Windy City Hot Spots - Rondout, Illinois. Part 3: EJ&E, Rondout Tower, Soo Line

[@ShawnCalay-hi6gy]

Dad's friend Harry Smith worked at EJ&E....I got lucky back in the late 1980s dad was invited for a caboose ride as well as me .....a moment I highly cherish and remember...

[@Joseph-kq1qx]

Wonderful Lake States coverage also

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

We have a ton of Lake States footage in our archive. This just scratched the surface. You'll be seeing a lot of it in the future. RR

[@Trains-With-Shane]

When SD40's and GP38's still ruled the main lines. Excellent old footage!

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

Thanks for the compliment. Those were the days! No graffiti on the freight cars either. RR

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq You're right! I didn't even notice that! Interestingly I remember there being graffiti all over freight cars when I was a kid in the 80's. But that may have just been more common down here in the Dallas area.

[@yrunaked4]

@4:24 great to see a former ICG SD40A. They were in the 6000 series on the ICG, built on a SDP45 frame and carried a 5000 gallon fuel tank. This altered the long hood slightly to fill in the extra length of the frame, giving it a stretched look.

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

The SD40As were very cool units, even in the ratty paint that we saw them in. I think we have footage of them looking much better on the ICG. RR

[@ShawnCalay-hi6gy]

In the HO scale world I used a FP45 and A SD40-2 body with a heck of alot of cannon parts ....the locomotive won a few shows and is owned by my cousin in Florida....used to spend summer vacations building HO trains, 1-25 scale semi trucks and cutting grass to support those addictions....as a otr trucker I still kitbash making GBW models for a friend, U20C, GT22s, SD40T-2S....very fun part of the hobby....just can't airbrush till I get home....

[@stevenrosen9895]

Thanks Bill! I can't believe how long ago that was and how so much has changed. I miss mismatched rust-buckets and regret not spending more time at Rondout. At the time, it felt really far away from the north side. My loss. Always stopped on the way to and from Adler House. Great footage, Thanks!

[@mrmrb04]

Wow that’s really awesome! There isn’t a lot of good video out there of the J. before the 1990s

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

We have a lot more EJ&E action in the archive. I too have noticed that there is very little pre "J Ball" EJ&E coverage out there. Thanks for the comment. RR

[@arthurgerber]

Now down to just two trains per week on the former J through Rondout. CN no longer goes to Waukegan and the last two customers are EMCO and WestRock, both in North Chicago. That construction company no longer gets deliveries of aggregates by rail though the siding is still in place.

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

Yep. The CN really pissed away the business on this line. Peter Baker at Rondout got 16 loads of gravel A DAY and got great service from the EJ&E. It only took a month or so for CN to kill that business. RR

[@AndrewNelson-l6i]

LST question for you: Why were Lake States trains running through Rondout? I only caught LST action in central Wisconsin and always thought any train going east out of North Fondy would have gone all the way to Schiller on the former Soo. Did those train cutover to the Milwaukee at Duplainville??

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

Andrew, Lake State trains went both ways. It’s been long enough that I can’t remember which trains went which way, but yes, the C&M trains got on/off the former Milwaukee Road at Dupyville. BC

[@EastEndProductionsArchiv-lm3lq]

An educated guess would be that the former MILW route provided flexibility in accessing the yard at Bensenville. They could come in from the east from A5 and terminate at B-Ville, or they could use the Joint Line at A20 to access the west end of B-Ville yard and continue onto the IHB at Franklin Park or the BRC at Galewood. The original Soo Line route only provided access to the IHB at Franklin Park (B12). RR

[@colinmulder6806]

LAKE STATES as most of us probably know became the newly formed & largest regional railroad THE WISCONSIN CENTRAL. Which first days operations were documented SUPERBLY by E.E.P'S in their video:"WISCONSIN CENTRAL: THE FIRST DAY".

[@erbewayne6868]

Lake State also operates an ex Milwaukee mp 15

[@colinmulder6806]

@@erbewayne6868 Thanks very much.