ICG Sparta District, 1985 (Part 3 of 3)

[dwkcamman611]

Awesome video!

[DJMightyRaton]

where in illinois is this old line, torn up when?

[cheechchongfan97]

Shave and a Haircut at 0:36

[railstoruin]

Any idea of when service ended, or the date of the last train?

[eck3300]

@railstoruin Last train was a local - just a few cars and a caboose - August 2nd, 1985.

[TheUp1990]

Thank you so much for showing the footage of ICG trains going through that nice little town of yours. I love these videos and it never fails to almost bring tears to my eyes to watch a good old line in it's dying months. But thank you for the great footage of the trains while they were there.

[gebass6]

ICG "Dreamsicles"

[casperfriendly47]

Wonderful footage. Takes me back to SW suburban Chicago in mid-80s. Very nice imaginary time travel inspiration.

[ALS2001]

I love the ICG!

[BSBINC1]

were this one a

[mightytrains]

Do you have a DVD of all this ICG footage?? Would love to buy it!

[MilwaukeeSDman]

Why did they abandoned the line

[eck3300]

This line was redundant with the more robust IC main so traffic dwindled considerably soon after the ICG merger. Eventually they decided they could live without it. Too bad; it was a great line to watch.

[MilwaukeeSDman]

What was the reason they built it

[Lanceaferd]

NO reason for a line this active to be pulled. Why did they take this line out so quickly?? I thought a line had to go unused for at least 2 years before a railroad could even apply for abandonment--maybe the laws are different nowadays. Too bad the railroads have been mis-managed over the years--when I encounter numerous 18 wheelers on the major highways it really fumes me to see any railroad abandoned...

[MaryRaeMcPherson]

I LOVE the overhead shot of the Paducah Geeps. I miss those junkers... mostly because I didn't have to work on them.

[dimbulb996]

For MOPAC-1 The WFAX would come in from the east, on the ICG at Independence MO, Sloooow and noisy lots of brakes! #6044 and three other SDs would be on the head.

[cbehr91]

Notice that SD40-2 #6044 doesn't have dynamic brakes.

[eck3300]

If I recall correctly, that unit is one of a handful of ex-Rock Island SD40-2s ICG purchased secondhand.

[doubleslottedflaps]

wish i could find a vid of the about 13 pumpkin (solid orange) locos, found some pics on the web,man did they GLOW ! i'm doing a p2k gm&o gp38 like the one IC did & a sw14 cab kit in pumkin, these were 2 of the pumpkins, there was a pumpkin in mccomb,ms. for a while back in the day,we put on sunglasses when lookin at it, thanks for this vid, i worked for IC during the 70's,so did several of my relatives,my uncle worked at mccomb ms shops,another engeenered for gm&o,i wish i had stayed with it.

[trainmasterfm2]

Great Videos

I'm surprised that ICG didn't try to sell the line to a shortline or regional I'm sure someone would have taken the chance.

[justinamk1]

Thanks for sharing!!! I was an 8 year old living in Jackson, TN during this time and it took me back there like it was yesterday. We befriended the 2nd trick yard clark at Islien Yard and the crews as well. We received cab rides, caboose tours, old time tables and even a trip into Islien shop. I loved those grungy ICG and GM&O engines, I guess I was to young to know any better.

[rando4038]

hey justin, i live here in jackson & i was almost the same age, a friend of my dad's worked at iselin shop, & grew up on the former gm&o mainline (icg then) & remember all those orange & white icg & ic locos very well & some of the gm&o red & whites & black& whites, i remeber seeing a all caboose train around that time, come to find out when i was older, the icg were pulling alot of old cabooses from illinois to birmingham to be scraped, great memories!

[rando4038]

justin,i have quite a few videos of my ho scale model train layout that features alot of ic & gm&o trains check out sometime on youtube(rando4038 or branran4), oh yeah, i also work part time & volunteer at the nc&stl depot museum on south royal, we have alot of ic & gm&o memorbilia to check out & a 11 by 20 ft ho scale train layout of jackson featuring iselin yards & shops! stop by if you get a chance!

[justinamk1]

I'd love to, I moved away from Jackson in 92 and have only been back twice. I'm really happy that the WTNN keeps the place busy. We spent hours and hours at the yard, watching the switchers and talking to the crew, haha, I think I was at the yard 350 days a year. I was even late to school at Parkway Jr High one morning so we could see the first IC black engine come through on SE-1.

[railfanalways]

I have to say when I saw the last clip of them tearing up the rails , it made me sick.

[cbalducc]

Hearing the sound and air horns of those Geeps takes me back to when ICG ran through my hometown of Cleveland, Mississippi. Cleveland was once a crew-change point between Memphis and Vicksburg. There is now a fitness trail where trains once crept through down. God bless.

[ohiosouthern]

y did it go abandonded? It seemed like a pretty active line.

[NJW1973]

Fantastic video! Was this all shot in one day? What was the speed on the line at that time? Also, nice Buick Skyhawk.  T-type?

[eck3300]

Wow; a comment about my car! You nailed it - a T-type. It was okay for its time.

The clips were shot during spring and summer 1985. Speed limit on the line was once 35mph - I'm not sure what it was at the time of these videos.

[nocotton]

I'm in Ripley, MS. GM&O ran heavy through here when I was a child in the mid-60's (black & white striped locos). How can I find out more about this "run"? I used to watch them & new loco numbers by heart.

[eck3300]

Check out the GM&O Historical Society's website and/or their Yahoo Group.

[rando4038]

that train you speak of was the gm&o's through freight train's # 32 & 33 that went to east st.louis illinois to new orlreans la. & vice versa until 1972 when the gm&o & illinois central merged & they rerouted the trains onto the ic's main line out of new orleans to chicago illinois

[ups1976]

Sad to see rail lines abandonded. Most of the lines here in my hometown are gone now, but I do have good memories of the lines being very busy when I was a kid in the early 80's

[cbalducc]

Steve, watching those swaying boxcars pass so close to you was too close for comfort!

;-) God bless. CKB

[eck3300]

Yes, a sad testament to the lack of maintenance by that time. But as you can see I used a tripod which allowed me to stand back!

[mopac1]

I didn't clarify what I meant...sorry...Some WFAX cars were loaded at Marion IL on the Crab Orchard & Egyptian RR...and then taken north back to West Frankfort by MoPac...I'm now guessing the WFAX cars were these in your video...So, where would the MP have handed them over to ICG?

[eck3300]

I rode behind a steam engine on the CO&E when it was an excursion line in the mid-70s! Recently I learned that both coal trains in the video originated at Hanna, IL (a few miles west of Peoria) which would indicate these cars weren't loaded at Marion.

[mopac1]

Where were the WFAX Coal hoppers going...and did ICG pick those up from MoPac?

[dimbulb996]

They went to Kansas City KS. to the power&lite on the 7th street trafficway. They came from the east through Independence,MO. ICG brought them in, bout once a week. #6044 was in the lead many times, and always 4 SD40s on the head with heavy dynamics, great sound. Geeps would take em back empty, some times. Great Vid many good memories.

[Bellwestern80]

I know that they angle the tracks for trains at high speeds, but some of those angled tracks looked REALLY over angled, or is it just me?

[eck3300]

Some of what you see could be the camera angles I used, but the line was built to handle long, heavy coal trains.  Maximum superelevation was used a lot back then for high-tonnage traffic.

[peepantsfunny]

I live on the former IC Green Diamond, that used to see a train a day, then they ended the track about 5 miles south, and the track only sees 1 or 2 Illinois Central coal trains a week

[rando4038]

the original gm&o operated from chicago,st louis,east st louis, cairo ill, jackson tn.,jackson miss, new orleans, mobile ala, & kansas city missouri, this is the section of track south of east st louis missouri that originally ran all the way to mobile alabamba

[rando4038]

yeah it is sad to see the old gm&o track torn up, just think at one time there were 4 daily thru freights and the gulf coast rebel and the little rebel passneger trains passing over the same strech of trackage

[RANDY2045]

i grew up on the gmo and icg here at mexico mo

[UPTRAIN]

That last clip is pretty gut wrenching.

[DAKRUPAINATER]

Did They abandon the Line?

[eck3300]

Everything was abandoned and torn out by the summer of 1986 except the section of track in the first scene... it exists today but is used only as a spur to get to a Mississippi River coal dock (not visible in the background).

[railtrekker]

In the words of Tim Allen ARGH ARGH ARGH!