Mattoon's 'Big Dig' railroad project focus of new exhibit (2024)

MATTOON — This communityis home to a marvel of early 20th century engineering that is often overlooked because it is below street level.

Illinois Central Railroad began construction on that marvel in 1914 as part of a project nicknamed the "Big Dig." More than a century later, this excavated rail route is still enabling trains to pass under bridges on Lake Land Boulevard and Broadway, Richmond, Champaign and DeWitt avenues.

The Mattoon Public Library's Local History Center this week opened a new permanent exhibit, "The Million Dollar Dig," with the goal of helping community members learn about the "Big Dig."

"They don't realize that was a major project back in the day to excavate that route to lower the tracks," curator Chris Suerdieck said.

Illinois Central felt compelled to construct this "subway" so that its north-south trains would not be delayed by the Big Four Railroads east-west trains and block city streets in the process,Suerdieck said.

Excavation of this route spanned three years and required contractor J.D. Construction Co. of Monmouth to bring in a 63-car train of heavy equipment, including three steam shovels.

Mayor Rick Hall was among the first visitors this week to see the completed exhibit. He said it wasalmost unbelievable what the contractors were able to accomplish with early 1900s equipment, particularly how much earth they moved.

"It was one of the biggest digs for sure in Illinois, but even in the United States," Hall said. One of the exhibits many information panels notes that more than 30,000 train carloads of dirt were removed, much of it going to build up a freight yard on Marshall Avenue and the rural Magnet rail crossing.

Suerdieck said the project also entailed building temporary wooden bridges over the lowered tracks and later replacing them with permanent concrete bridges, components of which are still in use to this day.

The "Big Dig" received coverage at the time from both the "Engineering Record" and "Engineering News" trade publications. Illinois Central's own photographers also chronicled the construction process.

With the help of donors, Suerdieck said the Local History Center recently acquired 70 glass plate negatives of the Illinois Central photographs. He said these images, many of which have never been published before, form the cornerstone of the new exhibit.

"We couldn't let those images leave town. They are so important to the history of Mattoon," Suerdieck said.

The new permanent exhibit also features more than 200 other photos from the Local History Center's archives.

These images help convey the origins of Mattoon's rail system, including the 1916-1918 construction of the Illinois Central depot that remains in use as an Amtrak stationand a Coles County Historical Society museum.

Railroad buildings pictured in the exhibit also include the Illinois Central warehouse that is now home to Lake Land Florals & Gifts, 405 Lake Land Boulevard.

Many artifacts are also on display as part of the exhibit in the lower level of the library, including New York Central System dining car dishes, an Illinois Central Panama Limited dining menu, and a complete set of Big Four Railroad valuation maps.

Suerdieck said the valuation maps provide a highly detailed look at the Big Four's former east-west railroad infrastructure fromLogan Avenue to 32nd Street. This includes the massive roundhouse site for servicing locomotives that has since become the Roundhouse Sports Complex.

The curator said he feels that "The Million Dollar Dig" exhibit will draw both community members interested in different aspects of local history and railroad buffs

"I think we will get a lot of attention because of that exhibit he put together," Hall said. "I think the railroad enthusiasts, when they see that, are going to go crazy about how interesting it is."