Centennial

Centennial, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Union Pacific's EMD DDA40X Centennial locomotive, parked at the Illinois Railway Museum. I wish I'd have been able to see it running-the only other Centennial I've seen is the IRM's own example, which is currently non-operational.

Eighty Six Forty Six

Chicago & North Western 8646, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Chicago and North Western was a midwestern rail icon, known for it's distinctive yellow and green locomotives and "400" series of passenger trains. This is particularly true around the Chicago area, which was the road's hub-after all, people still call Ogilvie Transportation Center "North Western Station", despite the fact that the distinctive station was demolished in the 80's.

Quite a few old CNW railcars are still running around the Union Pacific system, eighteen years after the two companies merged and the North Western's name phased out. There are even a few yellow and green locomotives in use, but only two still carry their original numbers and CNW logos. This is one of them, captured at rest at the LaFox Metra station.

Zephyr!

Zephyr!, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The west wind, known as the Zephyr, is considered to be the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds. In Greek mythology, Zephyrus was the personification of the west wind, bringer of spring and summer.

I've long thought this was an appropriate name for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy's famed name trains, most of which typically ran in an east west direction. But, they were also the Burlington's top flight service, and pioneered fast diesels on passenger trains. Fleet, like the wind. This is the lone remaining operable Zephyr train set, the Nebraska Zephyr, currently resident at the Illinois Railway Museum. We've visited it before, but I always think it's worth another look.

37A

37A, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

An old EMD E-9A, built in 1961. Electro-Motive's E series (and it's cousin, the F-series freight engine) is an icon of American railroading. Built between 1937 and 1963, these cab units (so named because of the car-like shape to their noses) were easy to use and maintain, and their ease of being run in tandem revolutionized railroading. They also proved to be long-lasting-E-series passenger units were still being used in commuter service into the early 1990's, and plenty of short lines continue to use them today, almost fifty years after production ceased.

This late example is a former Milwaukee Road unit, and is on display at the Illinois Railway Museum.

The North Western

The North Western, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A former Chicago and North Western EMD GP-7R, originally delivered to the Rock Island, and dating from 1952. The GP-series of locomotives was originally designed to be a jack-of-all-trades sort of engine, capable of pulling freight or passengers, or doing some yard work as needed. General Purpose, as the designation goes, similar to a certain long-running off road vehicle. One wonders why nobody calls these "Jeeps" too!

I'm told that this particular example, which resides at the Illinois Railway Museum, was originally purchased for parts for the Museum's other GP-7 (the first one delivered, in fact!), but was discovered to be in good running shape. So the decision was to put it to use, and I've seen it pulling passenger coaches as well as moving stuff around the yards. I;m told that there is a plan afoot to restore it to it's original Rock Island livery.

The Nebraska Zephyr

The Nebraska Zephyr, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've photographed the Zephyr a number of times, and have related it's story here once before. Suffice to say, I always take advantage of any opportunity to photograph this beautiful machine. It is truly one of a kind.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see it during this visit to the Illinois Railway Museum. It wasn't scheduled to operate that Saturday, so I was surprised when I walked through it's storage shed to discover a big, Zephyr sized empty space and the bouquet of diesel fumes. It appears that they pulled it out and parked it to...I don't know, warm it up? Test the air conditioning? Whatever the reason, it was parked on a gentle curve, perfect for the classic old-school brochure shot. I secretly think it was done on purpose!

Zephyr

Zephyr, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The fantastic former Burlington Road E5. We've seen it before, but I think that it is especially well suited to the TtV technique.

The J

The Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway is-or was-a popular Chicago area road. Formed in the late 1800's with the merging of several local railroads in Illinois and Indiana, and sought to serve the industries in the Gary-Hammond corridor. This paid off, and in 1900 U.S. Steel bought the EJ&E, and remained a steward of the road for the rest of it's existence. The J was a popular road with local railfans, mainly because of it's friendly (and fan-friendly) employees, and distinctive orange locomotives.

It was the EJ&E's route that avoided the congestion in Chicago that made the EJ&E attractive to other railroads, although none tried to merge or take over the J until Canadian National in 2007. The deal was closed in 2009, CN using the J's line to route freight around the busy rail hub in Chicago. This was met with controversy among residents in the Chicago suburbs, as they would now see up to six trains a day, rather than the two or so that the J would run, often at night.

I live near the J's line, north near the town of Wayne, which is where I took this shot. I seldom, if ever, saw a train on this line, as the J often ran at night or early in the day, but I've been stopped by a few Canadian National trains in the last few years. Most of the time they're pulled by CN's familiar black and red locomotives, but this one, back in March had one of the remaining EJ&E locomotives in the lead.

Santa Fe All The Way

The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad is one of the classic American roads. Founded in the 1850's, the Santa Fe grew west from Topeka, eventually crossing the Rockies twenty years later. Through mergers and acquisitions the company grew rapidly, and by the mid twentieth century was just about the largest road in America. Famed for it's passenger service, Santa Fe's Chiefs were renowned for their top-tier service and dome cars to help passengers better enjoy the fabulous Western scenery. The iconic red-and-silver "Warbonnet" featured heavily in advertising, and was so famous that eventually the Santa Fe resurrected it for it's freight service.

This is a later ATSF passenger locomotive, an EMD FP45. Based on a freight engine, the 45 was designed to have a smoother "cowl" style body like the classic E units, rather than the more workmanlike freight trains. The Santa Fe was the major buyer of these units-nine of the fourteen build went to the road. When Amtrak took over passenger service the FP's went on freight duty. Six of the Santa Fe's old units still survive, including this one at the Illinois Railway Museum.

The Santa Fe name sort of lives on, as the "SF" part of BNSF, and even today you can still spot classic warbonnets plying the rails.

Way of the Zephyrs

Denver Zephyr, originally uploaded by William 74.

The Zephyr fleet was one of the Burlington's signature services, high speed passenger trains renowned for their speed and service. Originally running with articulated trainsets (like the Pioneer Zephyr), but eventually with specially built, stainless steel EMD E5 locomotives and separate cars.

This is the Nebraska Zephyr, which is a hybrid of sorts. The locomotive is an E5 (the only one to survive, in fact), with the following cars being one of the original articulated Nebraska Zephyr sets. The Nebraska run got two sets, and all of the cars were named after classical deities-the "Train of the Gods" and the "Train of the Goddesses". This happens to be the latter, and the cars are called Venus, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, and Juno. Two other cars, Psyche and Diana, were removed from service sometime in the fifties.

I photographed the Zephyr at the Illinois Railway Museum, where it has lived since it's retirement in 1968. It's a beautiful sight, and I'm glad that the museum still runs it regularly.