Mid-Century Decatur

B&O 6515, a GP-9 locomotive, leads a local at Pana with a single grain hopper in June 1969. This branch of the B&O ran NW-SE across Illinois, connecting Shawneetown on the Ohio River to Springfield. From Springfield it continued NW to Beardstown on the Illinois River.

The Domeliner "Banner Blue," now a Norfolk & Western train, departs Dearborn Station in Chicago at 10:40 AM on June 12, 1965, sixty-one years ago today.

The train will arrive in Decatur at 1:40 PM and at St. Louis Union Station at 4:40.

Meanwhile, the Santa Fe "Grand Canyon" is lined up for imminent departure toward Los Angeles in 20 minutes.

Photo: Collection of Andy Zukowski

Illinois Terminal electric interurban car 284 stops at Bondville on the route from Decatur to Champaign in 1954. The last day of service on the route was June 11, 1955, exactly 71 years ago today.

Photo: Jim Barrick, Collection of Mark Barnett

A snapshot in time on June 10, 1959, exactly 67 years ago today. Traffic on N. Fairview Avenue turns off at King Street after a rain. The newest cars feature the largest fins.

Photo: H&R, Collection of Decatur Public Library

We look south down North Broadway at Van Buren Street on June 9, 1949, 77 years ago today. The location is scarcely recognizable. Broadway, of course, is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, and it is now a four-lane street. The Northgate Mall location, to the right, was developed over 20 years later.

The electric interurban tracks extended along Broadway as seen here. Broadway then ended at Pershing Road, but the tracks extended north. The tracks remained long after interurban service ended to allow rail access for Illinois Power.

The Illinois Power Company infrastructure seen at right is still there, now updated, including the buildings that managed electrical loads.

Photo: H&R, Collection of Decatur Public Library

The combined Wabash Cannon Ball and Blue Bird have arrived in Decatur at 11:46 AM in June 1966 from St. Louis. The train would split in Decatur for Detroit and Chicago, respectively, leaving 5 minutes apart. The Blue Bird would depart first.

Photo: Collection of American-rails

The members of the board of trustees of the Decatur Public Library gathered in the Carnegie Library on June 6, 1958, 68 years ago yesterday.

The board debated whether late fines should be increased from two cents per day, as it cost more to collect the fines than the amount collected.

The board agreed to allow non-profit groups to meet in the library for free, as long as their meetings ended no more than 30 minutes after the library closed.

Photo: H&R, Collection of Decatur Public Library

Macon Speedway- June 6, 1959

During the summer of 1949 the Pennsylvania Railroad is still using steam for the daily freight train between Peoria and Terre Haute, Indiana. The train is passing Minier, Illinois, on the way to Decatur, where it would cross East Mound Road and Pershing Road before entering the Grand Avenue yard. In a few years the steam engines would be gone from the route, replaced by F-units.

Photo: Wayne Bridges

The construction sign for the Soy Capital Bank on East Pershing announced the coming facility. The bank opened in June 1956, seventy years ago.

Photo: H&R, Collection of Decatur Public Library