Part of Saline County, Illinois Showing Connecting with J.K. Dering Coal Co.

Mining coal in a county originally known for its salt.

This fascinating plan was prepared by the Office of the Chief Engineer of The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (The Big Four) Railway and is dated February 12, 1924, in the lower right corner. The large-scale image (1″ = 4000′) shows a productive coal-bearing region across the southeastern Illinois counties of Saline, Williamson, and Hamilton. Vast properties owned by the Allegheny Coal Company and the Chicago and Harrisburg Coal Company are outlined.

In addition, over two dozen different smaller mining operations are noted, along with the network of railroads connecting the mines to local communities and beyond. Of interest is the depiction (in green) of the short-lived Southern Illinois Railway & Power line, the only electric interurban railway in southern Illinois. The 15-mile route linked Carrier Mills to Eldorado via Harrisburg and operated between 1913 and 1933. Also of note is the purpose behind the map’s creation – a proposed route to Dering Mine #2, highlighted in yellow and boldly labeled.

This link between the mine and the C.C.C. & StL was apparently a point of serious contention. Dering went on to build the line privately, then propositioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to have The Big Four construct and maintain the switch connection. The case ultimately went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 1928 in the I.C.C.’s favor, setting a major precedent in railroad jurisprudence. The table of distances in the lower right may give one indication of the railroad’s reluctance – Dering’s mine property was among the furthest from the Harrisburg Yard (7.7 miles).

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