Rockford to Delmar

The Gary Line

Point of Interest

(Forwarded from the Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary Railroad)

The Illinois, Iowa & Minnesota Railway was created in 1904 and built a line north from a connection with the Milwaukee Road at Delmar that ended at East Joliet. In 1905, a second line was built from Aurora to Rockford. The construction of this line sparked a protest among residents in Rockford because of increased railroad tariffs imposed to support it; at the time, there was already more than one railroad operating between Rockford and Chicago, and the residents felt yet another railroad line was unnecessary.

The two lines of the II&M were separated between East Joliet and Aurora, so trackage rights were sought between these two points on the EJ&E, thus giving the II&M a whole route that ran in a generally northwest-southeast direction. In 1908, the II&M was renamed the Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary Railway (which is a misnomer, since the railroad never actually visited any of its namesake towns). The CM&G was leased to the Milwaukee Road in 1922, who purchased the entire railroad outright in May of 1930, and subsequently abandoned the northern-most section of track between Rockford and Kirkland. While under Milwaukee Road, the line was primarily used to transfer coal from the mines of central & southern Indiana to the Milwaukee Road mainline for powering steam locomotives, etc.

The line between Dekalb and Aurora was abandoned by the Milwaukee Road in 1947, effectively splitting the former CM&G line in two. The southern section was still accessible through extended trackage rights on the EJ&E, but was abandoned entirely on July 17, 1978; by this time, it was used seldom and for local way freight only, with light interchange with the EJ&E. The final existing segment of the former CM&G, between Kirkland and Dekalb, was abandoned on April 15, 1980, essentially removing the last physical manifestation of the Gary Line.

A crude time line of the route is shown below, running from north to south.

                      EJ&E Trackage Rights--> |-------------|
     Rockford --- Kirkland ---- Dekalb ---- Aurora xxxxxxxx East Joliet --- Delmar
===================================================================================
1904                                                        |----- Built -----|
1905    |---------- Built --------------------|
1908    |-------- Renamed to Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary Railroad --------------|
1922    |--------------- Leased by Milwaukee Road ----------------------------|
1930    |--abandoned--|------- Purchased by Milwaukee Road -------------------|
1947                              |-abandoned-|
1978                                                        |-- abandoned ----|
1980                  |-abandoned-|

Little evidence is left of this railroad line today. In Rockford, the original concrete slabs that supported the line over the Rock River are still visible in the water. Topographical maps suggest that Belt Line Road between the river and Route 251 may be sitting atop the abandoned railbed in the southern part of the city.

Thanks to Peter Zimmerman and Mark Atkinson for contributing information about this route.

Supports for the CA&D RR bridges over Blackberry Creek are quite visible from the pedestrian bridge that crosses the creek. There seem to be to distinct sets of supports, so apparently there were two bridges used during the railroad's lifespan.

Bob Dillon
Aurora, IL
1/1/2009

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Sorry, I meant to say supports for the CM&G, not CA&D.

Bob Dillon
Aurora
1/2/2009

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hwy 72 the s curves over the milwaukee road between kirkland & fairdale used to be right of way for cm&g

gary w
fairdale, IL
1/25/2009

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There are traces of this grade behind Anderson Packaging Inc, located on New Milford School Road just a couple hundred yards East of Illinois Railnet Path (Former Burlington Route)

The concrete slabs are over the Kishwaukee River, not the Rock River as mentioned above.

The line ran along Beltline road and traces of the grade are still visible on the East side of 251.

More traces are visible areas heading toward Kirkland

Mark Atkinson
South Beloit
6/25/2009

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Just to note, the slabs mentioned above are over the Kishwuakee River, not the Rock River.

Mark Atkinson
South Beloit, IL
1/1/2010

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A small portion of the GM&G exists as an industrial spur track in Manhattan, IL. About 1/2 mile of track remains in service. It is served still in 2010 a few days a week by the NS. The former right-of-way going northwest from Manhattan and most of the spur track south from Manhattan to the Joliet Arsenal are now a bike trail.

Andy
Elgin
3/10/2010

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in dekalb il... along rt. 23 there remains a 1/4 mile of main line for the cm&g. light 90lbs rail at best! it is no longer used and is owned by general electric. i'm sorry my cap locks is broken.

does anybody have info on the ca&d trolly??? aside from photos in kaneville and strechs of road bed in maple park il and bliss woods?

trolley fan
wheaton, IL
3/15/2010

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correction on my part for you folks. it's rt. 23 by pass a.k.a. "peace road" and it is owned by general electric, but not used in the last 20 years. when the milwakee aboned the dekalb to aurora line the cnw bought the 1/4 mile section to serve g.e.

it's no longer conected to the cnw (now u.p.) but still lies in the mud and trees. go to the other side of i88 s.e. from there and on the other side of the garbage dup one can see where the cm&g climbed a step grade and cut into a farmers field to get over a hill. really neat if your in dekalb/cortland.

trolley fan
wheaton, IL
3/15/2010

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No, it's not under the tollway. The ROW is still visible in places between Aurora and Dekalb. It is relatively visible in Troxel, and a few years ago someone had the station sign board on their outbuilding in Troxel. Where's Troxel, you ask? Well, it's not shown on the linked map, but if you follow County Line Rd. south of the interstate, it makes a strange diagonal jog just north of Main Street Rd; the jog is at Troxel and the jog is either on or adjacent to the location of the track.

Further southeast, the line crossed Dauberman Rd. just south of Kaneville, almost where Lasher Rd. crosses Dauberman. The former roadbed is completely plowed under, but in the spring is visible as a strip of lighter colored soil (from the gravel in the roadbed) running diagonally across the fields. There is a power line ROW here that seems to follow the old track.

The grade is actually intact on the campus of Waubonsee Junior Colledge on the east side of IL 47. Going north on 47, it can be seen running side-hill along the north bank of a small pond. It's easiest to see in winter when the leaves are down and there is snow on the ground.

About two miles further SE the grade becomes a bike path through the Bliss Woods Forest Preserve, the bike path veers of where it crosses Bliss Rd. and May Rd. is on the grade, which runs through a very identifiable cut.

East of the end of May road the land has been mined for gravel since the RR abandoned, but at IL 56 the bike path goes back onto the RR grade, and runs all the way into Aurora as the Virgil Gilman Nature Trail. It's shown on the linked map, but not labeled. The RR grade picks up again right where the "56" marker is on the map just NE of the cloverleaf with Galena Blvd. This paved train runs eastward until it becomes parallel with the CB&Q, then leaves you on the surface streets. However, east of there the trail begins again and runs through the former subway under the CB&Q, the over a bridge over the Fox River. From the map, it appears to continue east, but I've never followed it.

It used to be visible again where it crossed US34 south of Aurora, just east of where 34 and 30 intersect, but rebuilding this junction a few years ago obliterated the grade. The track then ran along the north side of US 30 on it's way to join the J.

Now, if you want a REALLY hard ROW to find, try the Chicago Aurora & Dekalb electric line. There is a picture of an identifiable location where the line was in Harter Rd. in Kaneville, but that's all I've ever found.

Dennis Storzek
Big Rock, IL
6/12/2010

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Isn't part of this line through DeKalb now a bike trail, running down near the old mattress factory on the east side?

Also, if you go to this site, http://photoman475.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=55254, I've posted two photos I've labeled as an MILW freight station in DeKalb. Is this correct? The buildings are long gone, but the ROW was part of the bike trail.

Alan Fricker
Fargo, ND
8/20/2010

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Well, I never said anything about there being an overpass for the gary line under I88 or rt23, but next to GE on the north side of the UP tracks close to the old coal tower... there remains track from this railroad intack.

As for the little known CA&D line... I found and maped the entire line. I photographed two bridge remains, some track, road bed and even a few insulaters. I'm in the process of writing a short piece for this line. It will be out soon via internet. As for the few photos of this trolley line already online...I have ones I took from the exact same places. 1920 to 2010. There are many remains of both the CA&D and the Gary R.R.

Trolley fan
Wheaton, IL
10/5/2010

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By the way, the Gary line never went through the property now owned by the college east of rt. 47

AS for the concret bridge abutment on the east bank of blackberry creek...that belong to the CA&D not the Gary line. Crossing rt. 47 the Gary line went threw whats now that chruch parking lot. The Bulington had a line which can sorta be seen to this day parallel to rt.47 east side as a cattle siding.

Look up land survey maps circa 1920!

Trolley fan
Wheaton, IL
10/5/2010

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To: Trolley fan

I'm not sure if you and I are talking about the same concrete bridge abutment or not. I was talking about the one south of Galena Boulevard just east of Blackberry Village, east of Barnes Road. That one was definitely the CM&G. If you use the satellite view of google.maps, you will notice that just after crossing route 56 westbound, the Virgil Gilman Trail makes a jog to the north and crosses Blackberry Creek. It then joins the CA&D ROW from there to Bliss Woods (more or less; I don't think the original ROW had as many curves, but I think part of the CA&D ROW is now on private property). However the Gilman Trail does follow the CM&G east of route 56. CA&D remained north of the creek as far as I can tell, at least past Bliss Woods, CM&G crossed by Blackberry Village (from east to west since the creek goes north and south there), and then stayed south of the creek from then on.

Bob Dillon
Aurora, IL
1/5/2011

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To the east of Terry Ave, just north of Jericho Rd and the C&I mainline there are still tracks which used to be a yard for the CMG and I believe were used for a short time by the EJE. the area mentioned is about 200 yards east of Terry Ave.

Tom Whitt
Plano, IL
1/23/2011

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Sites visible near Rockford: concrete supports can be seen in the kiswaukee river in New Milford. roadbed used to be seen along south side of belt line road near airport in Rockford. roadbed and concrete supports can be seen in farm field off of Irene road in Dekalb county. roadbed used to be visible (now quarry entrance) crossing Kilbuck road at baxter road near Rockford

Jim
Dekalb County, IL
3/5/2011

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Another interesting little tidbit: Along the current bike path, just south of Joliet, if you look closely in the trees to the east of the line, you can find telegraph poles and even an old YARD LIMIT sign.

Josh Reynolds
Downers Grove
10/23/2011

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there's a neat old overgrown grade crossing in dekalb behind the Old World Millworks factory. There's even some old track still on the ground and overgrown with weeds. I believe this is where the CA&D crossed the Sycamore & Dekalb trolley. I could be wrong though. Anybody know what this crossing is?

Trader Joe
Geneso, IL
5/16/2012

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Shortened Link: http://arotus.co/23b
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