Chop

Chop, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Chopped, channeled, nosed, decked, Bellflowers, two tone, chrome, teef.

Rapid Transit

Rapid Transit, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Former CTA 5000 series cars. These are, I believe, the sole survivors of just four built.

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.

Ask The Man Who Owns One-Pt. 3

Packard, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've shown you some later Packards a couple of times in the past, but they were usually pretty beat up. I spotted this one at a car show a few weeks ago. It's a '55 Patrician sedan, the first year of the Richard Teague-styled cars. The last of the real Packards, they're some of my favorite cars.

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.

Biscayne

Biscayne, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Hey! The Biscayne's back! Taken with the Lensbaby.

Mossy Glory

Mossy Glory, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I don't think I've ever seen that much moss and crud caked on a vehicle that wasn't in a jungle somewhere. This one's covered-I don't think there's a panel that is completely free of it.

This truck's pretty much toast-but it pleases me to note that the shiny badges and headlights seem good as new.

Viking

Chevrolet, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A vintage Chevrolet Viking truck. Like most everything in this yard, parked for unknown reasons and left to go to ground.