I Caught A Cold Visiting America’s Largest Train Museum. Here’s Why It Was Totally Worth It

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This week has been rough on my high-mileage immune system. During the weekend, I stood outside in freezing temperatures and snowfall at the reopening of America’s largest train museum, and it seems I also came into contact with a virus. But it was totally worth it because I got to see and ride some awesome historic trains here in Illinois.

Last weekend marked the reopening of one of my favorite museums in America. The Illinois Railway Museum temporarily closed its gates at the end of December, and save for just a single weekend in January, its more than 450 pieces of train and transit history have to wait for spring to bring joy to visitors once again. This year marks an important milestone for the museum, as it’s been 70 years since ten men threw in $100 each to purchase Indiana Railroad car number 65. What originally started as a group of rail fans saving a piece of transit history from the scrapper grew into America’s largest train museum. And this isn’t just a place where trains sit and never move again, as the volunteer-run museum actually keeps a bunch of equipment operational.

Celebrating Midwest Transit History

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IRM kicked off its celebrations of 70 years of operation last weekend. On Saturday, the museum commemorated 60 years since a major interurban operation was abandoned. Here’s what I’m talking about, from IRM:

On January 21st, festivities will kick off when IRM will commemorate 60 years since the abandonment of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, an electric interurban which ran between its namesake cities from 1908 until a frigid cold January 21st, 1963. The “North Shore Line”, as it was known, offered fast hourly trains from the Loop in downtown Chicago to downtown Milwaukee, as well as intensive commuter service through the North Shore suburbs to Mundelein and Waukegan. The railroad prided itself on its personal service, and even offered parlor and dining services on many trains. It was the home of the famed Electroliners, a pair of electric articulated streamlined trains bought by the railroad in 1941. The railroad had a charm about it which attracted many railfans, who mourned its passing in 1963.

Today the North Shore Line is fondly remembered as one of the premier interurban operations in the United States.

My wife Sheryl and I missed the North Shore Line Day event, but we were able to visit the next day for Cabin Fever Day. IRM figured that since its volunteers did all of the work pulling its rail equipment out of hibernation for the North Shore Line Day, they might as well pull out some other favorites and perhaps a surprise or two. The forecast called for 32-degree temperatures and snowfall throughout the whole event. It wasn’t looking ideal, but IRM promised beautiful diesel power and I couldn’t resist.

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Upon arrival at IRM, I noticed that the Electroliner was parked at the 50th Avenue Rapid Transit Station. I’ve said it before, but it’s so cool that I’ll say it again, this is a real transit station that was originally built in 1910 by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company. IRM’s volunteers hauled the thing from its original spot near Chicago to the museum.

The Electroliner

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As the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transit Historical Society writes, in 1938 the North Shore Line was in trouble. Ridership saw its first decline in 1927. Then in 1931, the Line took a dive. Revenues plummeted and despite salary cuts and suspended dividends, the North Shore Line ended the year with a loss. The losses deepened the next year and the Line found itself unable to pay its bills. Yet, the North Shore Line pulled its way through the Great Depression as other lines, like so many businesses, faltered.

Interurban trains–streetcar-like self-propelled units that raced between towns and cities–were threatened by the rise of the car. As Bloomberg reports, the interurban peaked in 1916, when there were 15,580 miles of interurban lines in the United States. The interurban had only been around for a few decades by this time, and as the car became more popular, interurban lines lost ridership.

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In 1938, a 51-day labor strike further drove a spoke into the North Shore Line and shutting down the system was in consideration. However, passenger traffic was recovering and the North Shore Line decided to improve its line with new equipment. In 1941, the North Shore put streamliners from the St. Louis Car Company into service. As railroad history site American-Rails writes, the Electroliners weren’t just the North Shore Line’s way of retaining ridership, but perhaps one of the last gasps of the interurban’s battle to keep people on rails as the car grew into further popularity. I’ll let IRM take it from here:

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The Electroliner is the most modern electric interurban train in existence. Designed and constructed by the St. Louis Car Company in 1941, the Electroliner was a high-speed, streamlined, articulated train designed for service between Chicago and Milwaukee over the North Shore Line interurban route. It was built to navigate the congested city streets of Milwaukee, the high-speed private right-of-way of the Skokie Valley Route, and the narrow confines of the Chicago elevated. The train was made up of four cars, with three coaches and a dining-lounge car that famously served drinks, snacks, and “Electroburgers” to riders. Only two Electroliner trains were built and both remained in service until the North Shore Line was abandoned in 1963. They were then sold to the Red Arrow line between Philadelphia and Norristown, Pennsylvania, where they were renamed Liberty Liners and ran for another 15 years.

IRM’s Electroliner is the only one of the two preserved in original condition. If you’re lucky, you might even see it moving.

The Nebraska Zephyr Plays In The Snow

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One of the other trains operating on Sunday was the Nebraska Zephyr. This train is a streamliner that was operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, otherwise known as just “Burlington.” Originally built in 1936, it’s the only one of its kind still in operation today. It was built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia and joined a sister train to become trainsets known as the Twin Zephyrs. The Illinois Railway Museum calls this its most popular train, and it’s one of the few units that actually leaves IRM’s property and mainline from time to time.

On Sunday, it was running without its CB&Q 9911A ‘Silver Pilot’ GM Electro-Motive Division (EMD) E5 locomotive. In its place, the EMD Burlington Northern BN-3 ran the consist.

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Don’t worry, the Silver Pilot remains in great shape. I’m told that the locomotive is in winter storage, while BN-3 is still in operation as it pulled the museum’s holiday trains in December. A 1956 EMD E9AM, this locomotive comes with two EMD 12-645CE 127.2-liter V12 prime movers making a total of 2,400 HP. This locomotive has a starting tractive effort of 56,500 pounds with 31,000 pounds continuous. Here’s what it looks like with the Silver Pilot:

IRM’s volunteers tell me that this was the first time that the Nebraska Zephyr has been out in snowy winter weather in over two decades. Riding the old Zephyr in the winter was just as fun as it was in the summer. In fact, it was actually better because the train wasn’t sizzling inside from the hot summer sun. Sheryl and I found the short snowy trip in the stainless steel wonder to be romantic.

Vintage Commuter Rail

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The Nebraska Zephyr was joined by the Chicago & North Western 411, which was pulling 1955 C&NW bi-level gallery cars and C&NW 151, a 1959 bi-level coach and cab car.

As their name suggests, these bi-level coaches have two levels. They’re notable for the upper level having a gap in the middle, or gallery. This enabled conductors to collect fares with ease.

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C&NW 411 is a 1949 EMD F7A. Its prime mover is an EMD 16-567BC, a 148.8-liter V16 making 1,500 HP. This locomotive has a starting tractive effort of 56,500 pounds with 40,000 pounds continuous. It used to be Metra 305 before it was repainted as C&NW 411. Riding this train felt a lot like riding any of Metra’s trains today, and IRM says that such is no coincidence.

While these coaches were some of the first to be used by C&NW, you can find their successors still in use today with commuter rail systems all over America.

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The last train was one of the museum’s latest acquisitions.

A Piece Of Chicagoland History

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This is Chicago & North Western 7009, an EMD SD50 that was built in Chicagoland. What’s really cool about this one is that it’s in original condition. It has never been restored or even upgraded in its previous life. Everything, including the paint, dates back to when it was acquired in November 1985.

Here’s IRM’s statement about the locomotive.

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Built in November of 1985, 7009 was one of 35 SD50s (numbered 7000-7034) acquired by C&NW as part of a fleet modernization. Initially assigned to haul coal out of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, the SD50s later migrated to iron ore service in Upper Michigan and general freight service. After the original lease agreement expired, C&NW successor Union Pacific released all 35 units, whereupon they were sold to NRE for continued use in short-term lease service. 7009 was last known to have run in common-carrier service in 2006 and has since been stored, most recently at NRE’s facility in Silvis, IL.

“(The) 7009 is a very significant acquisition for us,” IRM’s Curator of Diesel Locomotives Jamie Kolanowski commented. “Not only is it representative of one of Chicago’s legendary railroads and built by Electro-Motive right here in Chicagoland, it is also in remarkably original condition, not having been rebuilt with aftermarket upgrades. It even still wears its original C&NW paint applied at the factory. Its historic fabric is extremely complete.”

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IRM got it in November and got it running just in time for this Cabin Fever Day event. The museum plans on restoring it back to what it looked like back in 1985, but for now, it’s enjoying a refreshed life pulling simulated freight down IRM’s demonstration railroad. For Cabin Fever Day, it was pulling a Milwaukee Road Dynamometer X-5000 and a caboose.

The caboose was warm inside thanks to a wood-burning stove. Sheryl hid inside the car, which smelled like a nice campfire. I had a different, and perhaps much dumber idea:

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I had the unique opportunity to ride this train from the outside of the caboose, and this was something that was out of this world.

I’ve ridden in one of IRM’s parlor coaches before but being on the outside is something completely different. Being a freight car, the caboose was rougher, but standing there on that platform and watching rural Illinois roll by was unforgettable. Then when the train reached the end of the line and reversed, I got a front-row platform to icy wind and the action ahead of the train. Riding this caboose in reverse was even cooler, If it weren’t so cold, I’d say that you could pitch a chair and just sit back and relax as rural Illinois rolled by.

Perhaps even better was the soundtrack.

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The SD50’s prime mover is an EMD 16-645F3B 211.4-liter V16 making 3,500 HP with a starting tractive effort of 92,000 pounds and 82,100 pounds continuous. Standing outside as this locomotive runs up? You can feel the engine rumbling in your feet and your heart. Every time the locomotive accelerated down IRM’s line, the rumble of that EMD prime mover let out greater thunder than any car’s custom sound system could.

This SD50 isn’t nearly as pretty as IRM’s older diesels or, in Sheryl’s opinion, nothing like the steamers. However, it’s a beautiful example of something that helped keep America running.

I spent much of Cabin Fever Day outside, getting wet and cold in the snow. My hard coughs today suggest that might have been a mistake, but the smile on my face as I recall this day and write this post tell me that it was totally worth it.

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IRM has closed down again until March 25, so this was essentially a shot in the arm of awesome trains before I have to wait two more months to experience it again. If you’re ever in northeastern Illinois, give IRM a visit. Tickets are $14 to $18 for adults and are cheaper for youth. We aren’t sponsored by IRM, I just love the place so much that I keep paying to come back!

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38 thoughts on “I Caught A Cold Visiting America’s Largest Train Museum. Here’s Why It Was Totally Worth It

    1. That’s my favorite as well, and for the same reason! The trains didn’t run too often, but they did run, at least until I was 14 and the tracks were torn up. I remember being extremely disappointed when that happened, even thought the writing had been on the wall for years. It had been a lot different when my uncle was 14. He somehow convinced whoever was in charge to let him take the engineer’s seat and run the throttle on an old F-unit they were moving around. Supposedly, 8mm video of that incident exists, but no one has been able to locate it for me. Not surprisingly, he later went on to work for Burlington Northern for over 30 years.

  1. I have lots of hobbies, many related to transportation, one is model railroading/railfanning. Yet I did not know the Illinois Rail museum existed. It is only seven hours away from me. I think I need to plan a road trip this summer, UP Museum in Council Bluffs — National Motorcycle Museum in Anamoso, Ia, Illinois, Antique Car Museum in Caralville, Is, Railway Museum.

  2. Great interesting article! Beautiful trains and equipment. Too bad the weather wasn’t warmer. The next time you are in Northern California try and take in the California State Railroad Museum. It is mostly in a huge air conditioned building and that is nice during the summer. The locomotives date back to the 1860s and were used building the Transcontinental Railroad. Those have been fully restored and their bright colors have been beautifully brought back. They look so small compared to modern locomotives or to the massive 1,000,000 lb. Baldwin AC-12 cab forward that was used to climb the Sierras in the early 1900s. https://www.californiarailroad.museum/

  3. A eat piece of rail history to visit if you’re ever in the area is the Golden Spike National Historic Park in Utah. When I bought my Saab, i detoured o my way from Oregon to southeast Utah to see Robert Smithson’s installation sculpture Spiral Jetty o the remote northwest shore of the Great Salt Lake. Where the paved roads end and the gravel road to Spiral Jetty begins, you’ll find the Golden Spike site, where the two halves of the transcontinental railroad met in ~1867.

  4. My grandparents’ house sat just uphill from the local Burlington depot when I was growing up. Grandpa would sit on the porch with his binoculars and see who was coming to town and who was leaving. Sadly grandparents are gone now along with the depot and the Zephyr.

    Now I have “Good Morning America” (Arlo or Willie) running through my head 🙂

  5. Your Traintopian articles inspired me to get off my ass & drag a buddy and a couple of his grandkids to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. I turned their adhd into a game, awarding a buck to whichever could first identity the sand-traction system on each new locomotive. I had sadly forgotten just how much damn fun it is to take kids to a museum! It’s turned into a regular thing. Today I’m taking them to a bookstore, next month the art museum, and in March the Transportation Museum will run excursions again. Indoctrinate them young!

    Thanks for the impetus, Mercedes

  6. If you ever feel like heading to speed week at Bonneville, you can head to the Ogden Union Station museum. It has some cool old stuff like one of the gas turbine trains and some really cool old lincoln and cadilac limos. Also the Hill AFB museum with the only SR-71C. Every time my wife has her Reserve weekend and I can get away with her back thereI take the kids to one or the other.

  7. I love these rail posts of yours. After almost 15 years here, I’ve still ever visited, but I will once they re-open.

    Your description of riding outside on the caboose reminded me of a trip to India about 20 years ago, when my friends and I were taking a train from Bangalore to Goa. I had a first-class ticket, which meant that the car was comfortable but also air-conditioned seemingly down to about 60F. I eventually found it far, far nicer to sit outside at the entryway, where I could feel the air and see the beautiful countryside unmediated by a grimy window.

  8. One nit Mercedes… 

    The Nebraska Zephyr was actually built with an articulated shovel nosed loco comparable in style to the Electroliner, but with the same beautiful, fluted stainless steel styling as the rest of the train. However, since it was articulated (shared a truck with the car immediately behind it), the Burlington discovered that a problem with the locomotive took the whole train set out of service. Hence, several years on, the Q modified the lead cars in the Zephyr train sets (often a power car) with a traditional coupler so it could be paired with any diesel locomotive (such as the E5) on the roster. You can see a pic of how the original Nebraska Zephyr (and all the other CB&Q Zephyrs) looked here…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Zephyr#/media/File:Nebraska_Zephyr_1952.JPG

  9. Growing up my grandparents. Now deceased some 40 years had a great view of a railroad switching yard from their back porch with their house high upon a hill.
    Also once took a train trip on the auto train from Maryland to Florida a great experience for an adventurous young lad. Unsupervised at night wondering the train feasting upon left out bar snacks in the bar car. Aah good times.

  10. Wow, seeing a C&NW train in glorious green and yellow sure takes me back. I grew up in Arlington Heights, and my dad rode those trains downtown every day.
    After we moved farther out on the line, to Fox River Grove, my friends and I stayed close by taking those trains as pre-teens. I’m still closer to them than I am with friends from the later town.
    When the C&NW green and yellow was replaced with boring gray Metra standard, it was a sad day.

  11. I have always like the windshields & noses on locos like 411, the Silver Pilot, and the BN-3. The rounded hood coming to a blunted aero nose, the windshield corners drooping… it looks workman-like, but still designed with a bit of an aesthetic eye.

    1. Raymond Loewy was active in locomotive design, but I don’t think he worked on this one. I’ve always thought this unit had kind of a rugged beauty, if this makes any sense.

  12. The angle of that double decker photo tricked my eye into thinking there was no aisle up there and for a second I thought they made people walk on the ladder rack thing to get to their seats. 😀

  13. Mercedes, try to get to one of IRM’s night train events in September. Riding in the observation car of the Nebraska Zephyr at night is simply magical!

      1. Loaded like a freight train
        Flyin’ like an aeroplane
        Feelin’ like a space brain
        One more time tonight

        I’m on the night train
        Bottoms up

        I’m on the night train
        Fill my cup

        I’m on the night train
        Ready to crash and burn
        I never learn

      2. ARRGGHHH!!!
        I tried to relay Axl Rose’s opinion of Night Train, but apparently The Autopian’s auto-moderator doesn’t like Guns ‘n Roses.

  14. Speaking of trains in the snow, I found out something interesting last week. Meeting with our local railroad management team to go over service schedules and surcharges for the upcoming year, and they were complaining about the sand they use for traction – apparently, on slippery rails, they have dispensers that drop sand on the track for extra traction. Never knew that, but it makes sense.

    Anyway, the main product they transport for us is our concrete sand, from the dredging pit to the bagging plant, and they’ve been ordering pallets of bagged sand from building materials stores to use at the rail yard, which is our exact product that they’re hauling – they move it, we bag it and ship it out to stores, then they buy it. Seems like there’s a couple of middlemen we can cut out here, and now I’m wondering how many other railroads in the region are doing the same damn thing.

    1. Wow! How were you able to be on the leading end during a reverse movement? I’m surprised the Conductor let you hang out…No offense, but there is no way I’d have a “passenger” next to me when I was in control of the move. Like, ever.

  15. The font labeling the Electroliner train is amazing.

    Bi-level coaches are still a thing for the trains running between San Jose and San Francisco, and they work surprisingly well.

    1. Bi-levels are still in service on the Waukegan line. We’ll drive from Milwaukee to Waukegan and take the train into Ogilvie station, then uber it to the Museum of Science & Industry. It’s a fun day!

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