The family of the late Ron Doerr, who volunteered at IRM for a period in the 1980s, has donated his photo collection to the Museum. These undated photos mostly appear to have been taken in the mid-1980s. Please help us by commenting with any insights into the pictures - dates, points of interest, people's names, etc. Thank you!
This page includes photos of freight cars and cabooses, sorted by road number.
All pictures are copyrighted by the Illinois Railway Museum and may not be reproduced without permission.
#123 - DOTX 3, a former REA express package boxcar, arrived in 1990. My guess is that this photo was taken in Yard 10 looking south/southeast, though I'm not certain.
#005 - C&IM 65 on the steam leads
#006 - C&IM 65 on the steam leads
#261 - I believe this is looking southeast just south of Barn 9 at the throat of Yard 10 and the caboose track. C&NW 10500 (today CGW 601), ICG 199458, IC 9792, GTW 77952, and C&IM 65 are in the lineup.
#367 - Our C&IM caboose arrived on the property in 1979.
#385 - EJ&E 529 used to be used on a semi-regular basis, but for the last decade or so it's been assigned as the Track Department work caboose and is usually parked near Barn 11.
#071 - Here we are at the old museum entrance, with the CGW caboose front and center back when it was still CNW 10500 (I'd forgotten that the cupola windows were plated over when we got it). You can also see YS&T 607, and on the left a bunch of extra concrete squares.
#077 - A better photo of CGW/C&NW 10500 before it was restored and backdated as CGW 601.
#088 - The car shop guys will recognize this view. The IT caboose sat in this spot until track 40 was built a decade or so ago.
#368 - North Shore caboose 1002 was one of three cabooses acquired by IRM from that line and is still at the museum, stored outside but generally kept up.
#262 - And this would be the same track, looking the opposite direction (and from the south side). North Shore 1004, which is looking pretty rough and was sold c1987, is at far right, and beyond it are North Shore 1002, C&NW 10494, the EJ&E bunk car made from an Army troop sleeper, and then the CB&Q and AT&SF wood cabooses, though I'm not certain which is nearer and which is further.
#179 - I'm not certain but I'd guess this is North Shore 1003, as we don't have very many wooden cupola cabooses and most of them don't look this nice. The walkway says this is Barn 3.
#370 - The only one of our three North Shore cabooses to retain its cupola is 1003, shown here on display in Barn 3. A few years ago its interior was restored and it was opened for public walk-through in Barn 6.
#369 - North Shore caboose 1004, which like 1002 lost its cupola at some point, was sold to an individual in 1987.
#388 - This is kind of a sad photo - C&WI 1185 is a wooden ballast gondola of a design that was popular across the country around 1900-1910, but this may be the only example still in existence. It's shown here intact and in decent shape, but it later deteriorated badly and its wooden components were disassembled and stored. We haven't given up on restoration, but it will be largely replicating the car at this point. I'm not sure where this photo was taken or what the car under the tarp is.
#371 - Santa Fe caboose 1400 is kind of an interesting piece. This image shows well its most unusual feature: a metal disc on a rotating pole sticking out of the cupola. The idea was that when the engineer started up the train, the conductor would wave that disc as a "wig-wag" once the rear end of the train started moving to signal that all the slack was run out. I guess.
#335 - C&WI 1772 is the idler for ComEd 19, our medium-sized locomotive crane, but presumably it started out as the idler for C&WI 1917, a similarly sized crane which we scrapped. This idler, for its part, is unusual in that it is a cut-down boxcar.
#076 - Quite possibly on the same day, the same two cabooses are now elsewhere, but I'm not sure where. This kind of looks like Springfield Avenue too, but doesn't resemble photo #073 very closely. Any ideas? The end of 01984 has fresh paint on it, so it's either in the middle of being repainted or it's one of our infamous "one-sided cars."
#363 - URTX 2034 is a wooden reefer built in 1931 and shown here in Yard 10. It's still around today, stored near the west end of the "caboose track" behind the Buildings & Grounds barn, but it's not in very good condition.
#374 - EVEX 4403 was identical to 4534 but has stayed on its trucks. I think it may be at the west end of the south track of Yard 10 here.
#375 - And here's another EVEX car, 4410, not to be confused with our CTA 'L' car of the same number.
#158 - One of our EVEX storage boxcars. The corn in the background suggests this may be the south track of Yard 10.
#373 - EVEX 4534, one of four giant boxcars of this type at IRM, was taken off its trucks long ago and spotted next to the turntable leads for use in servicing our steam engines.
#362 - This is URTX 5348, a 1941 wooden meat reefer which deteriorated badly over the years and was scrapped in 2021.
#382 - CRDX 5402 is one of a trio of 40-foot boxcars that were heavily rebuilt in the 1960s or 1970s and acquired by IRM for storage. They have little or no historic value.
#383 - CRDX 5419 is another one of those storage boxcars.
#002 - IC caboose 9792 in front of the depot
#187 - If it weren't for the EVEX boxcar I'm not sure I'd be able to identify this as Depot Street crossing the turntable leads. Any idea what's next to the IC side door caboose, or what's partly hidden behind the EVEX car?
#242 - C&NW 1518 is shoving a caboose train consisting of IC 9792, the ICG Centralia caboose, and the EJ&E caboose west approaching Signal 91.
#390 - IC side door caboose 9792 used to be used regularly. These days it's on display as part of the freight train exhibit in Barn 3.
#075 - The Shay is pulling a pair of cabooses, C&NW 10304 and MILW 01984. I think this is alongside the parking lot, which of course was single-track at the time.
#377 - C&NW wooden bay window caboose 10304 has since been beautifully restored. It appears to be at the east end of the "caboose track" which today is the throat to Yard 10.
#196 - C&NW 10494 is one of our older wooden cabooses and is shown here on the "caboose track" which still runs along the north side of Yard 10. That's either North Shore 1002 or 1004 on the right, I suspect, and on the left is EJ&E 8726, an ex-Army troop sleeper converted for MOW service which still "lives" in almost this exact same spot.
#259 - Here's the caboose track along the north edge of Yard 10, which is right about where it is today (although much of Yard 10 has been rearranged in the interceding years). At the left edge is the ex-EJ&E Army troop sleeper, then comes the C&NW wood caboose, and North Shore 1002 and 1004, with the ComEd crane at far right. North Shore 1004, which was in rough shape, was sold in 1987, probably not too long after this photo was taken, and is reputed to still be around in private ownership.
#145 - DODX 12661, one of our tank cars, before it was repainted in the early 2000s.
#084 - This is a slightly newer photo; the Burlington caboose on the left was later restored to Q silver and red, while the RDC (which arrived at IRM in 1992) has since had most of its MBTA purple stripped off. I believe this is track 54, alongside Central Avenue before beautification and landscaping took hold.
#161 - Our eldest caboose is this one, Burling 14073, which dates to 1891. It has since been moved inside.
#391 - That isn't CB&Q 140, it's CB&Q 14073, our oldest caboose and (I believe) our oldest freight car, dating to 1891. Nice Beetle.
#152 - Swift 15030 is the oldest of our Swift reefers, and is the only one that ever wore that line's famous carmine red livery with white trim (all of our other Swift reefers were delivered in the later silver color scheme). Here, someone has started giving the car a fresh coat of silver. A few years later, this car would be sand-blasted and painted silver for an ill-fated movie project.
#346 - IRM owns six Swift reefers, but the oldest one - and our only brine reefer - is this one, SRLX 15030. This is also the only one of our Swift cars that could be repainted in Swift's well-known carmine-red-with-white-trim livery, as the others were all built (or rebuilt) after Swift switched to this overall silver color. In later years, this car was sand-blasted and painted silver (but never lettered) for a cancelled movie project.
#101 - UTLX 17222, which has since been restored and repainted. This may be on track 41 east; the Soo Line boxcar behind it was among the storage cars on track 42 until very recently.
#378 - CRIX insulated boxcar 20519 is a pretty interesting car, for its elaborate paint scheme if nothing else. It's still around, and though suffering from weather it's a candidate for indoor storage in Barn 15.
#345 - Swift 25004, one of three mechanical reefers of this type at IRM, is shown at an unknown location. Today it's stored at the west end of the "caboose track" north of Barn 10.
#103 - Swift mechanical reefer 25029, location unknown. This is the car that's currently sitting behind the steam shop. One slightly interesting thing about these 52' 25000-series Swift cars is that they took older 40' cars (of which we also have several examples), cut them in half at the doorposts, and welded a 20' section into the middle. The cut locations are pretty obvious (notice that horizontal seam that ends right in the middle of the Swift roundel) and on the cars themselves you can even see the bolt holes where the original swinging side door hinges were attached.
#347 - Swift 25041, another one of our Swift mechanical reefers, is normally found in Yard 4 East today but here it appears to be on the south track of Yard 10.
#165 - URTX wood-sided reefer 26507, which was in rough shape (even in the 1980s, you can see it has lost its siding underneath the door) and was scrapped in 2018.
#353 - This appears to be URTX 26640, a wooden boxcar that was restored in 2009 and then repainted again in 2021.
#032 - URTX 37190 is one of our small fleet of URTX reefers. This particular car was repainted during the summer of 2021. The location is uncertain but may be in Yard 7 before wire was strung.
Dennis Storzek replies: I believe that photo 032 shows the east end of Barn 3 from the north. Barn 3 has rather olive colored doors with white astragals, and the yard tracks east of the building were used to store freight cars.
#102 - Another one of our reefers, URTX 37190, apparently in Yard 7 before that yard had trolley wire over it. This is the reefer that was repainted in 2021. In the left background can be seen Muni 1183 (ex-KCPS 767), which at the time was stored in Yard 4, and beyond that the east end of Barn 3.
#153 - We're standing in what today would be the center of Yard 5, looking at Yard 4 East. The two reefers visible haven't moved since the photo was taken (though as of this writing, in October 2022, that may only be true for a few more days!). In the left background is Muni 1183, ex-KCPS 767.
#364 - URTX 37312 is one of our steel storage reefers; between when this photo was taken, probably in the mid-1980s, and late 2022, the car didn't move an inch. In late 2022, though, it was relocated to make way for the expansion of Barn 4.
#033 - The number isn't real clear, but I think the reefer in the center is URTX 37241. C&A automobile car 39167 - certainly one of our more historic freight cars - is on the left. We're along what is today Bruneau Drive looking toward Barn 2, though it's hard to say whether there was even a road through here when this photo was taken. Both of those freight cars are in basically the exact same spots on track 43 today. The C&A car arrived at IRM in 1981, so this photo was taken sometime after that.
EDIT: Rich Block sends the following information: The picture of the C&A automobile car 39167 shows the car during its residing. That picture was taken between 1983 and 1985. I was one of the group that was residing that car. It was Jim McAlpin, myself, Ron Ocland, and Jeff Brady doing most of that work (I probably spelled Ron's last name wrong). And at that time there was no road. To get to the back of the barn you drove down the from the front of Barn 4, pit side.
#348 - URTX reefer 37241 is shown at the east end of yard track 43, and it probably didn't move an inch between when this photo was taken in the mid-1980s and when Yard 4 East was torn out for rebuilding in late 2022.
#110 - A lineup of storage reefers, I'm guessing along the south edge of Yard 10 where today Yard 11 is located.
#365 - Another Yard 4 East occupant that didn't move between the mid-1980s and 2022 was this car, Chicago & Alton 39167. This is a very historic car - not only is it an early example of an auto car, but it's a rare example of a C&A freight car. When this was built in 1924, the C&A was in receivership, but their auto traffic was so lucrative - and their existing fleet of freight cars so near collapse - that the receiver permitted them to order a series of new auto cars.
#352 - IC 40285 is kind of a neat car if you're into wooden freight cars. It was built by Mt. Vernon, downstate, and was originally a door-and-a-half automobile car with big clamshell doors on one end (very similar to our Rock Island auto car). Later, I think the 1950s, it was rebuilt to a double-door boxcar with solid ends, though that skinny panel to the left of the doors betrays the fact that originally that left door was only half-width. This may be the first time I've ever seen a photo of it with any paint on it at all.
#379 - Here's another photo of IC boxcar 40285, built in 1929 by Mt. Vernon, in Yard 10.
#389 - Where is this, maybe Yard 3? Soo Line 41146 was built by Pullman in 1929. Unlike our other two Soo Line single-sheathed boxcars, this one was never in work service. To the left is the Rock Island transfer caboose, which was later restored.
#155 - One of our more historic freight cars is NP 49444, a wooden truss rod car built in the teens. It looks pretty much the same today, though it's definitely on the Freight Car Department's "to-do" list, owing in part to a car's worth of new siding which was run off some years back and stored inside the car until time were available to do the restoration work.
#384 - Northern Pacific 49444 is a very nice radial-roof double-sheathed boxcar complete with truss rods, a rarity in our collection. I believe it's shown here on the south track of Yard 10.
#372 - Santa Fe stock car 60394 has since been restored and placed on display in Barn 3, where visitors can walk through it and view some very informative displays. I'm not certain where it is here, but it may be on the lead to Yard 7 (today the "ladder track") with Barn 2 in the background.
#099 - One of our Oscar Mayer URTX reefers, 66221, location uncertain but possibly in Yard 4. (This car is not, however, among the residents of Yard 4 East in recent years.)
#349 - Here's one of our URTX Oscar Mayer reefers in Yard 10 with an unknown piece of work equipment on the left.
#012 - GATX 75470 on Station Track 2 before it was repainted
#380 - Here we are standing in Yard 5, which presumably didn't exist yet when this was taken, looking across a sea of junk at the storage reefers in Yard 4 East. It's easy to forget how much property cleanup has happened over the last couple of decades. The blue reefer is URTX 75524, in a unique-to-us American Beef Packers livery, while on the right is URTX 68229, which has a cow's head painted on it.
#381 - A whole lot of stuff is dumped where the eastern half of Yard 5 is now. Any idea whether that container is the "box?"
#148 - Our wooden Grand Trunk caboose, 77952. The arrival date of this caboose is uncertain.
#366 - Grand Trunk 77952 was privately owned for many years but has since been donated to IRM.
#081 - Here are two of our three Soo Line/WC single-sheathed boxcars sitting at the west end of Yard 10 along with that boxy speeder.
#036 - Our ICG "Centralia caboose" is shown at an unknown location, possibly Schmidt Siding. I don't have an arrival date for this caboose in my records, but this may have been taken when it first showed up.
#386 - I wish I had a date on this one - it looks suspiciously like ICG 199458, our giant Centralia caboose, is being delivered. At least I think so - it's not really clear exactly where this photo was taken. Our roster doesn't have an acquisition date for this thing - anyone know?
#013 - One of the Burlington ballast hoppers before being repainted. This photo was taken on the steam leads and the steam is from the 1630, which is one track over.
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