> Seeking information about Little John Coal Company, Victoria, Illinois. > Possibly operating 1940's and/or earlier. > > Thank you > > Anna V > Sioux City, Iowa > > **********I can add this..when I was a little girl the L.J.C. Co. had/used a train called the "DOLLY" it carried the coal from Victoria to Wataga, and on to Galesburg. I lived a mile from the tracks--we reveled in waving and getting return waves from the engineers. My Mother and I were nearly hit by that train one summer day!! I believe L.J. entended farther than the Victoria mines. There was also another name used for the mining there and I cannot recall it.... hopefully, someone else will remember. the 'nickname' was connected to the type of mining done there. It is now refurbished w/ a lake/s and home sites. My nsg. school roommate lives in that area now and she may be able to add more info.(<HINT HINT, Eunice>) We had old mines on our farm-shafts, or "doorways" some of which had been covered, and some had not. "Never go in there" was the word, but we did it all the time. It was cool and damp. Somewhere in my collection of 'memorbalia' I still have a piece of coal from there. My elderly neighbor man had four fingers missing from one hand-he always told me he lost those in that mine. True? Not sure.<G> It was a big source of employment for the area into the forties. Hope this is interesting for you. ginny Wisconsin