September 2, 2018 – A CTA train picks up and drops off passengers at the Washington/Walbash Street Station, as it makes its way through the canyons of downtown Chicago, Illinois, with Trump Tower at the end of the street. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #cta #thechicagol #chicago
September 1, 2018 – St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad steam locomotive 1630 sits in the station at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, waiting for it’s 8pm run, as the last light of day begins to fade from the sky.
According to Wikipedia, the locomotive was built in 1918 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for use in Russia as a class Ye locomotive. However, it, along with approximately 200 other locomotives, remained in the United States, due to the inability of the Bolshevik government to pay for them, following the Russian Revolution.
1630 was converted from 5 ft (1,524 mm) Russian track gauge to 4 ft 8 1/2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. After being re-gauged, #1630 was sold to the USRA and was numbered 1147. Shortly after, 1147 was briefly leased for use on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In 1920, the locomotive was sold to the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway, where it was used as a mixed traffic engine. In 1951, the locomotive was sold to Eagle-Picher, who used it to haul lead ore from a mine to their smelter.
In 1967, the locomotive was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, in Union, Illinois, where they began restoring it in 1972, it returned to operating condition in 1974 and made its first revenue run. Sometime after arriving at the museum, 1630 was restored from her Eagle Picher appearance back to her Frisco appearance. 1630 was taken out of service in 2004, and after more than six years undergoing repairs and a federally mandated rebuild, it was returned to operational condition on October 30, 2013.
On Memorial Day weekend 2014, the locomotive returned to excursion service. In 2016, the locomotive received a cylinder overhaul, which according to Steam department curator, Nigel Bennett, made the locomotive, “probably more powerful than she has been since her [sic] first arrival at IRM in the 1970s.” The locomotive, during Memorial Day weekend 2016, pulled 137 empty coal cars in storage at the museum as what was considered to be one of the longest revenue freight trains powered by a steam locomotive in at least 25 years as said by IRM’s Steam department curator. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #steamtrains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #illinoisrailwaymuseum #steamtrain
September 2, 2018 – Boats make their way up and down the Chicago River as a CTA “L” Commuter train makes it’s way through the canyons of tall buildings as it crosses the river on the Lake Street Bridge in downtown Chicago, Illinois. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #cta #thechicagol #chicago
September 2, 2018 – An evening CTA “L” train makes its way across the Chicago River, on the Wells Street Bridge, as it heads toward the downtown Chicago, Illinois Loop. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #cta #thechicagol #chicago
September 1, 2018 – St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad steam locomotive 1630 passes through the crossing approaching the station at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois as the last light of day begins to fade from the sky.
According to Wikipedia, the locomotive was built in 1918 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for use in Russia as a class Ye locomotive. However, it, along with approximately 200 other locomotives, remained in the United States, due to the inability of the Bolshevik government to pay for them, following the Russian Revolution.
1630 was converted from 5 ft (1,524 mm) Russian track gauge to 4 ft 8 1/2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. After being re-gauged, #1630 was sold to the USRA and was numbered 1147. Shortly after, 1147 was briefly leased for use on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In 1920, the locomotive was sold to the St. Louis San Francisco Railway, where it was used as a mixed traffic engine. In 1951, the locomotive was sold to Eagle-Picher, who used it to haul lead ore from a mine to their smelter.
In 1967, the locomotive was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, in Union, Illinois, where they began restoring it in 1972, it returned to operating condition in 1974 and made its first revenue run. Sometime after arriving at the museum, 1630 was restored from her Eagle Picher appearance back to her Frisco appearance. 1630 was taken out of service in 2004, and after more than six years undergoing repairs and a federally mandated rebuild, it was returned to operational condition on October 30, 2013.
On Memorial Day weekend 2014, the locomotive returned to excursion service. In 2016, the locomotive received a cylinder overhaul, which according to Steam department curator, Nigel Bennett, made the locomotive, “probably more powerful than she has been since her [sic] first arrival at IRM in the 1970s.” The locomotive, during Memorial Day weekend 2016, pulled 137 empty coal cars in storage at the museum as what was considered to be one of the longest revenue freight trains powered by a steam locomotive in at least 25 years as said by IRM’s Steam department curator. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #steamtrains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #illinoisrailwaymuseum #steamtrain
I’m honored to find out that my photo of Chicago’s Tower 18 Interlocking has been has been selected as the First Place Winner in the 2017-2018 National Railroad Hall of Fame Photography Contest! If you make it to Galesburg Illinois for the Railroad Days Festival (June 23-24) stop by the public exhibition drop by and check out all the photographs in the exhibit!
March 23, 2018 – Three “L” Rapid transit trains pass through tower 18 junction, just down from the Chicago Transit Authority’s Clark/Lake Street Station, during the evening rush hour in Chicago, Illinois. For decades, the Tower 18 junction at Lake & Wells was billed as the busiest railroad junction in the world. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains#nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways#railway #cta #commutertrains.