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Sandy's Corner

If you love trains, there’s great news!

Sandy Dickson

Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in Union, Illinois (in McHenry County) is a rare opportunity to see about as many rail types of transportation as were ever made in this country. That includes nine different types of locomotions in one place: steam, electric, diesel, straight gas engine, gas and electric turbine, as well as diesel electric, gas electric, turbine electric and even human and horse drawn things. (The human-powered would be the lever powered handcars that served as carts being hand pumped down the rails to tend
to repairs needed.) There are street cars and cable cars, commuter trains, interurban trains, cross-country passenger trains and freight trains to be seen there and included in the 400 locomotives and railway cars. It’s the U.S.’s largest collection of railroad ‘rolling stock.’

IRM Vol.-IRM volunteer Ray Beilock is one of the many volunteers there who devotes his spare time to doing whatever needs doing to the trains on premises and is  very  knowledgeable as well as generous and helpful with his information about varied trains there.

Some of these pieces of history are operational and tourists can enjoy hopping aboard and riding through a bit of the surrounding countryside for about half an hour.
Many have been carefully and lovingly restored to their original glory by devoted volunteers spending numerous hours and months at these projects. When they are finished with one, they begin another, so their work is never done.

This old caboose will be a familiar sight to many who remember them on the rails

Many of the cars on display are sheltered in large barns where they are kept away from the elements, though spectators are welcome to peruse through the buildings and enjoy seeing these relics from the outside. All have explanatory signs about
their statistics and history. Other trains are out in the open, but well refurbished and maintained, while still others rest in more of a back lot clearly like a cemetery where they are resting in peace, but still serving as nostalgic relics that can be viewed by the public.

Yellow Caboose

Trains that served all over the country as passenger or freight trains will bring a bit of nostalgia to people who remember those great trains roaring past the train signals that barred the cars from crossing the tracks while they speed by in the towns of their childhood. Trains can be seen there  from the North Shore line, such as the turquoise and orange Electro-Liner that provided five non-stop trips daily between Milwaukee to Chicago at speeds of up to 100 m.p.h.

Speaking of train signals, there is a generous array of them on display too, outside between two of the barns that can be easily inspected by the curious visitors.

IRM 3 trains: At the far right, is the very engine Casey Jones is to have operated. The red and yellow Union Pacific is a gas turbine electric; the largest at 166 feet and with 10,000 horsepower diesel, the most powerful internal combustion locomotive ever built. If left sitting under a bridge with concrete overpass, it generated enough heat to melt the concrete above. However, they were not fuel-efficient and were retired in 1969.

Of the 25 steam locomotives on the vast property, there is one type from Illinois Central Line that ran from about 1863 to 1900. The only one left in existence is believed to have been operated by the acclaimed engineer, Casey Jones himself. Casey Jones was noted for not only his great ability to handle fast trains, but for being able to make his custom-made train whistles sing out in tunes that no one else could make quite make them perform, allowing people miles away to know a Casey Jones-operated train.

IRM Lrg train wheels: This oil-fueled Northern 1943 Santa Fe dinosaur with 80 inch driving wheels was the heaviest Northern ever built, with operating weight of 975,000 pounds, due to wartime restrictions on lightweight alloys. It displayed for three decades at Chicago Museum of Science and Industry before being donated to IRM in 1995. It required two miles of temporary track along North Shore Drive to be transported to its current location.

Special events occur on periodic basis, such as on August 17, 18 &19 when Thomas the Tank Engine makes an appearance and August 25 and 26 when he returns.

Other special events are scheduled as well, such as the annual vintage transport, on August 5.

Visit the IRM website: irm.org for museum operating hours, fares and special events, or call 815 923-4000 or 1-800 BIG RAIL.    

Admissions vary between days and weekends, adults being $6.50/$9.50 with children being $4.50/$8.40. Seniors receive discounted prices also. Special admissions apply for certain presentations. Address us 7000 Olson Road, union, Illinois 60180

Copyright © 2007 Sandy Dickson. All rights reserved.