A little "Heads Up" on Chester, Illinois....

[EVysther]

Hey all -

Lisa & I were out in St. Louis for a extended weekend towards the end of September, and, as part of it, we stopped by in Chester for a quick peek - no sinking, too cold and the river was at 24' - but we ran into a few locals who gave us some distressing news...

Apparently, the local railroad is trying to buy up all the land where all that great mud and QS is by Mary's River - from what this guy told us, they already bought the gravel road that leads up to the tracks...I'm no legal expert by any stretch but I find this a bit improbable...people fish, boat, swim, hike, camp, waterski, dirt bike and all sorts of recreational stuff out there - including our little pastime, but I digress...in all seriousness, what are they going to do, 24 hour cops monitoring the area?? It just sounds absurd, sorry.

Oh, I'm certain someone will try it, but how are you going realistically to enforce it? Anything is possible in this day and age and perhaps I'm too naive or optimistic - take your pick - but I just wanted this out there just in case it comes to pass so everyone has a fair warning.

[Nessie]

No!!!

I have some wonderful memories of Chester but I only got there once. And by now, that was way back in 2000. While I never saw the exact site you've mentioned here, the site I was at near Chester was lost too. The owner figured out that us mud folk were going there and started tossing us out (or so I heard). So yeah, if what I heard is true, we trespassed, but it's not like there was a sign posted anywhere and my mud partner and I honestly didn't know that it was anything but open land.

It pays to keep hunting and I always do. I have lost a site of my own to a trail that was built nearly right on the lakeshore (er, mudshore). Of course I moved on to other sinkings but it's never a happy feeling.

Nessie

[claykid]

being part of this hobby for better of 35 years, i have lost several sites that i had enjoyed at one time or another, you can look at these in two ways of course. One, everyone is trying to take our fun away from us or we need to put more emphasis on research and development , so lets all get our favorite exploring gear and go find another great spot.

[Duncan Edwards]

I wouldn't put too much credence in all that. My understanding is that the railroad owns that spot anyway. The road you speak of is to access the track switch that we all walk across and the piers for the railroad trestle. I drove down that spot this summer when the water was ridiculously high and nothing had changed.

What has changed is that the slurry ponds nearby are now either overgrown or gated and posted to keep out. That really hurt but there's always somewhere else.

[EVysther]

What has changed is that the slurry ponds nearby are now either overgrown or gated and posted to keep out. That really hurt but there's always somewhere else.

We can relate, Duncan - last time Lisa & I tried checking them out, there was a NO TRESPASSING sign - - and a small boat tied to a little pier.

Exit, stage left, in a hurry even!