Side Notes

Now that the Thomas madness is over, (and we can all start counting the days until we get to do it again!) next weekend includes Labor Day, and at IRM it will also be the Band Organ Rally.   That's always a lot of fun to see and hear.  The CA&E wood cars should be running all three days.  We still need a motorman for both Saturday and Sunday, and we could use a trainman for all three days as well.  Please help out if you can.

Bill Wulfert and I were discussing the project to add a "third rail line" to the UP (North Western) between West Chicago and Geneva.  (It won't actually have a third rail, but I digress....)  I'd forgotten this, but the bridge piers across the mighty Fox River were designed to hold four tracks. 

My father said that during WWII they had watchmen stationed at this bridge to guard against sabotage.  This line carried a large amount of wartime traffic, and its loss could have been catastrophic.  Of course, the saboteurs never appeared.

The abutments on the shore will need to be rebuilt for the third rail line, however.

Speaking of bridges, my wife and I passed through Ottawa on our way to Starved Rock.   This Burlington lift bridge over the Illinois on the line to Streator has always impressed me.