years ago. I thought I remembered where the Rutland Corkscrew Division crossed the B&M Fitchburg Division in Petersburg Jct. I couldn't see any remnants of the diamond, the signal foundations, or the section house foundation. It wasn't until I drove about a half-mile away and found where the Rut roadbed crossed the road, and looked back along the roadbed to the diamond, that I realized I had been looking almost 100 yards from the correct location, now obscured by trees and bushes. No evidence of the diamond, but I found the foundations. Although a 40-50 foot tall oak had grown through what had been a minor crack in the section house foundation....not any more. :wideeyes:
http://www.willcountygreen.com/initiatives/historic_preservation.aspx Here is a link to the Will County Preservation page. Its number 18 in the pictures you can scroll down. I know what you mean by being lost. Its hard to tell even someone that once worked the line you have been drawn too that they were wrong about something. This guy just said huh guess I forgot about it. The mind plays tricks on you
Looking at my Steam Powered Video's Railroad Atlas of the area, I was able to find the little town of Ritche and not only was it a Wabash line, but parts of it live on. One has to travel a ways south to a wide spot in the road to Risk, where there used to be a diamond. This is where the Wabash crossed the IC. From Risk to Gibson City is now used by one of my favorite short lines, the Bloomer Line. South of Gibson City, the line becomes Norforlk Southern and goes through the small town of Mansfield. Then onto Lodge, Monticello and Decatur. I live about five miles from Lodge and hear the NS go through sometimes a couple times a day. I would love to catch that NS Wabash unit going through there or Monticello. Somewhere I have pictures of NS going over Bridge Street in Monticello, I'll have to post those. Get yourself one of these Atlases, as it shows both current and past ROW and station stops as well as other interesting artifacts. I was able to find the old ICG overpass over the Burlington in Polo Illinois thanks to this Atlas. And your right about how things change, it doesn't take long before nature reclaims what was hers.
