The first railroad in McHenry County came in 1855 and was the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. Galena had the lead deposits and was considered to be THE CITY in Illinois at the time. However, Chicago's William Butler Ogden decided he wanted his town to be number one and started building railroads westward to insure that came to be.
Only, he decided not to use his own money as he headed westward. He went to farmers along the projected path and asked them for money to fund it., telling them it would be a great way to get their dairy products to market both cheaply and quickly.
The line was built to Turner Junction and then headed northwest to Elgin, Carpentersville, Algonquin and Crystal Lake. However, there was a problem at Crystal Lake as the Chicago St Paul and Fondulac Railroad was fast approaching that place. This line had been built as an alternative to Lake Michigan which was always frozen over in the winter.
There was a race to get to a bridge just east of that town.
In 1852, the first tracks were laid to Union and Marengo. From Marengo, the railroad followed along the Old U.S. Military Trail that ran from there to Galena and had been used during the Black Hawk War. Today, US-20 (The U.S. Grant Highway) runs along it.
"Pounding Spikes" As Frank Would Say. --Cooter
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