Unknown RR Yard

Jim Baker · **Posted:** Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:09 pm

Save Our Heritage Organization is an historical preservation group in San Diego, mostly relating to historic buildings. They recently posted this photo on their Facebook page, stating that is was a photo of yards in San Diego, late 1960's or early 1970's. Having been born in San Diego, and lived here for just about all of my 74 years, in my opinion this is NOT San Diego. Pillsbury certainly didn't have an operation as large as shown.They also provide a link to Google Earth that supposedly shows the same location at the present time. The link does, in fact, show the SDIV, and Diego Trolley and BNSF yards.

Anyone recognize the photo?

Thanks

Paul-NC · **Joined:** Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:26 am **Posts:** 60

From Photos on the web it looks like the Pillsbury Mill and C&IM yard in Springfield,IL

http://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=1541

http://visuals.sj-r.com/pillsburys-best/

Paul

Dave · **Posted:** Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:55 pm

Your Sanborn or other industrial maps should provide you with all the information you require to verify or disprove. No doubt somebody in that historic organization knows where such information can be found, generally in a public library or university archive. The searches are fun, and you discover a lot of really interesting things to distract yourself in the process.

softwerkslex · **Posted:** Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:01 pm

Yeah, I see a lot of CIM gondolas in the yard. What is the chance they would be routed to San Diego?

Jim Baker · **Posted:** Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:22 pm

Sure looks like Springfield! Photos taken from opposite sides of the Pillsbury plant, but I can pick out some of the same smaller buildings in the yard. Thanks a lot!

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

historic aerials may get you more cross reference..maybe

Mike Swanson · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:04 am

Ditto here on this being Springfield. I'm from California myself, and there's nothing in that photo that I'd recognize as being in any part of that state. C&IM wouldn't have had customers farther west than St. Louis (or possibly KC), and I know darn well that Pillsbury never had facilities that size anywhere in CA. Other sure signs that this isn't San Diego are snow on the ground (it can get cold enough for that, but only on very rare occasions, and usually not when there's storm clouds around), the four cabeese in the lower left corner are definitely not Santa Fe or SD&AE/Espee hacks, and the lone SW/NW unit just to the left of those cabeese doesn't look like it belongs to any of those roads either. Midwestern, yes; anywhere in CA, nope.

Jim Baker · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:16 am

I actually mis-stated where the photo was posted. It was on Vintage San Diego's Facebook page, with credit given to SOHO.