Old Structures In The 1990s
In the early 1990s, many of the Illinois Central’s old buildings from the steam era were still standing. These included not only the freight station downtown, but the machine shop and car shops in the yards north of town. Most of these structures would be gone by the end of the decade.
The Carbondale Passenger Station
On a day in February, 1991, the old passenger station stands by. Within a year, the city of Carbondale would begin work to restore the building.
The Downtown Freight Station
The freight station was considered a major eyesore by the beginning of 1991.
A northbound work train passes the old freight station on a snowy winter day in February, 1991.
The Carbondale freight station was constructed by Daniel Brush and his men before the first train arrived in 1854. It remained in used into the 1990s.
In January, 1991, the freight station was being vacated. The city as yet was unsure what to do with it, as there were factions that wanted it restored, turned into a pavilion, and demolished to make way for a parking lot. In the end, it would become an open air pavilion.
The demolition of the loading dock left only this part of the 1899 addition in January, 1991
The freight station was originally erected closer to the mainline, but was moved back to allow for more tracks in 1899. This view shows the north end of the building after the 1899 loading dock was knocked down.
The loading dock added to the freight station at the dawn of the 20th Century was in the process of being demolished in January, 1991
The loading dock was being knocked down in January, 1991, in this view from the Jackson Street Crossing
The North Yard Engine Terminal
Looking from the north leg of the wye build when the Grand Tower & Carbondale arrived in 1868, the coal towers stand by with the machine shop in the background.
In this view, the machine shop stands in the background with an old sanding tower and the coal towers in the foreground
In January 1991, the machine shop was still standing. It had been modified for handling running repairs on diesel locomotives after the 1918 roundhouse was demolished. After the steam era roundhouse was no more, the machine shop was considered the roundhouse.
In January 1991, the turntable was still in place and was still in use. It was mostly used for turning Amtrak engines at this time. After the turntable was removed, Amtrak took to turning entire trains on the wye rather than just turning engines here.
In this view from the south end of the machine shop, one of the old steam lines can still be seen. The machine shop had a boiler to provide steam for use throughout the engine terminal area.
The north end of the machine shop in February, 1991.
In this view from March, 1991, the machine shop and other support buildings from the 1918 renovation of the engine terminal stand by.
The Carbondale Car Department
Looking north from the coal towers, the old car shops stand out in a view from February, 1991.
The car shops were still standing in January, 1991, but its use was minimal
The Carbondale Local was tied up for the day in January, 1991, with the Carbondale car shops in the background.
The car department building would eventually be torn down and a coal loadout would be put up in its place. Coal would be trucked in from a nearby mine to be loaded into railroad cars. That traffic ended, and the coal loadout is now gone as well.
Looking south from the car department, the machine shop looms in the background in this view from March, 1991.
This used to be the mainline of the Chicago & Texas from Carbondale to Johnston City, but by 1991 the short bit of rail that remained was only used for storing old freight cars.
Old boxcars were stored on the former Johnston City District just east of the yard. The cars would soon be hauled away to be scrapped, and the rails would be pulled soon after that.
