| The Hannibal Connecting RR was built in 1902 to connect the large, new Atlas Portland Cement plant at Ilasco with Hannibal, about three miles north. Although the CB&Q ran alongside their tracks, the line allowed Atlas to connect with the Katy and St Louis & Hannibal as well as the Burlington. The HC never had more than four steam locomotives at any one time, all supposedly 0-6-0Ts, with three on line by World War II. Diesels, first ex-Army Whitcombs and then a pair of Alco S1s, came in about 1947 and the line continued until abandoned in 1966. This shot appears to show the entire roster sitting in front of the road's brick engine house, which still stands in 2013. Number 2 may be a Manchester-built 0-6-0T from 1902. the date listed is pure speculation. |