Report upon the Preliminary Survey of the First Two Divisions of the Sheffield & Savannah Railroad with a Map Showing its Connections

“The whole project appears feasible, and should incite those most directly, to give it their attention – different roads too often look upon all others as rivals, but many roads yet remain to be built, which must benefit different interests, and which should be advanced by all.” – pg. 7.

This uncommon and ephemeral report outlines the results of a preliminary survey for an Illinois railroad connecting the agricultural community of Sheffield with the Mississippi River port of Savannah. The proposed Sheffield & Savannah Railroad, with stops at Prophetstown and Albany, was envisioned as a subsidiary of the Chicago & Rock Island, connecting the agricultural production of northern Illinois with steamboat lines on the Mississippi. It would also connect with several other prominent Midwestern railroads, although the competitive nature of the industry presented an obvious challenge to the development of new lines, as suggested by the quotation above.

The survey was conducted by civil engineer W. G. Wheaton, whose findings are notably optimistic. More than a dozen pages outline the local topography and economic advantages of the proposed route, describe the line in detail, and discuss construction considerations. Detailed estimates place the total cost at approximately $800,000 for nearly 45 miles of track. A fold-out map at the back, also attributed to Wheaton, depicts the existing and proposed railroad network between Chicago, St. Louis, and Iowa City. The Sheffield & Savannah, along with a proposed extension to Independence, Iowa, has been traced in red by a previous owner.

The map was lithographed by Henry Acheson, an early and important Chicago lithographer, while the report was printed in Rock Island in 1856 by T. R. Raymond’s Printing House. The Sheffield & Savannah Railroad was ultimately never constructed, making this report a particularly useful record of one of the many 19th-century railroad projects that remained on paper rather than becoming an operating line.