BNSF 32428 Leaving Mt. Morris, IL 5-30-96 resized

            At one time, the Mt. Morris Branch was part of the CB&Q's gateway to the Mississippi River via the Illinois Central at what is now East Dubuque, Ill. This branch extended to Forreston and a connection to the IC's "Gruber" line, which itself was the IC's charter line. The Mt. Morris-Forreston segment was abandoned in the early 1930s. It's amazing that segment last that long as the "Q" started building west from Oregon to Savanna in the early 1880s and reached St. Paul a few years later. 

For many years, Mt. Morris was considered to be the "shining city on the hill" as it was the hub of magazine printing and magazine fulfillment, and one of the wealthiest communities in Ogle County. At one time, Mt. Morris was the second biggest post office in volume, with only Chicago ahead of it as trainloads of printed material left for subscribers. 

By the mid-1990s the printing business in Mt. Morris was fading, and the BN/BNSF worked the printing plant two-three times per week. Printed material no longer went by rail, so the only traffic was boxcars of paper inbound, and then empties outbound. 

I made it a point to shoot the BN/BNSF local out of Rochelle that worked Oregon and Mt. Morris as much as I could in the mid-1990s. One such catch was on May 30, 1996 when I chased 32428 up the branch and back. 

Quad Graphics bought the printing plant in mid-2000s, and shuttered the plant in 2010. There are now trees growing through the right of way in many locations between Mt. Morris to a location a few miles west of Oregon.

Taken on: July 3, 2024

Stats: 522 views / 2 comments

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