Macomb and Western Illinois Railway
The Macomb and Western Illinois Railway was chartered on October 26, 1901. The railroad was built south along Johnson Street in Macomb, Illinois, to nearby Industry and Littleton by local financier Charles V. Chandler. It was open for service on January 1, 1904. It ran for about twenty-five years. History Promoter and builder Charles V. Chandler intended the Macomb and Western Illinois Railway (M&WI) as a local road to provide freight and passenger service to and from locations between Macomb and Littleton, to give farmers a way of transporting grain and livestock to Macomb, and to eventually connect Macomb with the national railway network. Planned as an electric interurban but lacking sufficient capital to construct the necessary infrastructure, the railroad began service with a primitive - and marginally useful - gas-electric locomotive. The railroad encountered problems from the start. Many people were opposed to the expansion of Chandler's business empire and of his influence as the town's leading Republican. Many who before had helped fund similar projects pulled out. The railroad's president and C. V.'s business partner sold his interest in the business within two years to Chandler. A year after service began the railroad's engine house burned down, destroying its gas-electric locomotive. The local Illinois bituminous coal hauled from mines near Littleton had a sulfur content that rendered it unmarketable for most industrial and domestic uses. The track was lightweight and roadbed was marginal at best, and consequently derailments were common. Property owners along Johnson Street in Macomb filed a series of lawsuits to evict the railroad from the city streets, efforts which were eventually successful and which also had the effect of scaring off investors. In 1910 the Bank of Macomb, owned by C.V. Chandler, went bankrupt and Chandler later left town to live with his son in Indianapolis. As part of the bankruptcy the M&WI was sold to the Chicago House Wrecking Company, which intended to abandon the railroad and sell it for scrap. In 1913, the railroad was bought back by a group of local farmers and merchants from the area and was reorganized as the Macomb, Industry & Littleton Railway (MI&L). This railroad operated through the remainder of the 1910s and 1920s. Starting in 1925, however, the railroad's fortunes began to decline due to the construction of hard (paved) roads paralleling the right-of-way. The decline in traffic, coupled with increased maintenance costs from a decaying infrastructure, led to the railroad's abandonment in 1930. In that year the railroad's assets were sold at auction, the tracks were torn up and all of the rolling stock except for one steam engine was scrapped. Right-of-way Originally the M&WI started at its north end where Johnson Street in Macomb crosses the CB&Q. There was an interchange with the Burlington at that location, from which the tracks proceeded down the center of Johnson Street to the edge of town. Just south of St. Francis Hospital the railroad crossed onto private right-of-way running along the west side of South Johnson Street