Alan,

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Thanks for taking me down Joliet Memory Lane.  

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I especially enjoyed hearing about First Pres and its change from east to west.

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During my quest to become more knowledgeable ​about railroads, I came across these block busters:

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   Abraham Lincoln's

oldest son Robert

became a Railroad Baron

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 William Van Horne, the son of Joliet's first mayor, not only became a Railroad Baron but was knighted by Queen Victoria for building the Canadian Transcontinental Railroad

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Van Horne's relative, Samuel Reed

(think Reed Street in Joliet)

served as construction superintendent (2nd in command)  behind Grenville Dodge for the Union Pacific as it built across the frontier to meet the Central Pacific in Utah.

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