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.

Little Joe

Little Joe, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally built for Soviet Railways, the GE EF-4 became an icon of American railroading, following it's use on the Milwaukee Road's electrified western lines. Of the twenty built, twelve were used by the Milwaukee, five went to Brazil's Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro (who used Joes until 1999), and three were used for freight use by the South Shore. Several survive, and this one, the South Shore's 803, is still in operable condition at the Illinois Railway Museum.

I took this on a rare outing for the 803, and processed it to give it that "Oldachrome-found-in-a-shoebox" look.

X-18

X-18, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Illinois Raiway Museum's General Electric 8500 GTEL, a gas-turbine powered electric locomotive. Designed for long haul use, the first turbines were delivered in 1951. X-18 is a third-generation version of the GTEL, delivered in the late 50's, and remained ins service until 1969. One of two survivors, #18 usually sits on the line and is kind of hard to shoot, but this weekend it was moved to this nice curved bit of track for display.

The Big Z

Zephyr, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Illinois Railway Museum doesn't often run it's historic, rare, and damned handsome Nebraska Zephyr train set. So I always try and get out to the museum when it's out, just to shoot more photos of it.

This one was shot in front of the Museum's station, with a bonus of some classic L trains from Chicago over there on the left.

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.

Nebraska Zephyr

Nebraska Zephyr, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

We've looked at the Nebraska Zephyr a few times now, so I won't bore you with it's history. Suffice to say that this unique train is one of, if not the the, crown jewels of the Illinois Railway Museum's collection. They run it on the Museum's tracks regularly, but rarely off-campus. So it was a pleasant surprise to catch it in rural Somonauk, Illinois, as it passed through on an excursion trip from Chicago to Quincy, along one of the original Zephyr routes.

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.

Shoebox

Shoebox, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A great little '50 Ford convertible, which contrasts nicely with the Southern Pacific 1518, an early EMD SD7 locomotive dating from 1951.

Pennsy Noir

Pennsy Noir, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Built specifically for the Pennsylvania Railroad, the GG1 was a unique, streamlined electric locomotive. They were also long lived-the GG1 was introduced in 1935, and served with the Pennsy, as well as successor companies Penn Central, Conrail, and Amtrak. The last GG1 left service in 1983.

Of the 140 GG1's built, fifteen survive. Sadly, none are currently operational, due mostly to the expense and other difficulties related to the large electrical transformers needed for such a large electric locomotive. This one, PRR 4927, served with Amtrak until the late 70's, and is now in storage at the Illinois Railway Museum.

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!

Leviathan

Leviathan, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Always a popular draw, steam locomotives are still a rare enough sighting in the United States that they draw a crowd wherever they go. Leviathan is a replica of a Schenectady Locomotive Works engine, built in 1868 for the Central Pacific Railroad. Leviathan was built entirely from scratch by the Kloke Locomotive Works of Elgin, Illinois.

It is a truly beautiful machine. Every detail is absolutely perfect, and the Leviathan is fully functional. It appeared at the Illinois Railway Museum this past summer, and I was fortunate enough to ride behind it for a short trip on the museum's main line. Fun, and possibly a unique experience for me.

Little Joe

Little Joe, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally built by General Electric for export to the Soviet Union, the EF-4 "Little Joe" was one of the most famous electric locomotives to appear on American rails. After sales to Russia were prohibited in the late 40's, the Joes languished at GE's facility until the Milwaukee Road started to show interest in them for it's electrified Rocky Mountain Division. The Milwaukee used them in both passenger and freight service, up until the end of electric service in the seventies.

Other users of Little Joes included Brazil's national railway (which received five of them), and the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend, which got three of them. This survivor is one of the South Shore's, and is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.

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.

Be Specific, Ship Union Pacific

Be Specific, Ship Union Pacific, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

As befits one of the powerhouse railroads in the U.S., the Union Pacific ran the largest fleet of gas turbine electric locomotives in the country. Built in three series, UP's GTEL's were meant to provide the same power output as several diesel engines, which in the postwar years weren't as powerful as the steam engines they were trying to replace. It cost the same to run a smaller number of more powerful engines, and locomotives were at their most efficient at high, sustained speeds. Despite being thirstier than equivalent diesels, the turbines proved to be less costly to run on fast, mainline freights, and this is where they excelled.

Built in three series, UP's turbines had all been retired by 1970. The turbines used Bunker C heavy fuel oil, which had few uses outside of this one, but by the seventies oil prices were up and new uses for this former waste product were being developed. It spelled the end of the turbine locos, and most were broken up, their parts recycled into conventional diesel locomotives.

Two of the turbines still exist, both from the third series built. This one, engine number eighteen, resides at the Illinois Railway Museum.

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.

Steam

Steam, originally uploaded by William 74.

Today, train travel and railroading in general is accompanied by the thrum of diesel engines, but it wasn't too long ago that the chuffing of a steam engine was the soundtrack of the rails. Steam locomotives were prevalent in North America from the beginning of railroading until the middle of the 20th century, with the last mainline steam operations ending in the 1960's, although some shortlines continued to use steam well after that, and the Northwestern Steel and Wire Company used steam locomotives until the 80's. Today, the Durango and Silverton, a narrow gauge railroad that grew out of the Rio Grande's Silverton branch, continues to use steam, as it always has since the 1800s!

This one, CB&Q 3007, is a Baldwin and dates from 1930.