Ashdale Junction, Illinois

Ashdale Junction is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. Ashdale Junction is located along the Milwaukee Road railroad line east of Mount Carroll.

Ashdale Junction, Illinois
Unincorporated community
Ashdale Junction, Illinois Show map of Illinois Ashdale Junction, Illinois Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 42°05′06″N 89°55′28″W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Carroll
Elevation	820 ft (250 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)	815 & 779
GNIS feature ID	422418[1]

Ashdale Junction marks the former site of the junction between the main line of the Milwaukee Road and the "Ashdale cutoff," which allowed some trains to bypass the yard and steep grade at Savanna, rejoining the main line at Ebner. The 15-mile cutoff, running along Johnson Creek, was built by the "Ashdale and Thomson Railroad" (a subsidiary of the Milwaukee Road) in 1902, and began carrying trains such as the Southwest Limited in 1903.[2]^:43 It was part of a larger bypass project running across Iowa, called the "Kansas City Cutoff."[2]^:161 The Ashdale cutoff was abandoned in 1952.

There was no terminal at Ashdale,[3] but passenger trains stopped there at least as late as 1912; it was the only stop between Lanark and Mount Carroll.[4]

References

1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. Scribbins, Jim (2008) [1990]. Milwaukee Road Remembered. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816666621. OCLC 437119949.
3. National Railroad Adjustment Board (1938). Awards. p. 359.
4. "The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway and Pacific Coast Extension". Frances Shimer Quarterly. 4 (1). Shimer College. April 1911. p. 57.

Preceding station	Milwaukee Road			Following station
Mount Carroll towards Omaha		Omaha – Chicago		Kittredge towards Chicago
Argo Fay towards Kansas City		Kansas City – Savanna		Terminus