Santa Fe Railroad

Santa Fe Railroad. The Beginnings of Toluca. , From Farmland to the City of Toluca , In 1887, farmers in Bennington Township of Marshall County were having great difficulty marketing their grain and livestock by horse-drawn wagons to Streator, Peoria or Bloomington. Family diaries even record driving herds of cattle and hogs to market in Chicago – over 100 miles. It was then that the Santa Fe Railroad Company surveyed for a railroad between Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri, running through the rich agricultural land in Illinois. The rail system did not strike a town between Streator and Chillicothe, a distance of over fifty miles. , In 1889 a prosperous farmer, William Twist, with visions of future progress, determined that the edge of his farm bordering the railroad was almost halfway between Chillicothe and Streator would be an ideal location for the train stop. Mr. Twist platted the SE ¼, of the SE ¼ of Section 5, Bennington Township, Marshall County, comprising three and one-half blocks on the south side of the railroad. Geographically, this location is 114 miles southwest of Chicago, 40 miles northwest of Bloomington, and 40 miles northeast of Peoria. After meeting with other farmers, signing petitions, and securing assurance of having an elevator, the Santa Fe system yielded to the pressure of petitioners. In 1890, the Santa Fe Railroad made this site a regular train stop with a switch track. , Almost immediately an elevator was constructed, followed by a stockyard. The stockyard initially was on the north side of Santa Fe track in the west end of town. Later it was moved to the south side of the track in the east end of town. This completed the second major project. Farmers within a radius of 20 miles found it a convenient place to ship their corn, oats, wheat, and other grains, as well as cattle and hogs to Chicago and Kansas City markets. As people began to make more frequent trips to cities on the passenger trains, a depot was built on the north side of the track on the street which is now known as Maple. Several stores were established, and the settlement soon became a prosperous and thriving village. Toluca was chosen as the name of this new town. , Most of the early Toluca settlers were of English, Scotch, German, and Swedish descent. Later, with the development of the coal mine which needed miners, came the Italians. , Charles Devlin and the Rail System , With the Santa Fe Railroad crossing the United States, Charles Devlin's ambition was to create a railroad center located in Toluca. In 1897, his first railroad line called the “Toluca and Eastern” connected to Illinois Central in Rutland, a distance of six miles. A charter also authorized the line to also build from Toluca to such points in Evans and Roberts Township in Marshall County as determined by the Corporation as Devlin and Duggan held the coal rights of 11,000 acres in the other two townships. By 1899 another railway, north of Toluca was the start of the “Toluca, Marquette and Northern Railroad” and was incorporated in 1901. This railroad was primarily built to serve the Toluca Coal Mine and connected to the 3-I and Oglesby and Granville Railroads. , The railroad continued to expand and grow. By 1905 the line reached Granville. A new coal washer was built southeast of Magnolia. This coal washer on the Toluca, Marquette and Northern Railroad was a great addition. The heavy expansion and the large chunk coal had no use at the washer, but the fine refuse and fine coal that was previously thrown away, was now able to be used. The toll was great on Devlin. , In July 1905, two banks, the Spring Valley National Bank and the First National Bank of Toluca, both of which Mr. Devlin was their President, closed their doors. The banks are mainly used by the miners as depository for their money or savings. Within a few weeks, Devlin filed for bankruptcy, essentially ending the expansion of the railroads he controlled. Devlin passed away on October 31, 1905. A few remnants of the railroads can still be seen in the countryside west of Toluca where they crossed the Santa Fe tracks, but the tracks, bridges and buildings are nothing but a memory. , The mines continued in operation until 1924. The Santa Fe Railway expanded their lines in Toluca from a single line to the double track you see today. Passenger car traffic would stop at the depot for many years. The depot was finally removed over 50 years ago. The Santa Fe Railway would merge with Burlington Northern Railroad in 1995 to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway. , Fun facts about trains: , . One rail car can hold 3-4 truckloads of freight. , . A single train could carry the same as 300 freight trucks. , . Railroads can move one ton of freight more than 480 miles on a single gallon of fuel, moving 40% of U.S. freight they are responsible for 2.1% of transportation-related greenhouse gasses. , . Trains use drones to run a safe railroad. They fly over rail yards, around bridges, for ground-penetrating radar and sensors to identify possible track defects. , . Almost anything can be shipped by rail. When NASA needed to ship a rocket booster from Utah to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it used the railroad to ship 10 13-foot-wide and 32-foot-long segments weighing 180 tons each. , . One locomotive weighs about as much as 108 hippopotamus. , . If railroads did not move freight in the U.S., it would take over 83 million additional trucks on public roads every day. , [Captions] , (Left column, top to bottom) , . 1900's Toluca from the top of the Jumbo , . Main Street looking south, early 1900's. Note: Jumbo on left side and top of water tower behind carriage. , (Second column from left, top to bottom) , . Section men at work. , . RTN 499 Toluca Illinois 1927 , . 1970's The Santa Fe traveling through Toluca. , (Center column, top to bottom) , . Santa Fe Depot and Yards, Toluca, Ill. , . Toluca Depot , . Laying the Santa Fe tracks and building bridge by St. Ann's Cemetery, west end of Toluca. , (Second column from right, top to bottom) , . Laying tracks for the TM&N Railroad, Toluca Illinois, early 1900's , . West Santa Fe Avenue, Toluca, Ill. , . Santa Fe depot – Filling the train with water and coal , (Right column, top to bottom) , . 2023 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Toluca is aware of the importance of trains with an estimated average of 60-70 trains daily passing through town, with a train approximately every 16 minutes in 2023.The Santa Fe kickstarted the City of Toluca, with their need for coal, bringing the people who worked in the mines. The oldest streets in town are named Santa Fe, Atchison, Topeka and Railroad.