The Milwaukee Road Railroad Documentary/ Mendota IL and Vicinity

Because of the historical significance of this video I assembled years ago I felt it is imperative to share it due to recent health concerns. This video would not be possible without the many contributors listed at the start of the video. I thank them so much!

[@Jleed989]

Watching a railroad slowly deteriorate is like watching an old friend die. I saw the same with the Ann Arbor Grand Trunk Western, and Chesapeake and Ohio in rural Michigan

[@anthonyhunt701]

Love your accompanyment🎸❤️👍🏻

[@alanstrong55]

A good railroad that died too soon.

[@tudwortyjmcguern5689]

it didnt die of natural causes. it eas murdered by the gument helped by the big nothing rr

[@brianburns7211]

Nice documentary! I thought that area was interesting. Back in the 1990s I worked for BN going through Mendota, Rochelle, and even Davis Jct.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!

[@leslieadkins5774]

The accompanying music is hypnotic and so appropriate to the subject, an elegy to the past.

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad you found the music a good match to the content! Thank you!

[@harrisonross4009]

I grew up next to the frisco railroad in southwestern oklahoma. I myself think back and if I knew it too would forever disappear in 1980 I would have took many a picture as I spent most of my time watching those freight trains go buy . I sure miss all the fallen flags . Great video sir greatly enjoyed it

[@matthewholzner9526]

Hi Ray - bravo on this amazing video. I can't tell you how much I loved it - a great historical document. I especially loved so many old photos of Mendota I hadn't seen before. What year was the photo taken at 25:36? I couldn't see the viaduct and I'm wondering when that was built. I always assumed it had been dug when the first tracks were laid. Also, thanks for recognizing my Grandpa. He'd have loved to see this. Hope you are well! Many fond memories working on the museum and that layout with you!

[@RayTutajjr]

Hi Matt! Great to hear from you. The image you mentioned was taken aroun 68. Also, the viaduct is in there but hard to see. Not sure when it was put in. Glad you liked the video. I miss your grandma and grandpa. Hope you are doing well, I am better. Still writing music. Thank you so much for writing!!

[@davidladzinski3939]

Thanks Ray. Great job again. I'm always checking your postings for pictures to help me reconstruct my model of interchange at LaSalle between the I.C., Rock Island, and CB&Q. I usually want to mute the music on train videos but yours works so well. So many old memories woke up with this video; Orange and black Milwaukee engines in the cornfields south of Mendota, Illinois Central crossing Rt 52 west of Troy Grove, a small interchange yard west of the Plank road north of Peru, hunting the Milwaukee tracks in Dimmick, a small trestle between Plank Rd and Ladd, Seatonville trestle, the little North/South yard in Depue, the dying Milwaukee along Rt 71, Standard to Cedar Point, the grass covered grade through Oglesby. I never knew why they called it the three I bridge till now. That line is still well maintained south of McNabb. I used to work for the Ferrettis. Didnt know you lived over there by the IC in LaSalle. I was caught by a train on the IC "mile" bridge over the Illinois a couple times. Did you ever walk the spur down to Alpha Cement in LaSalle? There was a trestle over the Little Vermillion and into the back of the plant. Great memories, thanks again. David Ladzinski Seattle, WA

[@RayTutajjr]

Thanks , David! Yes idid walk the spur down to the Alpha but was not even ten yrs old yet. Also the Q bridge right over the canal at LaSalle. Been in the IC engine house at LaSalle and so many more memories. Glad u liked the video and music i put to it.

[@pennysmovingart5478]

Wow what a great documentary! Very interesting!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank ou Penny. Did this about 8 rs ago. Glad u liked it!

[@fredbazzoli5199]

Loved this...I worked at the Mendota Reporter from 1975 to 1978, so this brought back many memories. A really well-done research initiative, done with a lot of your personal creative touch. Much appreciated!

[@RayTutajjr]

Hi Fred. thank you very much!

[@bastu4351]

Great Work Ray! I miss the old town and especially the memories of my childhood along the IC, RI and the LS&BC. Thanks for the trip back home! Brian

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you, Brian! I share your sentiment. I too have thse memories of seeing my first Rock Island Rocket, and IC in the yard at La Salle. I sat on this video for a long time and onlly put it together for a LSBC meet. But I figured if I don't post it then it will be lost. I hope lots of people get to see it.

[@tomhorn1876]

Thank you for this...

[@rjdio3750]

This is brilliant work. I think many of us share your concluding comments that, having grown up around a fallen flag railroad in the 1970s, we wish we had known to take more photos and document the operations before they were gone. I had a similar experience as you, growing up a block from the Milwaukee Road in Des Moines. Thanks so much for posting, and best wishes for your health.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!

[@999pr1]

My high school was on US 6, between Peru and Spring Valley, had classmates from Ladd and several of the other towns mentioned. The Rock Island and Burlington ran through the back of our campus, and we played Mendota in both football and basketball. I remember seeing IC trains in Lasalle and Oglesby, MILW in Mendota, and L&BC just north of Peru. Wasn't there a MILW line that ran down through Dalzell and into the east side of Spring Valley? And wasn't there also a CNW line in the area? It's been a long time since I graduated but still get back to the area and have seen the decline of the railroads (and the industry) around there-pretty sad. As freshmen we often had hikes to Dalzell or Spring VAlley to climb the slag piles on Sunday afternoons. It was a boarding school and the exercise was mandatory. Now it seems all the slag piles are gone and almost no trace of the mining and refining industries is left. Depue was a town where the name matched the environment, there was a large refuse pile that smoked and glowed at night and smelled bad. Believe it was part of the zinc operation there. Ladd used to have many railroads and small businesses, now it is a shadow of it's former self. Excellent video, I will have to watch it again and study Google earth to see what remains.

[@robchit1]

There was the CNW line going through Seatonville but you can't even tell it was ever there today!

[@freddykagin]

Thank you very much for sharing all of what you know 😊. It a real blessing to me 😊

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Freddie, those are words that inspire me!

[@ConsolidatedPBY]

I’ve watched millions of train videos, this is one of the best!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it.

[@fordsix-oh]

Excellent job Ray.!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!!

[@willwozniak2826]

Well done Ray! Love your videos!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thanks Will!

[@mitchwinder1204]

Fantastic job. I traveled through Mendota regularly as a kid with my parents. (Pre I-39) I remember seeing a lot of IC and a few MILW trains in town on our way through. (Late ‘60s & early ‘70s) My dad would usually make a swing through downtown for a few minutes of train watching. I remember ducking underneath the IC north of town and heading home towards the Rockford area. We would ultimately lose our own MILW line through my hometown of Durand, IL in the same era. By then I had left and was out on my own as a young adult. So I wasn’t around to capture it. Amazing the grasp that railroads can have on us. Thanks for posting this.

[@RayTutajjr]

You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@danielscafaro320]

Nicely done Ray, I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago near the C&NW Proviso yards, and your detailed video brought back memories of days spent watching trains by the tracks…thanks!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Daniel for your comment. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@MarkNieting]

One of the best videos I’ve seen in ages! I once modeled the line from Ladd to Mark in HO and have been atop the mine dump in Cherry, only to get quickly chased off. I would hope the Milwaukee Road Historical Association would love to have this to make available to its members. I was near tears by the end! Thank you for doing it!,

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!!

[@thomaswood6118]

Best film made by person obviously a real tailfan. Hope all the people depicted from previously now in eternity with Jesus

[@pinball1968]

Such a great video! Excellent editing!

[@RayTutajjr]

I appreciate that!!

[@timetable5245]

Great presentation and thank you. The era of the 70's was economic fertile ground for the catastophe of abandonment and liquidation of both the Milwaukee Road and the Rock Island railroads. Had these railraods survived into the 90's and the era of transcontinental double-stack container trains as global trade invaded the U.S. economy, perhaps our country would have appreciated the importance of these railroads and preserved the right-of-way. The depots, cabooses and four man train crews would be gone today, but the railroads may have remained intact, producing revenue and keeping their company names.

[@RayTutajjr]

you are welcome

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

Must be in Illinois. Several of those town names are also in Minnesota. Mendota Minnesota is in the south twin cities metro and it had several RR lines going through it.

[@erbewayne6868]

Yes including the Milwaukee.

[@historicaerialsonvideo]

WOW! Perfect compilation & timing of images, maps & narration. Thank you from this transplanted Dixon, IL to now- Ladd & LaSalle RR fan.

[@willwozniak2826]

Thanks Mark..

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad u liked it!

[@bradleyogden5688]

Very nice. That was a great time to be a kid. Thanks for doing this video. B. OGDEN Class of 1983.

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad u liked it!

[@craigshaw4809]

Thanks for the tribute. My mother grew up about a mile north of Mendota on what was Guiles Ave. Late summer when we visit my grandparents, my sister and I would catch fireflies and watch a Milwaukee train come south into town with the portholes a lit on the F’s. In college I’d visit once a month on NWI weekends Jim Stith, the IC Tower . Often I’d stop and use the northside Milwaukee phone booth to announce my arrival. I have a couple of the Armstrong lever numbers that Jim got for me. My grandfather, George Wilhelm, would’ve been 7 watching the Milwaukee built one field over. You probably went to school with my cousins perhaps. My great uncle, Ebe Stamberger, bought two of the three green benches outside the Amtrak depot.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, I knew Ebe Stamberger. I got a picture of him here somewhere driving an end loader truck on the museum grounds. He shared a few good stories with me and he even brought me to his house. As far as Milwaukee Road memories, gosh there are are so many. I remember looking out my bedroom window on a snowy night and seeing the snow fall illuminated by the headlights of the F7s locos.

[@mitchburk5112]

My wife grew up at 1900 Guiles Ave. Her brother still lives there. Her maiden name was Crowley.

[@craigshaw4809]

Mitch Burk I can ask my mom. They were the Wilhelm farm, my great uncle was a Stamberger. My cousin still owes the farmstead. I don’t know locals as well as my cousins would. The IC trains would vibrate the old farm house and you could hear the train horns from the Q delayed

[@GoodbyeKamala2024]

I'm in Ohio and love the Milwaukee Road, as far as my home rails, it's the old Pennsy routes in and around Ohio. Thanks for sharing this with us.👏👏👏

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!

[@cs7511]

My mother grew up in Mark, her best friend lived in Mendota in the 60s. This was a great place to visit and see trains!

[@SH-Mosier]

Ray, got to say a great documentary. I was born in the same house on the corner you lived in. My Mom and Dad owned it till 1973 when we moved out, I remember the train set in the basement,, it got took apart in the move to our new house, I still have some of the old HO train cars. we use to play in the tie yards. Brought back lots of great memories

[@RayTutajjr]

Hi Andrew! Wow, you had a train set in the basement too. If i could only go back in time and see all that train action again. I built a model of the area and it's in the museum at Mendota. maybe you seen it. Thanks for watching the video!

[@patricknoveski6409]

We all had our roads we loved. In my time in Calif. Its been the S. P. But your Railroad story seems more personal. Thanks for sharing. I love the Milwaukee Rd. Peace brother.

[@charleshettrick2408]

Thanks for the great video. Refreshed my poor memory. Got my license in the late 70s. Mendota was at the extreme driving limit i could be gone before the parents got upset with the amount of time gone. Visited Mendota a few times in the 1978 & 1979 winters before the BIG snows. Fascinating place. Always wished i could have visited more. The rail bridge over the Illinois was magical at night with its lights. Just a linear Christmas tree. Really miss that bridge. Visited Mendota again in the early 2000s. Not the same without the IC, Milwaukee, no yards and no interlocking.

[@scottcarr9934]

My grandpa work for Illinois central, lived in Lasalle next to the tracks your speaking of.

[@RayTutajjr]

Oh wow, that's cool! We also lived close to the tracks; on Union st and fourth st, right on the corner. THe ole Feretti's groceryy store was across the street.

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great documentary so sad Milwaukee Road is gone 😥

[@rogerkujawastrainsandplane5772]

This is awesome history of the area. Thanks.

[@willwozniak2826]

I forgot that MILW also served now Buzzi Unicem......nice

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad you like it!

[@armageddon1981]

As a railroader, this is interesting and i love stories like this. I sometimes do the Mendota Road Switcher job for BNSF (RCHI-846) and i have seen old pictures inside the BNSF Mendota office. My grandfather used to work for the old CB&Q at my home terminal Eola back in the 60s. I have worked for UPRR and currently BNSF. Whether railroader or railfan, i love these stories. My son has an HO Scale train set in one of the rooms of my house and he has a Milwaukee road locomotive and some rolling stock. He even took a picture with a Milwaukee road retiree back in 2018.

[@paulbald2]

I really enjoyed the video Ray.I grew up in La Salle,and remember going down to the station on first street to watch the trains picking up passengers.

[@RayTutajjr]

Yes, I do too. My dad would take me down there and we would watch the trains come in. The Rock Island Rockets.

[@hammondc5]

Well done, Sir. Thank you.

[@RayTutajjr]

I appreciate your comment!

[@evanswinford7165]

Those ice machines sure figured prominently in many photos. One even made the HO model layout. Why did a RR station need so much ice?

[@RayTutajjr]

Crews needed ice for their coolers to keep the food fresh on those 12 to 16 hr days etc

[@evanswinford7165]

@@RayTutajjr Now that I had not thought of. I didn’t see a lot of people going to the RR station for ice

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

It wouldn't be long before the Milwaukee Road was euthanized out of its pain and heart aching years of bankruptcy by the Soo Line Railroad in 1986.

[@paul-andrelarose3389]

What a different world our Society was then, as well as a much saner one! Clearly, we have lost much when we see the institutionalized insanity that is now prevailing. As the Bible (Isaiah 5:20) warns us, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil...". 2024/04/27. Ontario, Canada.

[@CSx6]

What a great story! With this alongside Google Earth, I never thought I would learn so much in one night of an iconic rail town I never heard of... Thank you!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Tim! I am very glad you enjoyed it.

[@robchit1]

Following along, I turned this 34 minute video into over an hour by the time I went back and forth to Google Earth lol

[@thomasp.gaulke3870]

Thanks for sharing.

[@robertschmidt6383]

Wow, I never knew much of this history. Brought joy to me just to see the old engines that at that time are old and rusted. Brings a tear to my eye and warm thoughts for the Milwaukee Road. 😢

[@RayTutajjr]

Very glad you liked it!

[@SMichaelDeHart]

Fantastic video!! I'm from southen West Virginia, just where our Coal Mine fields start. That Coal Mine disaster reminded of the US's worst Mine disaster in West Virginia's Marion County, an explosion in a network of mines owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah kills 361.

[@RayTutajjr]

I heard about that one. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@magnuswettermark8293]

This is great,photo and storytelling is awesome. Lovely💯%👍😁

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you very much!

[@mccoy79productions66]

nice job on this video!

[@kinkindred]

Awesome job on this presentation. We’re about the same age. How I miss those long summer days trackside. Again, great job!

[@frankdemski7242]

Many thanks for that great videos of the MIlwaukee Road. It:s a fine spot in the past of that big Railroad (My favorite). A lot of history and information. Many thanks!!!!!

[@matthewrinehart9514]

I remember riding Illinois Central from freeport to mendota. Polo dixon and amboy

[@RayTutajjr]

You were a very lucky man!

[@robchit1]

Thank you for this wonderful study. I never would have figured Mendota out without this information. You were fortunate to have many resources. I'm glad the Milwaukee Depot is useful as an office. I followed the lines in the video with Google Earth to see what it's like today.

[@robertpetit57]

Thank you for presenting this wonderful history of the Milwaukee Road in the Mendota area.

[@RayTutajjr]

You are welcome!

[@daylightdave9405]

This was wonderfully made and sure brings back memories of the Milw. Rd as I grew up in N. Milw. in the 60's and early 70's. Take care of your Health... DD 🤗 🚂

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Dave for your nice comment!

[@retr0bits545]

Unfortunate that the Milwaukee Road had to go but at least we have one fallen flag that has risen from the ashes like a Phoenix (probably misspelled) The Rock Island Railroad has been revived. The owner of the revived railroad initially wanted to revive the Milwaukee Road but couldn’t as the rights to the name are owned by Canadian Pacific, maybe we will see a proper heritage unit bearing the name of the Milwaukee Road alongside its rival but a sibling nonetheless; the Rock Island and a sole Milwaukee Road diesel in defiance of discontinuance over 40 years later in the gleaming late afternoon sun as the day closes and a new chapter of the Milwaukee Road Begins.

[@frankbucholtz8713]

Excellent video Ray - I really enjoyed how you wove your own story of growing up in Mendota with the history of the MILW in the area. It was particularly interesting to see the photos of Cherry - that particular mine disaster remains a horror story to this day.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Frank.

[@coffee-co8gk]

Thank you for this great video. Living in the area for a few years years ago you can see some of what was but I had no idea how much was there

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad you liked it!

[@a.f.j.]

Dear Ray, thank you for this amazing tribute and for sharing these personal memories with us! You talk about health concerns in the video description, I hope you are doing alright! Best wishes from Austria, Andrew

[@RayTutajjr]

Hello Andrew and Austria! Thank you very much and for your concern. I have had heart disease for a while and episodes of Atrial Fibulation . A recent flare-up sent me to the ER ( again). I meet with the doc In Sept (2022) and see if I need a procedure or more meds. Once again, thank you!

[@a.f.j.]

@@RayTutajjr I‘m so sorry to hear that, hope it can be resolved with meds. I wish you the best of luck going forward!

[@garysprandel1817]

Unfortunately I missed so much of that in Mendota having most of it abandoned by the time I got my license. Odd thing is I've tracked the triple I on Google Maps as well as the K&S ( IIRC) west out of Gardner all the way to current end of track at the explosives plant at Seneca. For some reason I was checking the farmland a friend of mine's family owned and noticed an odd scar running diagonally across his family land and thought damn that looks like an old ROW scar so I started tracking it by tilled field scars and treelines until I found abutments for a long gone bridge near the farm at the Mazon River and from that point I was intrigued and tailed it as far as I could. Lost it in a few places mainly in Coal City but picked it up later right up to existing track. I did get to tell him of the fact a railroad crossed his family land but unfortunately we'd planned for the next time I was out there to try and walk the ROW before the farmer that leases the land started planting in 2021 or after the harvest in 2020 as I found this well into the growing season 2020. We just marked 2 years since his sudden heart attack yesterday so obviously our plans to explore his family history died with him.

[@RayTutajjr]

Good job. There's still a handful of Milwaukee Road remnant to see in Mendotaand vicinity.

[@1Nanerz]

This was amazing to see. Thank you for putting the effort in to preserving this history.

[@RayTutajjr]

You are welcome!

[@johnmurray8428]

Thank you, wonderful presentation.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you!

[@stephensaasen8589]

A very nice look at a once great railroad. I grew up on the Milwaukee Road Chehalis, WA Sub way over on the other end of the system. I got to see the last 6 years of the Milwaukee in the West. It's great to see the old orange and black no matter where it is on the map.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank You!

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Live the big orange, Milwaukee road,Erie lawawanna, rock island,.

[@kelvintorrence5994]

That's love,sorry 4 the type o

[@kelvintorrence5994]

And the Illinois central gulf ,how could I forget them.

[@aliensojourner]

Excellent presentation.

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@tomvanzuiden9409]

This is excellent! I will watch it again with a map opened up, a couple Official Guides for reference and a lot of starting and stopping!!

[@RayTutajjr]

Glad you enjoyed it Tom!

[@gleanerk]

Thank you for posting this! I really appreciated the video. Same history here in NC with the 1st Norfolk Southern RR . Track still here but no more trains here in my little home town I lived near .

[@RayTutajjr]

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@brucehughesman5238]

Dear Ray my name is Bruce i have just seen this video for the 200th time . I myself grew up around trains two my father was a locomotive engineer for the Canadian National Railways i enjoyed many rides on first and second generation locomotives . There is nothing more said the the death of a railway as a young boy i used to run model trains myself as you did now today its very important to remember railway history otherwise they will forget railway history i myself think history and videos should be seen in schools . I myself grew up in British Columbia Canada so i had many memories of the three railways operating around BC (Canadian National and Canadian Pacific and Great Northern and British Columbia railway ) my father and i would go rail fanning around British Columbia and some times Washington State as far as Seattle thank you for the great memories the video you made is very good I hope you are feeling better now and i wish you the best Thank you Bruce

[@RayTutajjr]

@@brucehughesman5238 Thank you so much Bruce! I am very glad you are enjoying the video. It means alot to me that folks like it!

[@lostsheepfarms3312]

I was devastated as a kid when the soo line took over, I still miss those orange engines

[@aaron___6014]

Get well brother.

[@RayTutajjr]

I'm doing great right now. Thank you!!

[@jasongonzales2433]

Great documentary! Same world. A lot less in it!

[@RayTutajjr]

Thank you Jason!

[@blainenodes8182]

Well done❗❗last 50 yrs my apt is 100 ft from Milwaukee tracks leading to Ford motor plant...last train out was 2012...line built in 1939...I would hop in back bed of new Ford pick-up,only 10 mph track thru hoods to dntn st.paul,5.1 mi....catch a bus home... Smiled all afternoon 👋☮️

[@leakyjeep5.9]

Must have been close to you. I grew up in Dabern apts watching and riding some if them in the 80s. I would ride to Pearsons and walk home.

[@leakyjeep5.9]

The dead end spurs rails between Return ct and Cleveland is marked 1912 on some rails.

[@Baldo600]

That was a great video. I went to work for The Milwaukee in 1978 pounding spikes. I worked with Gary Reppin quite a bit. I’m guessing Clarence that’s was mentioned here was his dad?

[@Alpha1545]

This reminds me of how the Pensy railroad disappeared around my neck of the woods. Also about the same time. In the early 70's. There is pieces of track left over further in the country with it still servicing a large grain bin but only a few miles long at best. The line used to go to Chicago and I used to watch countless passenger and freight run by. It was a busy mainline and you could always count on a train coming into town or leaving. I sure do miss it.

[@Robbi496]

I never understood why the IC/ ICG abandoned the Charter/ Gruber line?

[@larrylawson5172]

Marvelous. Great trip through history. Thanks

[@ethanarmitage5611]

My name is Uncle Ariel Ethan Mermaid.

[@1950FarmallH]

Is there any trackage, depots or other RR buildings still surviving in Mendota as of 2024?

[@RayTutajjr]

Yes. The depot still stands but as an insurance office. Also a 30’ section of track is just north of the depot which is Milwaukee track. A trestle south of town and we have the original “Junction One Mile” sign erected on depot grounds.

[@cprtrain]

Very well done

[@hounddog946]

I wish I had a basement. I live in Southwest Florida where you dig down 4’ and you start hitting water. Last year I started an HO layout in my garage but on 9/28/2022 a visitor named Ian destroyed it.

[@RayTutajjr]

that is surely disappointing!