Grain Belt

Grain Belt, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The iconic Grain Belt Beer sign in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Erected in 1941, the sign originally sat atop a downtown club until 1950, when it was moved to it's current location on Nicollet Island. Featuring the early, pre-WW2 logo, the sign has 800 feet of neon tubing and 1400 incandescent bulbs in the lettering, which lights up sequentially. It looks great, but sadly, despite being restored in the 80's, the sign no longer works. Hopefully it'll be restored again someday.

Old Rails

Old Rail, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Fun fact-when the rails on train tracks are made at the foundry, the dates are cast or otherwise written directly into the metal. This helps the railroad to know when they were made and installed, and makes maintaining them a little easier. If you look at the rails at your local station (staying safely away from the tracks, of course), you can probably see the dates on the inside of the rails.

This one is on an abandoned stretch of the former Chicago Great Western mainline from Chicago to Oelwein, Iowa. It is by far the oldest rail I have seen in the wild, and connects to the mainline, which uses rails from the late sixties, probably just before or after the CGW's merger with the Chicago and North Western. Located in St. Charles, Illinois, it used to serve a foundry on the west side of town, not far from the crossing over the Fox River. When the Union Pacific took over the line from the Chicago and North Western (who had gotten it when CNW took over the CGW), there were still a couple of customers on this side of the river. However, the last customer closed a few years ago, and the UP petitioned to abandon the line entirely.

The tracks already ended about a mile west of here, at an old warehouse that has since been demolished. Construction on Illinois Route 64 severed the line at a grade crossing as well. I imagine that there will eventually come a time when these rails are completely gone, leaving nothing but the railbed.

Windmill

Windmill, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

We've visited the various windmills that dot the city of Batavia, Illinois, so I won't bore you with the town's history of windmill manufacture. Anyway, here's another one, a big Batavia-made piece that dates from the late 1800's. It's in great shape, and turns silently when the wind's up.

Coke Machine

Coke Machine, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The bottle opener on a very old, very beat up, vintage Coca-Cola machine. This used to be chromed or nickel plated-it's beyond redemption now, I imagine.

The machine sits outside all the time, in front of a vintage fifties themed restaurant.

Out of State Plates

Corvette, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Part of an occasional sub-series for our occasional Motorcar Monday series. This is, obviously, a 1963 license plate from Washington state, with a sticker showing it's last current registration from being just three years later. It's also obviously attached to an old Chevrolet Corvette.

However, that's not the whole story. This is an early, first generation 'Vette, a '54 if I'm not mistaken. It was sold originally in the Spokane area, and lived there most of it's life. There's even a dealer sticker on the back for Century Motors, "The Corvette Center". It's stunningly original and in the rare Corvette Copper color, of which a mere 15 were made.

World Real Estate

World Real Estate sign, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

This beauty must have looked great all lit up at night. Note the tree branch growing through it.

Seen on the north side of Chicago several years ago-I've no idea if it's still there.

Window Shopping

Window Shopping, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A funky antique shop in Rochelle, Illinois, that used to be in a bar or restaurant. At least, I think it was a restaurant, because the disused drive up window is still on one side. It's been unused for a real long time, though, because there's no outlet anymore-buildings have been put up since.

Anyway, I liked the packaging on these old trains, and I would love to take better shots of them from the other side of the window. I also like the car reflection-it turned out well.

Chevy

Chevy, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

This is my uncle (well, great-uncle) Rodney's '50 Chevrolet. I hadn't seen it in years-he's getting on in years and it's harder for him to drive it these days-but he brought it out on Thanksgiving. I thought it was an excellent TtV subject.

Railway Express Agency

At one time, the local railroad station was the commercial center of a town. Anything that was bought and sold went through the station, either on the way in or out. It was also often the first view visitors and returning citizens saw of their town. A lot of stuff went on at the station, and the stationmaster and his crew needed to be ready for just about anything. This included loading and unloading rail cars, helping customers, and hauling luggage.

This antique cart is in front of the nicely restored station at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

South Platform

Through the Viewfinder Tuesday! A real vintage railroad semaphore signal, given the fake vintage TTV treatment.