KJRY this afternoon at Rawalts





While I was out heard KJRY pulling through Canton so I go travel along side the tracks and then headed off to an old Train stop of Rawalts about a mile east of Canton.  It was a train stop with a depot founded by Jonas Rawalts in the 1800's and was a stop for the TP&W Railroad.  It never materialized into anything other than a train stop and a few house and maybe a store back back then. Today a side track the mainline and a few houses plus an old structure that could have been an old depot here or something related is here on a dirt road east of Canton. Enough  with the small history lesson I go park off the dirt road next to the tracks where i came here during the Santa Train event  last year in around the same spot. Naturally it would have to rain a little which was fine was wanting to test out camera in that type of conditions anyway.

 KJRY was lead by the f unit #1752, B unit #1761 and then my girl  the other f unit #1750.  The GP20 was no where in sight.  I'm not sure if it's at Kolbe or out at La Harpe.  They pass by.   I gave the engineer a wave and vise versa and the conductor down the tracks throws a switch so he backs the train backwards onto the siding.  They pick up some cars.  While they were doing that and slowly backing into the siding  not far from the conductor I see a Raccoon bolt under the moving train acrossed the tracks only to be spooked then high tail it back under the train onto the other side. Need not worry he made it and lived to see another day to scavenge and dig through peoples garbage cans. I left not too long after.  The train pulled back and  went backwards again then stopped.  I left as i was getting cold but I figured they were going to leave soon.  They  probably got back to Kolbe around five pm if not before.  Since it was so late in the day coming back from the West I imagine they'll do their Peoria area business tommorrow morning maybe.  So if anyone is interested in it tommorrow morning would probably be a good time to check out Kolbe.  I'm just guessing there.  The last few times caught them  going towards Peoria it's been between nine and ten in the morning or so.

Comments

  1. David P. JordanMarch 21, 2017 at 7:21 PM

    An undertrack pit under Rawalts Siding was used to unload dry fertilizer into the early 1980s. In the late 1990s, hoppers loaded with limestone were spotted there for Pshirrer Asphalt Co.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Traingirl36March 21, 2017 at 7:27 PM

    I didn't know that. So I take it that was what that white structure was for? I always thought it was an old depot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David P. JordanMarch 21, 2017 at 8:39 PM

      That building probably had a railroad-related purpose.

      Delete

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