Talk:Chapin, Illinois

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[edit] History of Chapin, Illinois

As a child in the 60's, I spent a lot of time in Chapin at my grandmothers mini-farm. I mostly remember the awesome trains that rolled through this small village. The east-west line was the Mighty Wabash. The north-south line was the "CB&Q" as we called it. (Chicago Burlington and Quincy). This railroad later became the Burlington Route and later the Burlington Northern Railroad. The day the Wabash became the Norfolk & Western was a sad day for me. The mighty Wabash train that came through every night at about 2:00 AM CST was nicknamed "The Bullet" by my grandmother. It would rattle the windows as it roared through Chapin. My uncle worked at Farmers Elevator in Chapin. It was located directly on the CB & Q Railroad. The railroad spur that connected the Wabash line to the CB & Q line went directly through grandmother's place. I watched in awe when they would open the spur and transfer cars of grain from the elevator to the Wabash trains. Even more impressive was the intersection of the two great railroads in downtown Chapin in front of the old historic Rankin Hotel operated at that time by owners John and Ethel Rankin. By then, a victim of the loss of passenger train service that once filled the two story hotel to capacity. All that remained in the 60's was a small soda fountain and a nickel pin ball machine. The other great memory is shopping in the Onken General Store. (pictured elsewhere in the article) The history alone in the massive store was breathtaking and I would spend hours looking at the turn of the century wares for sale. I have seen and read some newspaper articles on the store and probably can be researched on the specific newspaper sights. The Jacksonville Journal Courior is one possibility. Another faded memory event was the annual Chapin Burgoo. I would watch the soup being made in large kettles overnight and served the next day to the cutomers. It was a very social event. The nearest ongoing Burgoo closest to Chapin today is at Arenzville IL. You may research this Morgan County Illinois tradition at www.burgoo.org/ LAMoore54 (talk) 19:13, 10 June 2008 (UTC)