On Sunday we went for a drive through the country and wound up in Mendota, site of the Union Depot Railroad Museum. The prize of the static equipment collection is this O-1-A Mike, #4978, a 1923 Baldwin product. It is nicely painted and looks great.
Behind it is this wooden waycar, also in excellent condition. The depot itself has a collection of artifacts, but it was closed by the time we got there.
We found a good restaurant across the street from the museum where we could have a romantic dinner by the window, watching freight trains roll by, until the Zephyr arrived.
These photos may not win any prizes, but I'm out of practice taking pictures of trains at high speed. Watching it go by was worth it, though. We then jumped in the car, but chasing the Zephyr is hopelessly impossible. They had reached Chicago by the time we got back to Naperville.
This whole experience was so enjoyable, I've decided my next project will be to rebuild the 321 into a generator car. Then we can take the CA&E wood cars out on the road. We'll visit Elgin and West Chicago, then follow the route of the CA&E as closely as possible east through Wheaton, Lombard, Elmhurst, and on to Chicago. Tickets will go on sale soon. What fun!
5 comments:
Quit teasing us... I love the idea!
David Church
Could be a possibility running CAE cars on CTA row... and more of a reality running North Shore Cars on the Skokie and Evanston lines.
The two St. Louis Car Company built Highliners at the Mendota Railway Museum came from Metra, not the Illinois Central Railroad.
These Highliners were rehabbed in the later 1980s, repainted in the same colors as the Illinois Central Railroad originally had them, except the work "Metra" was place in the orange area by the front doors (and the wording "Illinois Central Railroad" was never applied. The only thing that Metra did before shipping the Highliners to Mendota was to orange out the lettering Metra.
Well to be fair, they were ordered by Illinois Central, and delivered in 1971 with Illinois Central lettering. So they Technically are Illinois Central cars, regardless of the last name they wore.
At full speed I hope?
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