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Joliet, Illinois, circa 1901. "Chicago & Alton Railroad. Track elevating at grade crossing." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Oops, I was wrong. I would have sworn I saw a pony truck but I would still be wrong. There does seem to be a lot of empty space in front and I'm betting you are correct that it was a conversion. this was in the days when railroads built and maintained things to last forever. It very well could be a American conversion.
A Prairie would be a 2-6-2, but in any case I don't see either a leading or trailing truck. It looks to me like an older (1870s-'80s) Mogul converted to a switcher by removing the leading truck; B&O did that to one of theirs about this time. It could even have been an older American with an extra driver added.
Seems like the 0-6-0 layout wasn't common in US locomotives at any time. Could this be a specialized switch engine or something?
From the partly buried fence posts next to the right-of-way and the naked dirt of the visible rail bed it looks like the railroad has raised their grade around three feet or so, whoever was maintaining that road had some shovel-work ahead of them.
Whatever these guys are doing here, it looks like hard work.
Nice of the railroad to be so considerate of those traveling down that road!
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