1. Winnebago Community Historical Society
Welcomes you to our program
Railroads in Winnebago County
Historical Perspective

2. Chicago & North Western Railway Company
Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, 1864.
Consolidated with Chicago & North Western Railway Company in 1864.

3. Winnebago Depot in the 1920s Depot was located at N. Benton Street
View is looking east from Benton Street

4. One of the last runs of the Chicago-Freeport C & NW train
One of the last runs of the Chicago-Freeport C & NW train. In Freeport, Conductor H. S. Wagner hands running orders to Engineer A. H. Lester as Fireman R. E. Klingberg watches.

5. A last stop at the Pecatonica Depot.

6. Mrs. Fairy A. Cross & Ms. Laura Schoonmaker of Winnebago, with Jack Kantz, head trainman, assisting them.
The State Commerce Commission agreed to discontinue the passenger route February 14, 1950.

7. The Winnebago C & NW Depot in 1954, looking east from Benton Street

8. C & NW derailment, October 1968, between Falconer & Weldon Roads.

9. C & NW line wash out. The earth bank above a culvert at Cunningham Road washed out in the 1960s.

10. Notice how overgrown the tracks are!
One of the last C & NW freight trains westbound, east of Elida Street, 1971
Notice how overgrown the tracks are!

11. Tearing out the last of the C & NW track in Winnebago, July 15, 1982.
Chuck Sweeny took this photo.
“So the end of the railroad in Winnebago came this week with nary a whimper—its withering lasted 30 years.” Chuck Sweeny

12. C & NW Depot today—looking east from Benton Street.

13. Illinois Central
Chicago, Central & Pacific Railroad Company (later Illinois Central) line through Alworth

14. Alworth Depot

15. L. N. Bowman General Mercantile
Alworth in 1930
L. N. Bowman General Mercantile

16. Drawing of Alworth community 1950

17. Alworth in the1950s

18. “Stuck in the mud” at Alworth, March 1976

19. Train wreck at Alworth, April 1994

20. Loading at Alworth 1994

21. Alworth Today

22. Rockford & Interurban Railway Winnebago Interurban Depot 1903

23. Winnebago Depot 1910

24. Rockford & Interurban Railway Car Barn,
Kishwaukee Street & First Avenue in Rockford, 1912

25. Rockford & Interurban Railway Car # 223

27. Train Wreck

28. Winnebago Station Agent
Winnebago Depot Power Plant
W. R. McDonald
Winnebago Station Agent

29. Rockford & Interurban Railway Winnebago Depot c. 1920

30. Rockford & Interurban Railway Winnebago Depot today

31. Thank you for coming!
Please fill out your evaluation form
& leave it in the basket by the door
This slide show is available for download from
Available on WCHS Facebook Page:
Railroads Photo Album
Thank you Winnebago Public Library for use of the projector and sound system and for hosting our slide show on its website.
Preserving the past Informing the present Inspiring the future