When I was a small boy I remember reading about a railroad company by the name of LaSalle & Bureau County Railroad slealing some railroad cars. Can anyone tell me what happend there or were I might be able to get some Info on it. Thank you.
What about checking with the LaSalle and or Bureau
County historical society’s?? It will take some effort and I am sure they will help. Libraries(sp) may also offer historical data.
I remember a large article in Railroad/Railfan about it but do not have a citation for you. As I recall, they were taking boxcars from large railroads, repainting them and assigning new numbers. They were presumably counting on the larger railroad – I seem to recall ConRail was a favorite target – losing track of their cars. Given how many reporting marks Conrail had to keep track of and how disorganized Conrail was in its formative years, it wasn’t surprising that they got away with it for a while but how they thought they could get away with it forever is beyond me. Conrail would know where the car went to when it disappeared from view and when it goes to the same railroad over and over again …
LaSalle/Peru Illinois is a pretty interesting old river town by the way, well worth railfanning even though the current railroad action is pretty pathetic compared to when this was a major junction of several large railroads most notably the Rock Island. Bureau Junction is also worth checking out (it is nearby; that is where the Rock Island split between the line west to Rock Island and south to Peoria) and once you are that far, continue on south to Chillicothe IL for some great mainline BNSF action. Also check out the little museum on the ex Rock Island tracks in Chillicothe. Following the BNSF west, you come to the famous Edelstein Hill, beginning with Houlihan’s Curve. Many famous railfan shots were taken at this location. It is not so great now that a landowner has fenced off the best vantage point (and the trees have grown tremendously) but it is still well worth it. In fact the entire line from Chillicothe west to Galesburg is well worth railfanning and highly recommended for continuous action. You might even catch a UP train on the former CNW line south from Nelson.
Dave Nelson
Actually, the time was a little before Conrail. Penn Central was the unwitting source of most of these cars; they looked like old NYC 40-foot box cars, primarily. I’m thinking that this was anywhere around the 1971-1974 era. The whole episode didn’t cover much time, as far as I can tell, and the Equipment Registers I have from that era don’t seem to have anything.
Carl you jogged my memory and yes it was Penn Central cars not Conrail.
Dave Nelson
Heh heh. Just found a website on railroad nicknames that said the incidents took place in 1971 (and that Penn Central never missed the cars which I find hard to believe).
Oh yes … the La Salle and Bureau County’s nickname? LSBC = Let’s Steal Box Cars
A couple of recollections from a LaSalle County native (who was 11 years old at the time, so this is my best recollection, probably not 100% accurate)…
– The scheme seemed to revolve around a “repair shop” located on the LS&BC and owned by another, related corporation. This company contracted with PC to “rebuild” boxcars.
Once the cars arrived, a fair percentage of them were deemed to be “un-repairable”. PC was notified and the company offered to scrap the cars out for a fee. These “un-repairable” cars (they actually were quite servicable) were then hastily restenciled for LSBC and put back on the road, earning car-hire charges for the new owners.
If I recall correctly, the whole shebang came unraveled when one of these cars was damaged and came to a PC shop for repair, where the original car number was discovered stenciled on the underbody (probably the center sill?), A records check said that car no longer existed, and the jig was up.
The railroad itself was a pretty cool shortline, with two Baldwin switchers and a brisk interchange business. It connected with CB&Q/BN, C&NW, MILW, NYC/PC and IC(G) and featured a main line with a switchback in the middle of the prairie south of Ladd. It would make an excellent prototype for a shortline model railroad.
Jim Boyd did a photo essay on the LS&BC in Railroad Model Craftsman (June of '72, I THINK…I have the issue at home).
If you can get to the library in LaSalle, Peru or Princeton, check the microfilms of the LaSalle News Tribune, as they covered the story pretty well as events played out. If you’re a traction fan, the Princeton library also is the repository for the late Duncan Bryant’s collection of photos, postcards and memorabilia regarding the Illinois Valley Division of the Illinois Traction System.
Don’t bother wasting your time with the LaSalle County Historical Society.
Hope this has been of some help,
Harold
Harold, I am originaly from Oglesby Ill. I was about the same age at the time. The reason I am looking for that info. A good friend of mine, Father owned a welding service. He had done some work on some cars for Carus Chemical. They were Penn Central cars. He asked if he should send the bill to Penn Central or Carus Chemical instead they sent him to the LS&BC office were he was paid in cash. He has alway’s wonderd if the cars he worked on were the stolen one’s.Next time I’m home I will check the Trib. out. Thank you much!!
TIM ARGUBRIGHT
P.S. The LS&BC was said to be owned by the Carus Family
I have a website for the LS&BC out on the web with the information I’ve gathered so far .
Hope it helps!