Been on the Galena trail 6 or 7 times and watched this video numerous times, enjoy the 93 seconds of music. As I listen and watch it makes me wonder how the locomotive engineers must have felt driving the trains. The music bears down as the locomotive would bear down to climb the grade then coast a little in the down grades. Very cool. You guys are very talented, thanks. Jim
Thanks very much for watching our videos! Glad that you are enjoying them! Music adds a great deal to the overall visual experience - and so we take some care in choosing music for each segment within our videos. Thanks for noticing and commenting! We appreciate it!
Found this series while doing research on BNSF’s Aurora Subdivision (the current CB&Q line), it’s been a great watch seeing the history behind this area. Didn’t even know the tunnel east of here existed until watching these videos! Definitely look forward to exploring this area more now knowing all of this.
Glad that you found our videos and this series! It has turned into something of an odyssey, treking across northern Illinois and northwest Iowa, reminding us how important this railroad once was to these communities. Thanks again!
I knew the Galena area has a lot of History, General Grant etc, but the railroad history is very interesting and you people present it so well! I'm going to watch the whole series!
Thanks for watching and glad that you find these videos informative and entertaining. One of the messages that we attempt to convey is that history (and prehistory) is all around us, sometimes right in our own backyard, and with a little researching and detective work, you can discover whole new worlds, characters, and events that shaped the landscape. And, yes, history is stranger than fiction too. :-) Again, thanks for watching and commenting. We appreciate it!
Great job! I’ve see a lot from the railroad side when on track but always wonder where these old connections came from and went to. Keep it up. You two are becoming the go to historians.
Thank you for the comment and for the support! And thanks too for the kind words. We are learning a great deal from the people and places that we encounter along the way. Thanks again!
Very glad that you are enjoying the series! Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, Iowa will bring its own set of stories. We are looking forward to it as well.
Terrific content beautifully presented as always. Once again, it became obvious the railroads were designed to compete against each other, not the highway system. Shame that some of this trackage wasn't saved as a tourist railway as it goes through some very beautiful and scenic areas. The C&NW wasted no time dismantling everything. Press on! I'm looking forward to all future episodes.
Thanks for the kind words and commenting! Very much appreciated! Yes, your observation is well considered. Too often, companies and industries cannot see the new technology that will completely upend their world until it's too late. Thanks again!
i have to say i have been on youtube it seems like forever and in all that time i have never .,.. repeat NEVER found a single channel where each and every one of the vids are home runs this guy deserves a Nobel !
Thanks for watching the video and for the kind words! We find every community has its stories to tell. Some take some time to tease out - but they are there, waiting to be told. For example, we never expected to find such a dramatic murder story in Aiken of all places - but there it was.
Thanks for watching the video and for commenting! Very much appreciated! The panning and movement of the camera angle depends on many things in the flow of the video. If we always pan top to bottom on newspaper articles, then the repetitive nature of this would become very tedious to watch. Our general intention is not for viewers to read through every article that we display on the screen, top to bottom, but to give a sense of the article, especially the gist of the story. We hope to encourage viewers to follow up with their own research - find the articles that we reference - or find additional newspaper articles - as they are an excellent contemporary source of information. However, your comment is duly noted - and we appreciate it! Thanks again!
I'm fairly familiar with the area, had know idea there was so much history, I travers the Galena river almost weekly in the summer from Bellevue, Ia. Always a scenic boat ride
Thanks for watching and commenting! Glad that you found it informative. Yes, there is a great deal of history in this area. Every corner turned, every few miles of trackway revealed something new. Thanks again!
Yesterday I walked from Aiken to Galena Jct. it is a very nice trail that I wouldn’t have know about without your video. Thank you! I learned that there was a lock on the river too.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! Very glad that you enjoyed the video and that it inspired you to walk that trail. It is a beautiful trail and it changes quite a bit with the seasons. Thank you again!
Story from Galena Jct I remember hearing about 25 30 years ago is either from CGW right before the merger or one of the last CNW peddler freight runs east out of Dubuque on the CGW before the slow eastward retreat of the CGW began but the train had stopped to to either drop,pick up or both on some interchange cars on the Galena Jct sidings. Train has pulled ahead and the brakeman had dropped off to get the switch but as he throws the switch he hears an angry buzzing noise. Seems a rattler had been sunning itself in the area of the points of the switch and had it's sunbathing interrupted by the switch being thrown and was now sticking it's head up between the points of the switch and expressing it's displeasure. Unfortunately for the rattler it's position put it in a situation to feck around and find out as not wanting have venomous reptile with anger issues in his workspace he simply closed and opened the switch a couple of times solving the rattler's personal issues permanently.
Thanks for sharing that story! We had heard something along those lines from other viewers - but not to that level of detail. We personally did not see any rattlers on our walks through Jo Daviess county - or through Dubuque county - although we are sure that they are out there - likely in smaller numbers than they once were. Thank you again!
Thank you for another splendid addition to your series on the "Disused Stations of the Chicago Great Western - Rice to Galena Junction". The historical information that you present in videos is amazing to listen to and see some of the remaining artifacts that still exist. That mine tailings truck to railcar loading structure that you showed us was interesting to see. The murder (assassination) of Carmelo Albanese was fascinating to learn about. The negotiations between the Illinois Central, Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Chicago Great Western to allow the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago Great Western to obtain trackage rights on the Illinois Central to access East Dubuque, Illinois to use the Illinois Central's Mississippi River bridge to cross into Dubuque, Iowa was interesting to learn about. Also, Chicago Great Western's attempt to build their own line rather than use trackage rights was of interest. I looked at my copy of "Chicago Great Western, Depots Along the Corn Belt Route" does not have any photos of either the Rice or Aiken depots. On Page 23 the information for both the Rice and Aiken Depots indicates that both depots were one story 12-foot by 12-foot towers. On Page 81 it states that the Aiken, Illinois depot may be a one-story tower. A 1900 timetable shows F. W. Shockell as the agent. A 1909 timetable and a 1916 magazine article list C. E. Markham as the agent. On Page 86 CGW bought a 4-wheel baggage cart so that they did not have to use the CB&Q's baggage cart. On Page 91 not much is mentioned about the Rice, Illinois depot. There is a mention that there is some information on the Rice depot on Page 22 of the Spring 2001 issue of North Western Lines.
Thank you very much for the thoughtful and informative comment! And thanks too for the continued support of our channel! We are very glad that you found it informative. Your additional information is most interesting. The description of the Aiken depot as being a 12' by 12' tower is very interesting. We are guessing it was wood, though - based on the cost estimates of the building - and that it burned to the ground. And so perhaps it was a 12' by 12' wood tower, perhaps five feet off the ground, akin to Rice. On the other hand, the Aiken depot seemed to have gone through multiple incarnations in its lifetime. And so there were likely three or four different depot buildings, including the small wooden shanty, which served as a freight office during its latter years. We will have to see whether we can find a copy of the Spring 2001 issue of the North Western lines periodical. We also know that some people have found remains of a roundhouse back in the scrub and forest of some of the private property in that area - so that would also be very interesting. We have an idea of where that might be - but we did not discuss that in the video. Thanks again!
Thanks for another excellent video! I walk the Galena river trail often, and I’ve always wondered about the junction, and the spur running into downtown galena. Was hoping to see some coverage of that Galena spur. Cant wait for the next video in the series; thanks for your exhaustive research and interest in this history.
Glad that you enjoyed the video and that if provided some information. Thanks for watching and commenting! We debated about adding in more about the Galena Spur - but we felt the video to be getting too long and that topic was more related to the Chicago Burlington and Quincy line - which is a whole different story. :-) Perhaps in future videos we'll cover this spur as well as the a few of the other Galena railroads more thoroughly. Thanks again!
Notice at 35:13 the hours of train time. Number 12 at 3am! Not popular times for travel, but great for the morning delivery of mail and express packages. Way before any morning plane would get there if there was air service. Except Sunday. That is the board for the Illinois Central HAWKEYE. I rode that once before it was taken off. It served major Iowa Cities of Waterloo, Fort Dodge, and Sioux City. From Chicago
34:55 the mail and express train with no more mail and express! Wish I could have seen your videos before I rode through here on the Blackhawk . i did also ride the Hawkeye and overnight IC train before the end , but this area was a night when most of the mail and express traveled. Loss of it's mail and express was the end of that too. I hope I can ride past here again on a new Amtrak service to Dubuque and west someday.
Thanks for the observation and thanks too for sharing your experiences along this line! This whole area, at the edge of the Mississippi floodplain, was developed by a handful of railroads over 100 years ago, and so its a fascinating place to explore. We agree that a new Amtrak line through Dubuque would be a welcome route, giving travelers another option through the Midwest.
As TH-cam constraints on the video description size would not enable us to add all credits for images, music, and SFX to the description, the IMAGE CREDITS for this video are found below: - www.loc.gov - 1939 Illinois Aerial Photos, clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu - Bob Bell - idnc.library.illinois.edu (Galena Daily Gazette, Galena Tribune) - David Fiore, “The Chicago Great Western Railway” - Galena Historical Society - Terry Miller - Elizabeth Historical Society - John W Barriger Collection, www.flickr.com - Rowan Locomotive Works - The Dome O’ Foam, wx4.org, (Jon Habegger Collection, Englewood Collection) - Plat Map Collection, www.familysearch.org - US Geological Survey Maps - Mark Llanuza - Bing Image Creator - stokeps, www.ancestry.com - DALL-E - www.worthpoint.com - David Rumsey Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com - www.ebay.com - Art Institute of Chicago - Illinois Digital Archives, www.idaillinois.org - Chicago Great Western timetables - www.newspapers.com (Freeport Weekly Standard, The Daily Journal, Savanna Daily Journal, Freeport Journal Standard) - Northern Illinois Digital Collection, digital.lib.niu.edu - Rick Gieser - www.archive.org (Official Guide to Railway and Steam Navigation) - Frank Krey, “Limestone Resources of Illinois” - Arthur Trowbridge, Illinois State Geological Survey - Galena History Museum, www.galenahistory.org - Phil Green - Tom Danneman - Roger Bee
As a little boy in Dubuque ia, i grew up next to the CCW tracks.Watching the F units of the freight trains go by and always wondered where they were going to They would pass over to the Illinois Central bridge on its way to Chicago.I have enjoyed your videos and am looking forward to future videos.
Once again, your latest video has lived up to my expectations. I am glad that you mentioned the possible bridge South of Galena that would have changed things a lot, including the fact that the CGW would have bypassed Dubuque. Since it didn't happen, 1 big plus was the result that the route through Dubuque County is now a bike trail that has preserved the route. When you get to that point, I will be interested to see if my guesses where a couple of the depots were actually located were right. (Durango & Graf) I have to add that being 2nd generation Italian American, my 1st thought about the murder of Carmelo Albanese was possibly mafia related. Later when you related what Joe Castina said at the trial confirmed my suspicions. Sadly the history of Southern Italy & Sicily is marred by the actions of Mafia & the 'Ndrangheta in Calabrai where my family is from.
Thanks for the comment and the kind words! And thanks too for watching the video and the continued support! Yes, we found that alternative route to be very interesting. From everything we can gather, they actually examined at least three or four different routes to avoid - the Winston Tunnel, the IC Dubuque Bridge, and the IC/CNQ trackage - in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The cost was likely prohibitive in all cases. We are looking forward to the Rails to Trails path from Dubuque to Dyersville - that should be coming up soon. BTW, we noted that some of the literature says that you have to pay to use the trail. Where does one pay, we wondered? Regarding the Albanese murder - yes, that was fascinating. We know that Albanese was from Sicily, although we could not definitively track the Castinas (sometimes, Castianas) to Sicily - and so it's difficult to know the veracity of that part of the story. Earlier newspaper reports of the crime and confessions indicated that what triggered the murder and robbery was that Tony Castina did not have the money to pay his weekly room and board to the RR . Joseph and Tony were temporary RR laborers in or near Stockton, and presumably Tony had spent his wages - and so they went in search of a victim. And so the motives and backstory are somewhat murky. It would be interesting to see whether court records might reveal more about this case. Glad that you are enjoying the series - and thanks again for the support and thoughtful comments!
Thanks for commenting and the kind words! We have no formal plans for other railways as yet - but we typically don't plan things out that far. New topics are always presenting themselves. Right now, we are just focused on completing our Chicago Great Western journey, as that has turned out to be something of an epic adventure. But we are certainly open to additional railroads and routes once we've completed just ONE leg of the CGW. Thanks again!
We are hopeful that we didn't disappoint? It took a bit longer to get this video out - there was more to the story than we originally anticipated - and so took longer to research, write, and edit the video as a result.
The initial interchange with the CB&Q was mentioned to be at Aiken with a later change to Galena Junction. Looking at topo maps it appears that there is a 30 foot or so elevation difference between the two lines making it questionable if a direct connection is possible. Or am i missing something/
Thanks for the comment and the interesting question. The short answer is that they've regraded those terraces since that timeframe. And we'd put the grade difference at closer to 20' maximum, having walked it. The grade difference near Aiken is not large - but grows as you further north. The original junction was most definitely at Aiken, based on all of the historical maps and contemporary sources - but the original Aiken was located hundreds of feet further north, in what is today residential housing. It then got shifted to the south when the station area was rebuilt around 1900. There was extensive regrading done at that time as well, with large work camps of laborers. Closer to Galena Junction, the original grade descended down to Galena Junction from the CGW's upper terrace. You can see that in the older photographs, where the CGW line is at the same grade by the time it reaches the junction. Today, they've actually accentuated that terrace, increasing its elevation, presumably to keep a distance between the rail trail and the BNSF line below, as well as to connect it directly to the former IC ROW heading to Galena, which ascends northeast from the junction. But the short answer in both cases is that the topography has been regraded since that time. It would be interesting to spend some time to look for any signs of the original grading, if it exists - for example, where did the CGW line originally start descending to the lower terrace at Galena Junction? Or for signs of the original junction at Aiken, although that is today on private property.
Excellent detective work! Yes, it looks like you found it a few thousand feet northwest of the current location of Aiken - which is where it ought to be. Great work! And thanks for sharing that information!
Outstanding as usual, really enjoying this series , such detail
Well done !!
Thanks for watching and commenting! We appreciate the kind words and continuing support!
Been on the Galena trail 6 or 7 times and watched this video numerous times, enjoy the 93 seconds of music. As I listen and watch it makes me wonder how the locomotive engineers must have felt driving the trains. The music bears down as the locomotive would bear down to climb the grade then coast a little in the down grades. Very cool. You guys are very talented, thanks. Jim
Thanks very much for watching our videos! Glad that you are enjoying them! Music adds a great deal to the overall visual experience - and so we take some care in choosing music for each segment within our videos. Thanks for noticing and commenting! We appreciate it!
Found this series while doing research on BNSF’s Aurora Subdivision (the current CB&Q line), it’s been a great watch seeing the history behind this area. Didn’t even know the tunnel east of here existed until watching these videos! Definitely look forward to exploring this area more now knowing all of this.
Glad that you found our videos and this series! It has turned into something of an odyssey, treking across northern Illinois and northwest Iowa, reminding us how important this railroad once was to these communities. Thanks again!
I knew the Galena area has a lot of History, General Grant etc, but the railroad history is very interesting and you people present it so well! I'm going to watch the whole series!
Thanks for watching and glad that you find these videos informative and entertaining. One of the messages that we attempt to convey is that history (and prehistory) is all around us, sometimes right in our own backyard, and with a little researching and detective work, you can discover whole new worlds, characters, and events that shaped the landscape. And, yes, history is stranger than fiction too. :-) Again, thanks for watching and commenting. We appreciate it!
Great job! I’ve see a lot from the railroad side when on track but always wonder where these old connections came from and went to. Keep it up. You two are becoming the go to historians.
Thank you for the comment and for the support! And thanks too for the kind words. We are learning a great deal from the people and places that we encounter along the way. Thanks again!
You guys do an awesome job with this series, I’m really enjoying it, can’t wait to see the Iowa side!
Very glad that you are enjoying the series! Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, Iowa will bring its own set of stories. We are looking forward to it as well.
Terrific content beautifully presented as always. Once again, it became obvious the railroads were designed to compete against each other, not the highway system. Shame that some of this trackage wasn't saved as a tourist railway as it goes through some very beautiful and scenic areas. The C&NW wasted no time dismantling everything. Press on! I'm looking forward to all future episodes.
Thanks for the kind words and commenting! Very much appreciated! Yes, your observation is well considered. Too often, companies and industries cannot see the new technology that will completely upend their world until it's too late. Thanks again!
i have to say i have been on youtube it seems like forever and in all that time i have never .,.. repeat NEVER found a single channel where each and every one of the vids are home runs this guy deserves a Nobel !
Hi Brian, That's very kind of you to say! Thanks for watching our videos and for supporting our channel!
another great vid .. just what i needed today!!
Glad that it helped to make your day! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!
Thanks for another outstanding video!
Thank you for commenting and for the kind words! Thanks too for the continuing support of our channel!
Another Home Run! THANK YOU for memorializing the history of the C&GW! Excellent research. You make it very interesting. Thank you again.
Thanks for the kind words and for watching the video! Very glad that you enjoyed it!
Wonderful series, your historical research is commendable. You are preserving the past by your video records. Thank you.
if you like that , do a search for Wes Barns Roundhouse or Surviving Roundhouses and Turntables
Thanks for watching the video and for the kind words! We find every community has its stories to tell. Some take some time to tease out - but they are there, waiting to be told. For example, we never expected to find such a dramatic murder story in Aiken of all places - but there it was.
@@BeHistoric do you plain on doing a Chicago Galena Union line vid?
Excellent, educational video on the CGW in NW IL. Even better if included articles scrolled top to bottom.
Thanks for watching the video and for commenting! Very much appreciated! The panning and movement of the camera angle depends on many things in the flow of the video. If we always pan top to bottom on newspaper articles, then the repetitive nature of this would become very tedious to watch. Our general intention is not for viewers to read through every article that we display on the screen, top to bottom, but to give a sense of the article, especially the gist of the story. We hope to encourage viewers to follow up with their own research - find the articles that we reference - or find additional newspaper articles - as they are an excellent contemporary source of information. However, your comment is duly noted - and we appreciate it! Thanks again!
I'm fairly familiar with the area, had know idea there was so much history, I travers the Galena river almost weekly in the summer from Bellevue, Ia. Always a scenic boat ride
Thanks for watching and commenting! Glad that you found it informative. Yes, there is a great deal of history in this area. Every corner turned, every few miles of trackway revealed something new. Thanks again!
Yesterday I walked from Aiken to Galena Jct. it is a very nice trail that I wouldn’t have know about without your video. Thank you! I learned that there was a lock on the river too.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! Very glad that you enjoyed the video and that it inspired you to walk that trail. It is a beautiful trail and it changes quite a bit with the seasons. Thank you again!
Story from Galena Jct I remember hearing about 25 30 years ago is either from CGW right before the merger or one of the last CNW peddler freight runs east out of Dubuque on the CGW before the slow eastward retreat of the CGW began but the train had stopped to to either drop,pick up or both on some interchange cars on the Galena Jct sidings. Train has pulled ahead and the brakeman had dropped off to get the switch but as he throws the switch he hears an angry buzzing noise. Seems a rattler had been sunning itself in the area of the points of the switch and had it's sunbathing interrupted by the switch being thrown and was now sticking it's head up between the points of the switch and expressing it's displeasure. Unfortunately for the rattler it's position put it in a situation to feck around and find out as not wanting have venomous reptile with anger issues in his workspace he simply closed and opened the switch a couple of times solving the rattler's personal issues permanently.
Thanks for sharing that story! We had heard something along those lines from other viewers - but not to that level of detail. We personally did not see any rattlers on our walks through Jo Daviess county - or through Dubuque county - although we are sure that they are out there - likely in smaller numbers than they once were. Thank you again!
Thank you for another splendid addition to your series on the "Disused Stations of the Chicago Great Western - Rice to Galena Junction". The historical information that you present in videos is amazing to listen to and see some of the remaining artifacts that still exist. That mine tailings truck to railcar loading structure that you showed us was interesting to see. The murder (assassination) of Carmelo Albanese was fascinating to learn about. The negotiations between the Illinois Central, Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Chicago Great Western to allow the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago Great Western to obtain trackage rights on the Illinois Central to access East Dubuque, Illinois to use the Illinois Central's Mississippi River bridge to cross into Dubuque, Iowa was interesting to learn about. Also, Chicago Great Western's attempt to build their own line rather than use trackage rights was of interest. I looked at my copy of "Chicago Great Western, Depots Along the Corn Belt Route" does not have any photos of either the Rice or Aiken depots. On Page 23 the information for both the Rice and Aiken Depots indicates that both depots were one story 12-foot by 12-foot towers. On Page 81 it states that the Aiken, Illinois depot may be a one-story tower. A 1900 timetable shows F. W. Shockell as the agent. A 1909 timetable and a 1916 magazine article list C. E. Markham as the agent. On Page 86 CGW bought a 4-wheel baggage cart so that they did not have to use the CB&Q's baggage cart. On Page 91 not much is mentioned about the Rice, Illinois depot. There is a mention that there is some information on the Rice depot on Page 22 of the Spring 2001 issue of North Western Lines.
Thank you very much for the thoughtful and informative comment! And thanks too for the continued support of our channel! We are very glad that you found it informative. Your additional information is most interesting. The description of the Aiken depot as being a 12' by 12' tower is very interesting. We are guessing it was wood, though - based on the cost estimates of the building - and that it burned to the ground. And so perhaps it was a 12' by 12' wood tower, perhaps five feet off the ground, akin to Rice. On the other hand, the Aiken depot seemed to have gone through multiple incarnations in its lifetime. And so there were likely three or four different depot buildings, including the small wooden shanty, which served as a freight office during its latter years. We will have to see whether we can find a copy of the Spring 2001 issue of the North Western lines periodical. We also know that some people have found remains of a roundhouse back in the scrub and forest of some of the private property in that area - so that would also be very interesting. We have an idea of where that might be - but we did not discuss that in the video. Thanks again!
These are really great videos, very interesting!
Very glad that you find our videos of interest! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks for another excellent video! I walk the Galena river trail often, and I’ve always wondered about the junction, and the spur running into downtown galena. Was hoping to see some coverage of that Galena spur. Cant wait for the next video in the series; thanks for your exhaustive research and interest in this history.
Glad that you enjoyed the video and that if provided some information. Thanks for watching and commenting! We debated about adding in more about the Galena Spur - but we felt the video to be getting too long and that topic was more related to the Chicago Burlington and Quincy line - which is a whole different story. :-) Perhaps in future videos we'll cover this spur as well as the a few of the other Galena railroads more thoroughly. Thanks again!
It didn’t disappoint! Can’t wait for the next one
Thanks for the support, for watching and for commenting! Hope we do no disappoint.
Excellent work, looking forward to viewing the entire series!
Thank you for watching and commenting! Glad that you found this video informative and hope that you find the remainder of the series equally so!
Another professional and informative video on the Chicago Great Western!
Thanks very much for commenting and for watching the video! Very glad that you found it informative!
Notice at 35:13 the hours of train time. Number 12 at 3am! Not popular times for travel, but great for the morning delivery of mail and express packages. Way before any morning plane would get there if there was air service. Except Sunday. That is the board for the Illinois Central HAWKEYE. I rode that once before it was taken off. It served major Iowa Cities of Waterloo, Fort Dodge, and Sioux City. From Chicago
Excellent observation! Thanks for point that out! And thanks too for watching our videos and commenting!
34:55 the mail and express train with no more mail and express! Wish I could have seen your videos before I rode through here on the Blackhawk . i did also ride the Hawkeye and overnight IC train before the end , but this area was a night when most of the mail and express traveled. Loss of it's mail and express was the end of that too. I hope I can ride past here again on a new Amtrak service to Dubuque and west someday.
Thanks for the observation and thanks too for sharing your experiences along this line! This whole area, at the edge of the Mississippi floodplain, was developed by a handful of railroads over 100 years ago, and so its a fascinating place to explore. We agree that a new Amtrak line through Dubuque would be a welcome route, giving travelers another option through the Midwest.
Thank you. Great work on the CGW. Do you ever think you will do the EJ&E?
Thanks for the kind words and the support! Yes, the EJ&E is on our list of possibles - but we still have a ways to go to get to Oelwein! :-)
As TH-cam constraints on the video description size would not enable us to add all credits for images, music, and SFX to the description, the IMAGE CREDITS for this video are found below:
- www.loc.gov
- 1939 Illinois Aerial Photos, clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu
- Bob Bell
- idnc.library.illinois.edu (Galena Daily Gazette, Galena Tribune)
- David Fiore, “The Chicago Great Western Railway”
- Galena Historical Society
- Terry Miller
- Elizabeth Historical Society
- John W Barriger Collection, www.flickr.com
- Rowan Locomotive Works
- The Dome O’ Foam, wx4.org, (Jon Habegger Collection, Englewood Collection)
- Plat Map Collection, www.familysearch.org
- US Geological Survey Maps
- Mark Llanuza
- Bing Image Creator
- stokeps, www.ancestry.com
- DALL-E
- www.worthpoint.com
- David Rumsey Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com
- www.ebay.com
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Illinois Digital Archives, www.idaillinois.org
- Chicago Great Western timetables
- www.newspapers.com (Freeport Weekly Standard, The Daily Journal, Savanna Daily Journal, Freeport Journal Standard)
- Northern Illinois Digital Collection, digital.lib.niu.edu
- Rick Gieser
- www.archive.org (Official Guide to Railway and Steam Navigation)
- Frank Krey, “Limestone Resources of Illinois”
- Arthur Trowbridge, Illinois State Geological Survey
- Galena History Museum, www.galenahistory.org
- Phil Green
- Tom Danneman
- Roger Bee
As a little boy in Dubuque ia, i grew up next to the CCW tracks.Watching the F units of the freight trains go by and always wondered where they were going to They would pass over to the Illinois Central bridge on its way to Chicago.I have enjoyed your videos and am looking forward to future videos.
Once again, your latest video has lived up to my expectations. I am glad that you mentioned the possible bridge South of Galena that would have changed things a lot, including the fact that the CGW would have bypassed Dubuque. Since it didn't happen, 1 big plus was the result that the route through Dubuque County is now a bike trail that has preserved the route. When you get to that point, I will be interested to see if my guesses where a couple of the depots were actually located were right. (Durango & Graf)
I have to add that being 2nd generation Italian American, my 1st thought about the murder of Carmelo Albanese was possibly mafia related. Later when you related what Joe Castina said at the trial confirmed my suspicions. Sadly the history of Southern Italy & Sicily is marred by the actions of Mafia & the 'Ndrangheta in Calabrai where my family is from.
Thanks for the comment and the kind words! And thanks too for watching the video and the continued support! Yes, we found that alternative route to be very interesting. From everything we can gather, they actually examined at least three or four different routes to avoid - the Winston Tunnel, the IC Dubuque Bridge, and the IC/CNQ trackage - in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The cost was likely prohibitive in all cases.
We are looking forward to the Rails to Trails path from Dubuque to Dyersville - that should be coming up soon. BTW, we noted that some of the literature says that you have to pay to use the trail. Where does one pay, we wondered?
Regarding the Albanese murder - yes, that was fascinating. We know that Albanese was from Sicily, although we could not definitively track the Castinas (sometimes, Castianas) to Sicily - and so it's difficult to know the veracity of that part of the story. Earlier newspaper reports of the crime and confessions indicated that what triggered the murder and robbery was that Tony Castina did not have the money to pay his weekly room and board to the RR . Joseph and Tony were temporary RR laborers in or near Stockton, and presumably Tony had spent his wages - and so they went in search of a victim. And so the motives and backstory are somewhat murky. It would be interesting to see whether court records might reveal more about this case.
Glad that you are enjoying the series - and thanks again for the support and thoughtful comments!
This is such a great series. Do you have plans to cover any other routes in northern Illinois like you've done with the CGW and the CA&E?
Thanks for commenting and the kind words! We have no formal plans for other railways as yet - but we typically don't plan things out that far. New topics are always presenting themselves. Right now, we are just focused on completing our Chicago Great Western journey, as that has turned out to be something of an epic adventure. But we are certainly open to additional railroads and routes once we've completed just ONE leg of the CGW. Thanks again!
I’ve been waiting for this
We are hopeful that we didn't disappoint? It took a bit longer to get this video out - there was more to the story than we originally anticipated - and so took longer to research, write, and edit the video as a result.
When are you going to get to Olewein? Looks very interesting.
Thanks for commenting and watching! We hope to make it there within the next few months. Hopefully, it will before the cold sets in!
The initial interchange with the CB&Q was mentioned to be at Aiken with a later change to Galena Junction. Looking at topo maps it appears that there is a 30 foot or so elevation difference between the two lines making it questionable if a direct connection is possible. Or am i missing something/
Thanks for the comment and the interesting question. The short answer is that they've regraded those terraces since that timeframe. And we'd put the grade difference at closer to 20' maximum, having walked it. The grade difference near Aiken is not large - but grows as you further north. The original junction was most definitely at Aiken, based on all of the historical maps and contemporary sources - but the original Aiken was located hundreds of feet further north, in what is today residential housing. It then got shifted to the south when the station area was rebuilt around 1900. There was extensive regrading done at that time as well, with large work camps of laborers. Closer to Galena Junction, the original grade descended down to Galena Junction from the CGW's upper terrace. You can see that in the older photographs, where the CGW line is at the same grade by the time it reaches the junction. Today, they've actually accentuated that terrace, increasing its elevation, presumably to keep a distance between the rail trail and the BNSF line below, as well as to connect it directly to the former IC ROW heading to Galena, which ascends northeast from the junction. But the short answer in both cases is that the topography has been regraded since that time. It would be interesting to spend some time to look for any signs of the original grading, if it exists - for example, where did the CGW line originally start descending to the lower terrace at Galena Junction? Or for signs of the original junction at Aiken, although that is today on private property.
#jonlevichannel these guys are great even though they believe the accepted horse and buddy narrative ❤
Thanks for watching our videos and thanks for the comment!
OH OH i think i found the Atkin Turntable thank you ILLINOIS CLEARINGHOUSE LIDAR data .. il send email
Excellent detective work! Yes, it looks like you found it a few thousand feet northwest of the current location of Aiken - which is where it ought to be. Great work! And thanks for sharing that information!