Southeastern Illinois Railroads
Photo by David Cantrell
The proximity of the Ohio River to the railroads in the southeastern Illinois provided many benefits to the area. The trains carried passengers, freight, mail, and connected residents with professional services like doctors that may not have been available in every town. The railroads also brought a mechanism of communication between stations. Freight and passenger service was provided by the B&O and L&N railway companies to Shawneetown with freight service lasting the longest on both. Both railroads had depots there with connections to the Norfolk and Washington, DC Steamboat Company Steamers on the Ohio River that were part of the Evansville, Paducah, and Cairo Line owned and operated by the Tennessee and Ohio River Transportation Company.
The railroad history section of the site has been moved to a new home, southernillinoisrailroads.com. Check out the photos and history by clicking the button below. Thank you for stopping by my milepost.
In Memory of Wilson Mayberry
The B&O railroad did not run through Mayberry Township however, my grandfather, Wilson Mayberry on the right in the photo above, worked on the route between Flora and Shawneetown from 1941 to 1977 when he retired as a foreman. There were approximately 100 railroad bridges along the route and a yearly flooding season that complicated the maintenance of the line.
Wilson Mayberry B&O Railroad Foreman
Wilson Mayberry in his favorite straw hat and 1966 Chevy Pickup taken by Karen Mayberry
New Shawneetown Depot 2018 by David Cantrell
Section Man
Flora Mayberry's Papers