Rare and one of the last trains of the BNSF Yates City Subdivision
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This morning a friend gave me a heads up of a very rare move on the BNSF Yates City Subdivision. He informed me two BNSF units had the permission to head up the Yates City Subdivision to retrieve Baretable cars that had been sitting up by Saint David for months. I go check out Saint David first and take a few shots of cars they will take.
St. David:
A brief history on the line goes back to the 1860's when C.B.&Q built the line from Buda down to Rushville. It once provided passenger trains in the steam era, and freight of various kind. By 1980 and the 80's abandonments occurred from Buda to Elmwood and the Rushville branch. The only thing remaining was the Yates City Subdivision from Yates City to Vermont, Illinois. By 2017 track was abandoned and pulled up from Canton to south of Yates City. The only thing left active and intact was from Dunfermline to Vermont where coal trains went to the Duck Creek Power Plant. The power plant closed down in 2019 and the line has been inactive since other than storeage. Today BNSF sent two units to pull any cars stored and this could be the last or one of the last trains on this line. If BNSF will use the sub for further storeage is yet to be known. Either way probably provided a shock to locals that witnessed it.
I sat and waited for the two units on the north edge of Lewistown:
Then waited at Bryant:
St. David:
Locomotives couple to string of baretable cars and connect with the rest at a crossing cut. An hour or so later they depart towards Vermont.
Bryant:
Lewistown:
Ipava:
Vermont, Illinois:
Chase video and full train filmed at Bryant:
The train then pulled on a siding and switched power to the other end of train and headed north probably Galesburg bound.
Vermont:
Also took pictures of what remains of the CB&Q/BN Rushville branch which was abandoned in 1980 or around there. BNSF uses it to store track equipment and years back had a gondola shoved back there.
Vermont:
According to the friend who gave me the heads up that this old structure used to be the water tower for the steam engines. So this is a former CB&Q water tower for the Steam locomotives.
Coal train from several years ago I filmed at St. David:
I have had interest in local coal mines ever since starting genealogy around 1999 and 2000. Well that's when it started because I would often read about little mines or see names of relatives that worked here and there at mines not including my Dad or great Uncle (by marriage who was a coal miner). I have seen listed a mine that has intrigued me but have yet to find much about it other than it was a brief mine in the mid to late 1930's by the name Billings & May. I have found the Billing's name of Arthur Billings but have no luck with the May. Since I have linked every May in this county and is buried here but two as all related it was no doubt a relative of some sort but whom I have yet to find. Anyways that mine was down by Saint David and not the mine I'm going to discuss. A small town north of Canton off route 78 sits a small town of Norris which is situated on the former CB&Q/BN/BNSF railroad tracks which are now long gone since 2017 ...
Ghost towns are abandoned villages that since disappeared or are no longer the population they were in their hey day after an economic down fall, disaster or whatever. For me I consider a ghost town a town that no longer exists but may or may not leave traces behind of it's existence. Fulton County has a lot of old historical towns like Canton which was founded in 1825 and Lewistown which was founded years before Canton. These towns are example of towns that managed to make it despite economic disasters and natural ones. Former towns which have signs marking their location like Civer between Canton and Cuba and Tuscumbia around Bernadotte are examples of towns that didn't make it and ceased to exist and into oblivion of history. The only thing that is exists is those two signs that mark the location. It's sad in a way but it is what it is and people who lived in these areas did what they had to for survival of the time period so if they moved to other...
In a previous post I mentioned this and stated it needed it's own thread which it does because it did have quite a good amount of history for a railway that lasted as it's own for twenty five years before another railroad purchased and turned it into standard gauge for the remaining twenty five years before abandonment. Today little remains of the actual Narrow gauge itself other than a museum and a few items there. The rails from the line has long been removed and much of the right of way is grown over or plowed up. If you know where to look the right of way can still be found in places. I know on the Spoon River drive every october the museum is a good source to find information as well as see old pictures of this once promising railroad as well as a book you can purchase about this railroad. I came to know more about it by purchasing this book here at one of the drives years ago. The book is "History of the Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway,...
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