Wabsh/Illinois Central Crossing, Lotus, Illinois
Before and after views of one of the more obscure railroad crossings in the state of Illinois. The former Wabash's Chicago to Bement line crossed an Illinois Central branch that ran east-west between Leroy and Potomac.
The first photo was taken 12/31/80, and at the time the Wabash was under N&W ownership and the IC was under the ICG flag. The ICG had just started pulling up this line in the preceding weeks, but the diamond here had yet to be pulled. The view is looking northeast, with the N&W running from upper left to lower right. I took this photo from the tower foundation, You can see that some of the pipeline is still in place in the lower part of the photo. Diagonally opposite the diamond is the foundation for the depot, that still survives to this day, now on private property about a block to the north.
The lower photo was taken 3/15/24 and virtually no trace of the Illinois Central remains. The N&W in this section between Gibson City and Bement is now owned by the Norfolk Southern. Once again, I took the after photo from the remains of the tower foundation. Much of the pipeline and pipeline carriers are still scattered about in the weeds.
Wabsh/Illinois Central Crossing, Lotus, Illinois
Before and after views of one of the more obscure railroad crossings in the state of Illinois. The former Wabash's Chicago to Bement line crossed an Illinois Central branch that ran east-west between Leroy and Potomac.
The first photo was taken 12/31/80, and at the time the Wabash was under N&W ownership and the IC was under the ICG flag. The ICG had just started pulling up this line in the preceding weeks, but the diamond here had yet to be pulled. The view is looking northeast, with the N&W running from upper left to lower right. I took this photo from the tower foundation, You can see that some of the pipeline is still in place in the lower part of the photo. Diagonally opposite the diamond is the foundation for the depot, that still survives to this day, now on private property about a block to the north.
The lower photo was taken 3/15/24 and virtually no trace of the Illinois Central remains. The N&W in this section between Gibson City and Bement is now owned by the Norfolk Southern. Once again, I took the after photo from the remains of the tower foundation. Much of the pipeline and pipeline carriers are still scattered about in the weeds.