Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Railroad Company – 1870

R Tinker - 1

R Tinker - 2

Source:  Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette Mar. 19, 1870

Chicago’s First Railroad – Galena and Chicago Union R.R.

“Chicago’s First Railroad,”  by Jeffrey J. Meyer

Galena and Chicago Union R.R.  (G&CU)

“The railroad never made it to Galena.”

The were 5 divisions: 1) Chicago to Salt Creek )Elmhurst), 2) Salt Creek to Elgin, 3) Elgin to Rockford, 4) Rockford to Freeport, 5) Freeport to Galena (never built by G&CU).

“Rockford greeted its first train on August 2, 1852.”

5 photographs, including one of the original G&CU; the cupola was used to watch for incoming trains. The station burned in the 1871 Chicago fire.

Source: Northwest Quarterly magazine, Fall 2012, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp 129 – 133