California Ice and Coal Company's Ice House Spur in Antioch

This tree line in the photo below, located in Antioch, IL appears to be just any old patch of trees, but it actually marks part of the right-of-way of a long abandoned railroad spur.

Yep, Railroad Lines are everywhere. (FRRandP Photo)

The California Ice and Coal Company operated an ice house in Antioch, using Channel Lake and Lake Catherine for production, and shipping via railroad. Almost no trace of this spur exists, but the neighborhood to the east of Lake Catherine is to this day known as the California Ice and Coal Subdivision. 

Ice houses on winter lakes are a remnant of a time before refrigeration, and would be the only source of ice during the summertime for most places outside of the Earth's poles. Ice house spurs also existed in Fox Lake and Round Lake.

Interestingly, this leads to some interesting deeds and requirements of property ownership. Keith Johnson commented that, "when I bought my first house in Fox Lake on Pistakee Lake, the title deed was one of those old carbon copied scrolls. It told me that on Tuesdays I had to allow a Mrs McFetridge (or a name like that) access through the property, and I couldn’t sell the ice from the lake. I also found some placards for an ice company in the house. There are 2 houses on Arlington Road that I was told were one one single ice house, which was cut in half to make the two homes."

There were two lines, one spurred from the Soo Line, immediately north of where Antioch Station is today, leading to Lake Catherine. From that line, another spurred north, ending southeast of Wilmot, WI. This spur served what was a gravel pit that has since been converted into a campground in the area. 

Both were only in service for less than twenty years, and disappeared off of maps after 1925.

1925 USGS Topo Map

Thanks as always for reading!



Location: Antioch, IL 60002, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would...
Read more

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat...
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i...
Read more