Engineer Ed Dickens, left, conductor and others on the right on Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 crew keep an eye on the tracks ahead as they round the curve after crossing the Kaskaskia River bridge on the UP Chester Subdivision at Brewerville, Illinois, as they make the way to St. Louis, MO, the last stop on this leg of their journey on August 28th, 2021
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 195mm, f/5.3, 1/1600, ISO 160.
J. Neils Lumber Company Shay number 5 pulls out of the station at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) with a caboose train on September 16th, 2023, during the museum’s 70th anniversary celebration weekend at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM Website: J. Neils Lumber Company 5 is the museum’s only geared locomotive. It is a Shay, designed with three cylinders mounted vertically on the engineer’s side that power a drive shaft running the length of the engine alongside the wheels. This allows all wheels to be powered using bevel gears. Shays were extremely slow but were powerful and could negotiate uneven track and sharp curves, making them popular with logging and mining companies.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon 70-300 @ 135mm, f/4.6 1/1250, ISO 500.
J. Neils Lumber Company Shay number 5 sits in the station at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) at night as they wait to depart with a pull, push, caboose train, with Commonwealth Edison 4 on the other end, on September 16th, 2023, during the museum’s 70th anniversary celebration weekend at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM Website: J. Neils Lumber Company 5 is the museum’s only geared locomotive. It is a Shay, designed with three cylinders mounted vertically on the engineer’s side that power a drive shaft running the length of the engine alongside the wheels. This allows all wheels to be powered using bevel gears. Shays were extremely slow but were powerful and could negotiate uneven track and sharp curves, making them popular with logging and mining companies.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon 10-24 @ 24mm, f/3.5, 30 seconds, ISO 160.
This week’s rail action is a lot of different power and railroads around Tolono, Illinois on the CN Champaign Subdivision and the NS Lafayette District. At this busy location we see Illinois Central, BNSF, CN and Amtrak power! Enjoy and please Like! Share and Subscribe! Thanks for watching!
The Conductor and Engineer carry on a conversation in the cab of Frisco 1630 on September 16th, 2023, during the Illinois Railway Museums 70th Anniversary Weekend at Union, Illinois, as they wait for their next passenger run from the depot.
According to their website: St. Louis – San Francisco Railroad (“Frisco”) 1630 is the museum’s most famous steam engine. A “Russian Decapod,” it was built in 1918 for export to Russia but was embargoed when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Instead, the newly completed engine was sold to the Frisco, which used it in both freight and passenger service into the 1950s. The Frisco later sold it to Eagle-Picher Mining, where it saw use hauling freight and aggregate trains until the mid-1960s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @ 70mm, f/4.5, 1/1250, ISO 5000.
Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 749 pulls onto the main after passing Frisco 1630 at Seeman Road on September 16th, 2023, during the Illinois Railway Museums 70th Anniversary Weekend at Union, Illinois.
According to their website: Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 749 is a high-speed steel interurban coach designed for use between Chicago and Milwaukee. It is the only car of its series of Pullman-built cars to be preserved and has been completely restored by IRM volunteers to its appearance in the late 1950s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @ 105mm, f/4.5, 1/200, ISO 1800.
Colorful light from signals along with the smoke from Steam locomotive Frisco 1630 help provide a dramatic night photo as it sits in the station at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) during their 70th anniversary weekend in Union, Illinois, waiting to depart on the evening of September 16th, 2023.
According to IRM website: St. Louis – San Francisco Railroad (Frisco) 1630 is the museum’s most famous steam engine. A Russian Decapod, it was built in 1918 for export to Russia but was embargoed when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Instead, the newly completed engine was sold to the Frisco, which used it in both freight and passenger service into the 1950s. The Frisco later sold it to Eagle-Picher Mining, where it saw use hauling freight and aggregate trains until the mid-1960s. It arrived at the IRM in 1967.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @15mm, f/4, 30 Seconds, ISO 100.
Digital Photo Art – Illinois Terminal interurban coach 101 sits on the main next to the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in the dark on September 16th, 2023, as it waits for a green signal to proceed at Union Illinois, during the IRM 70th Anniversary celebration where the museum ran trains continuously from 11am Saturday morning to 5pm Sunday afternoon, which gave a rare opportunity to photograph much of their equipment during nighttime hours.
According to the IRM website: Illinois Terminal 101 is a rare example of a center-entrance interurban coach. It operated its entire service life between St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. These cars were built for high-speed operation and were known as “Yellowhammers” and “Alton High-speeds.” The car has been restored to its appearance in the mid-1950s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @24mm, f/4.5, 30 Seconds, ISO 100.
Indiana Railroad 65 Interurban Car sits at the west end of the station platform, ahead of Illinois Terminal interurban coach 101 and Frisco 1530 steam locomotive as it waits to depart the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) on the wet and rainy evening of September 16th, 2023, during the IRM 70th Anniversary at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM website: Indiana Railroad 65 was the first piece of equipment IRM ever acquired, becoming the museums “mother car” when the museum purchased it for preservation in 1953. When it was new in 1931 it was among the most modern interurban cars in the world, a lightweight coach designed for high-speed operation across the Indiana Railroad interurban network. Car 65 was one of the last interurban cars in use when IRR closed out operations in 1941. Museum volunteers have completely restored car 65 to its appearance while in service in Indiana in the 1930s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @18mm, f/4.5, 30 Seconds, ISO 100.
Digital Art Photo – September 16th, 2023 – J. Neils Lumber Company Shay #5 sits at the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois at night, waiting to make another night run, during the museum’s 70th Anniversary Celebration.
According to their website, J. Neils Lumber Company 5 is the museum’s only geared locomotive and was built in 1929 by the Lima Locomotive Works. It is designed with three cylinders mounted vertically on the engineer’s side that powers a drive shaft running the length of the engine alongside the wheels. This allows all wheels to be powered using bevel gears. Shays were extremely slow but were powerful and could negotiate uneven track and sharp curves, making them popular with logging and mining companies.
Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Nebraska Zephyr “Silver Pilot” makes its way east from the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM), Union, Illinois on September 16th, 2023, with its passenger trainset during the museums 70th Anniversary celebration. The IRM ran trains continuously from 11am on Saturday until 5pm Sunday during the event.
According to the IRM website: The Nebraska Zephyr is the most famous train at the Illinois Railway Museum. It is an articulated streamlined train built entirely of stainless steel. The train is known as the “Train of the Goddesses” because each of its five cars is named after a classical deity. It is the only complete Zephyr train from the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad in operation today.
When it was built, the Nebraska Zephyr was pulled by a two-unit set of “shovel nose” diesels. In later years it was commonly hauled by stainless steel E5 passenger diesels, and today the train is still hauled by the last surviving E5, CB&Q 9911A “Silver Pilot.”
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 130
Commonwealth Edison 4 sits in the station at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) at night as they wait to depart with a pull, push, caboose train, with Shay #5 on the other end, on September 16th, 2023, during the museums 70th anniversary celebration weekend at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM Website: Commonwealth Edison 4 is a “steeplecab” electric locomotive. It is the oldest preserved electric locomotive with articulated trucks, a design where the truck frames are connected together and carry all buffering forces. It hauled coal trains around the Northwest Generating Station in Chicago for 50 years until acquired by IRM in 1962.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon 10-24 @ 24mm, f/4.5, 30 seconds, ISO 100.
Steam locomotive Frisco 1630 passes Spaulding Tower as it enters the grounds of the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) on a passenger, during their 70th anniversary weekend in Union, Illinois on September 16th, 2023.
According to IRM website: At locations where railroads crossed each other at grade (i.e. at the same level), it was usually necessary to install an interlocking tower. This was a manned building, usually two stories tall for better visibility from the tower, where one or more “tower men” would operate the signals and switches governing train traffic through the crossing.
This interlocking tower was located at Spaulding, a railroad stop on the east side of Elgin, IL, where the Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific (the Milwaukee Road) crossed the Elgin Joliet & Eastern. Spaulding Tower was built by the EJ&E around 1891 and was enlarged to its current 12’x30′ footprint in 1909, when the Milwaukee Road double-tracked its main line through Spaulding.
Around the 1980s the tower was made redundant by the installation of remote interlocking equipment, and it was moved to IRM in several large pieces in August 1988. It has been restored to its 1909 appearance and is used regularly to control train movements on the museum’s demonstration railroad using a restored CTC (Centralized Traffic Control) machine located on the upper floor.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 130
Illinois Terminal interurban coach 101 waits to depart as another Interurban puts on a light show as it pulls from the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) on the wet and rainy evening of September 16th, 2023. Behind 101 is Frisco 1630 waiting to pull forward after 101 departs, during the IRM 70th Anniversary at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM website: Illinois Terminal 101 is a rare example of a center-entrance interurban coach. It operated its entire service life between St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. These cars were built for high-speed operation and were known as “Yellowhammers” and “Alton High-speeds.” The car has been restored to its appearance in the mid-1950s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @18mm, f/4.52, 30 Seconds, ISO 100.
Digital Art Photo – September 16th, 2023 – St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad steam locomotive 1630 pulls into the depot at Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
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.
Frisco 1630 approaches the siding at the Seeman Road crossing at Union, Illinois as it heads east with a passenger train, during the 70th Anniversary Weekend Celebration for the Illinois Railway Museum at Union on September 16th, 2023.
According to the IRM website: St. Louis – San Francisco Railroad (“Frisco”) 1630 is the museum’s most famous steam engine. A “Russian Decapod,” it was built in 1918 for export to Russia but was embargoed when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Instead, the newly completed engine was sold to the Frisco, which used it in both freight and passenger service into the 1950s. The Frisco later sold it to Eagle-Picher Mining, where it saw use hauling freight and aggregate trains until the mid-1960s. It arrived at the IRM in 1967.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 1000.
The color from the red signal gives the look of fall color as Illinois Terminal interurban coach 101 sits on the main next to the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in the dark on September 16th, 2023. It waits for a green signal to proceed at Union Illinois, during the IRM 70th Anniversary celebration where the museum ran trains continuously from 11am Saturday morning to 5pm Sunday afternoon, which gave a rare opportunity to photograph much of their equipment during nighttime hours.
According to the IRM website: Illinois Terminal 101 is a rare example of a center-entrance interurban coach. It operated its entire service life between St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. These cars were built for high-speed operation and were known as “Yellowhammers” and “Alton High-speeds.” The car has been restored to its appearance in the mid-1950s.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @24mm, f/4.5, 30 Seconds, ISO 100.
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Steam locomotive Frisco 1630 pulls a mixed freight through the early morning countryside, from the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) during their 70th anniversary weekend in Union, Illinois. We were told this train would run at 7am and when we arrived at the location at 6:30am it was already approaching! Still, I like this shot I got across the fields, although I had hoped to put the drone up. Didnt even get to the crossing and they never made a second run to this point.
According to IRM website: St. Louis San Francisco Railroad (Frisco) 1630 is the museums most famous steam engine. A Russian Decapod, it was built in 1918 for export to Russia but was embargoed when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Instead, the newly completed engine was sold to the Frisco, which used it in both freight and passenger service into the 1950s. The Frisco later sold it to Eagle-Picher Mining, where it saw use hauling freight and aggregate trains until the mid-1960s. It arrived at the IRM in 1967.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @180mm, f/5, 1/200, ISO 9050.
This weeks’ video we catch trains during my visit last weekend to the Illinois Railway Museum at Union, Illinois for their 70th Anniversary Weekend celebration. Enjoy; please like, share, subscribe and thanks for watching!
Bathed in the light from a red signal, Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Nebraska Zephyr “Silver Pilot” sits at the depot at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM), Union, Illinois on September 16th, 2023, as it waits for its next night run as part of the museum’s 70th Anniversary celebration. The IRM ran trains continuously from 11am on Saturday until 5pm Sunday during the event.
According to the IRM website: The Nebraska Zephyr is the most famous train at the Illinois Railway Museum. It is an articulated streamlined train built entirely of stainless steel. The train is known as the “Train of the Goddesses” because each of its five cars is named after a classical deity. It is the only complete Zephyr train from the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad in operation today.
When it was built, the Nebraska Zephyr was pulled by a two-unit set of “shovel nose” diesels. In later years it was commonly hauled by stainless steel E5 passenger diesels, and today the train is still hauled by the last surviving E5, CB&Q 9911A “Silver Pilot.”
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon 10-24 @ 16mm, f/4, 15 seconds, ISO 100.
Steam locomotive Frisco 1630 makes its’ way east through the countryside after leaving the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) on a passenger, during their 70th anniversary weekend in Union, Illinois on September 16th, 2023.
According to IRM website: St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad (“Frisco”) 1630 is the museums most famous steam engine. A “Russian Decapod,” it was built in 1918 for export to Russia but was embargoed when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Instead, the newly completed engine was sold to the Frisco, which used it in both freight and passenger service into the 1950s. The Frisco later sold it to Eagle-Picher Mining, where it saw use hauling freight and aggregate trains until the mid-1960s. It arrived at the IRM in 1967.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 120