I am looking to correspond with fellow railfans who have railfanned the Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railroad in Marion and Herrin, Illinois. I am looking for illustrations for a book I am co-authoring with two fellow railroad enthusiasts about the CO&E. I am also looking to build my personal collection of CO&E memorabilia. I am particularly interested in anything CO&E related to their tourist train era (1973-1978). I am also working on setting up a historical society for the CO&E Railroad. I also own a yahoo discussion group about the CO&E. Anytihng that concerns the CO&E Railroad is of interest.
It had been a while since I'd heard this company mentioned! So I started searching. I see them listed as an ASLRRA member. Found a web page URL, but it's blank there. Bummer. How about a rundown on what they do these days? Same trackage? More? less? Also, here's an oddball question for you- Did they ever use train orders in their operations? Or was it all within yard limits? Or? Boxcab E50
The CO&E Railroad is still going. They celebrated thirty years of operation on May 29, 2003. Although the CO&E still runs, lots of things have changed if you haven't been around the line since the mid 1980s. Steam power made its last stand on the CO&E on September 8, 1986 (recognized by the FRA as the LAST steam locomotive used EXCLUSIVELY for reveune freight service) when the drypipe collapsed. The 2-8-0 was later sold to the Boone & Scenic Valley in Iowa who have let her rot for the last 17 years. All the steam power is gone fromt he property, but still exists. 2-4-2 #5 in not far away in Jackson, MO. 2-8-0 #17 is in Boone, IA. The tiny 35-ton Davenport the CO&E had from 1978-1995 is currently on display in a museum at her former employer in Rosiclare, IL. Piggyback operations literally dried up in 1982 and were gone by 1986 thanks to deregulation. The CO&E once had a sizeable fleet of freight cars, all of which are now relettered for other lines (but you can still find a few with small triangles on them to this day). As far as the size of the CO&E, it has doubled in size. September 11, 1987 saw inaugural run of the old ICG branch in Herrin, IL, adding about 5 miles to the CO&E's line. Both lines are small branches that are not connected to each other anymore (they were at one point in time). Diesels took over on September 8, 1986 when the steam quit. The Herrin line has always been diesel powered. If you have an interest in the CO&E, I strongly suggest joining my internet group. I am working on setting up a historical society of sorts for the CO&E.
Not only do I have a LOT of photographs of steam in service on the CO&E, I also have about 30+ hours of unedited videotape of the 2-8-0 and the 2-4-2 in service! I have a lot of stuff that will be used in the book, some of which is previously unpublished from the CO&E Railroad archives. I have the largest collection of CO&E material outisde of the three founders of the CO&E. If you have any interest in this unique railroad, feel free to join my group (link to group is in my signature). Email me offlist ans I can see about getting you a sampling of what I have.
As far as trasin orders go on the cO&E, they were only used back in the tourist train days (pre-1977) when the CO&E used trasckage rights over the ICG. I once had a blank unused clearance form for the CO&E, but have no idea where it is today. Those train orders are a rarity as most of them were either burned in the firebox after the run or burned in the depot fire June 13, 1977. I am looking for some of the old train orders they used. Somewhere here, I have a scan of a clearance form from September 11, 1973!
