McHenry County News FRE
E
11512 N. 2nd ST. • MACHESNEY PARK, IL 61115 • (815) 654-4850 • www.McHenrycountynewspaper.com Display Advertising & Classifieds: 815-654-4850 • Circulation: 815-654-4854 • E-mail:McHenrynews@rvpublishing.com
Volume 7 Issue 24
JUNE 8, 2017
To Advertise In This Space Call 815-654-4850
Illinois Railway Museum opens for 2017 season The nation’s largest collection of historic railway equipment was on display and in operation for the public on Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29, to inaugurate the Illinois Railway Museum’s regular operating season. More than two dozen antique locomotives, passenger cars, electric streetcars, and cabooses were in operation and available for the public to ride. One of the stars of the show was the Frisco 1630, a steam locomotive built by Baldwin in 1918 for Russia but diverted for use in the United States following the Bolshevik Revolution. The locomotive returned to use after a winter of improvements and mechanical work performed by the museum’s volunteers. The Nebraska Zephyr, a fully restored 1930s streamliner that was featured in the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own,” was running on the May 28 and 29. For the first time in years, museum visitors had the opportunity to enjoy lunch in the original Art Deco dining car on the Zephyr. “We were excited to be serving lunch in the dining car just like they did in the 1930s, even using the original kitchen and stove,” said James Kolanowski, General Manager of the museum. “It was an opportunity for us to really give our visitors a window to another time.” Visitors to the museum were treated to other rarely-operated artifacts as well, including the last “Green Hornet” streetcar from Chicago, wooden interurban coaches and “L” cars more than a century old, and electric trolley buses similar to the ones used in Chicago as late as 1973. A caboose train was available for rides throughout the weekend. On May 29, a train of bright orange electric cars known as the “Tangerine Limited,” that once operated between St. Louis and Peoria on the Illinois Terminal Railroad, carried passengers for the first time in sever-
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTOS McHenry County News
The Nebraska Zephyr’s executive chef John Rockey takes a moment to confer with conductor Jim West on Memorial Day at the Illinois Railway Museum.
al years. “We had a lot of trains running, including some really exciting opportunities,” stated Nick Kallas, Executive Director of the museum. “It was a great time to see what the museum is really all about.” The Illinois Railway Museum, a
“Museum in Motion,” is the largest museum of its kind in the United States. The museum was founded in 1953 and is located 35 miles northwest of O’Hare in Union, McHenry County. It encompasses all aspects of rail-
way history including steam and diesel locomotives, electric streetcars and elevated cars, and historic passenger and freight cars, which are operated on the museum’s 150-acre site and 4.5-mile long railroad. The museum, a nonprofit educa-
tional organization, is owned and operated by volunteers and relies entirely on visitors and donors to fund its preservation efforts. For more information on this, or other events scheduled throughout the year, visit www.irm.org.
Crowds waited to board the Nebraska Zephyr and enjoy lunch aboard the historic, moving train on opening weekend at the Illinois Railway Museum