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 steam engines, sorted by road number.
All pictures are copyrighted by the Illinois Railway Museum and may not be reproduced without permission.
#468 - Union Electric 4 is the museum's only fireless steam engine. The 0-4-0F arrived in 1982.
#118 - I'm not positive what's going on here but I suppose the Shay is switching TP&W 400 around. This has got to be the old West Switch, right about where Spaulding Tower is today.
#236 - Here's the Shay, location uncertain but possibly Yard 8 (today's Yard 9) judging from the corn off to the left. The car behind it looks like some tall piece of equipment lettered for the EJ&E, so I'm not sure what that is - maybe a rented hopper or something?
#237 - A nice broadside view of the Shay, I think at the west switch, about where the tower is today
#465 - The only railroad with steam, diesel, and electric locomotives that have all operated at IRM is Commonwealth Edison. ComEd 5, the 0-6-0 shown here, ran for a time in the 1970s but had been retired for a few years already when it was shot on display in Barn 8 (today's Barn 9).
#464 - This is not a great photo, but it shows American Creosote 7 - our only "normal" 0-4-0T (not counting the fireless cooker) - on display in Barn 8, today Barn 9. The engine's condition is largely unchanged today but it has been developed into an impressive exhibit describing the design and workings of steam locomotives.
#015 - Public Service 7, which looks much better today
#089 - Here's a neat one - Public Service 7 looks to be on the steam leads, right about where the Depot Street crossing is today, with a pre-lengthening Barn 8 (today Barn 9) behind it and the Steam Shop in the right background. The C&IM caboose visible in the background arrived in 1979, and the mounds of dirt alongside Barn 8 suggest that perhaps the streetcar line - which I think opened in 1981? - may have been under construction when this was taken.
#469 - Toledo-Detroit 16 was acquired in 1984 in a trade for B&LE 154, a 2-8-0 that IRM had acquired. IRM had a few 2-8-0s but no 4-4-0s, while the Ford Museum in Detroit had a few 4-4-0s but no 2-8-0s. So IRM cosmetically restored the 154 and sent it to Michigan. Here, the 16 appears to be on display at either the northeast or southwest corner of Barn 3.
#150 - It looks like LS&I 35, but there's a problem: there are no side rods on the front tender truck! So this must be LS&I 34, which was sold to the Western Maryland Scenic in 1992.
#460 - At one time IRM had a pair of large, heavy 2-8-0s from the LS&I. This one is 34, and peeking into the left edge of the frame is 35. The latter engine was kept, I believe mainly because it has an extremely rare Franklin tender booster, while 34 was sold in 1992 to the Western Maryland Scenic, which restored it to operation as "Western Maryland 734."
#104 - LS&I 35, probably soon after arrival in 1985. I couldn't have told you this engine was painted at IRM.
#462 - Here's a shot of LS&I 35 as it appeared when it arrived at IRM. Note the booster side rod on the front truck of the tender. It was later given a coat of paint, which has held up pretty well until the present day. For the last few years this engine has been decorated annually with Christmas lights for Happy Holiday Railway.
#233 - Here's a neat one. We're looking west at Johnson Siding, except that the siding isn't there yet. And that engine ahead is too short to be the 1630 but has a centered boiler, so it can only be the 101.
#467 - Tuskeegee 101, our only Prairie tender engine, was a favorite among our operating steam engines for years but was retired in the 1980s in very worn out condition. Here, it still has all its jewelry but lacks boiler jacketing, so I'm guessing it's out of service.
#162 - I'm not sure what engine this is. It's got slide valves, so that narrows it down. Thoughts?
EDIT: Thanks to Mikey for figuring out that this is Bessemer & Lake Erie 154, a 2-8-0 that was acquired by IRM in 1983. Since IRM had a few 2-8-0s but no 4-4-0, while the Ford Museum in Michigan had a few 4-4-0s but no 2-8-0, a trade was arranged. IRM volunteers cosmetically restored this engine and then sent it east in exchange for Toledo-Detroit 16.
#229 - With that odd little dome ahead of the stack, it can only be L&NE 207.
#234 - The only surviving L&NE steam engine, number 207, on the steam shop lead
#235 - Another photo of L&NE 207. This engine has lived indoors for quite a few years, and at the moment I believe it's in Barn 13 or 14.
#470 - L&NE 207 is the only surviving steam engine from that railroad. For a switcher, it's a big engine with a short wheelbase. It's shown here on the steam shop lead.
#220 - Milwaukee Road 265 is also on the steam shop lead
#239 - Milwaukee Road 265 has managed to retain this exact spot, at the south end of track 83 (since renumbered 93), until the present day. In this shot, the GG1 is coupled behind it, but today that locomotive is next to the 265 on track 92.
#461 - Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 265 is shown on the steam shop lead.
#204 - UP 428 is seen on the car line next to Yard 8 (today Yard 9) during an earlier stage of its restoration. Here, it's an 0-8-0.
#208 - UP 4248 is back in the steam shop during an early stage of its restoration
#463 - The precise year is unknown, but this is UP 428 during the early years of its restoration, sometime in the mid-1980s. It's actually a 2-8-0, not an 0-8-0 - who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?
#004 - Frisco 1630 with South Shore 34 in the background
#025 - Frisco 1630 approaches the west switch with North Shore 714 in Station Track 1. Note the signal bungalow located just west of the water tower footings, and the notable lack of an interlocking tower.
#026 - The 1630 marches into Station 2 with a train of Rock cars in tow
#037 - Frisco 1630, probably on the west wye.
#044 - Open wide and say "ahhh"
#056 - This view from the museum entrance apparently has the 1630 pulling the 21 down the west wye.
#127 - The 1630 is passing Spaulding Tower on its way into the depot.
#133 - This is the east end of Johnson Siding, but something's missing - namely, the equilateral switch. For a little while, Johnson was a stub-end siding.
#170 - We're along Hemmingsen Road just east of Boot Creek with the eastbound 1630 approaching. Chasing like this isn't as rewarding as it used to be due to all of the trees that have grown up along both rights-of-way.
#171 - The 1630 approaching Karsten's
#260 - Frisco 1630 is on the steam leads while Tuskeegee 101 is off to the left with its smokebox door open. When was the last time the 101 ran?
#471 - The Decapod appears to be shoving MN&S center-cab 21 up the west leg of the wye, I think.
#096 - This can only be the south end of track 82 (today track 92). The 2050 is where today the GG-1 sits. I remember the GG-1 being on this track in the 1990s, but it was a spot or two north from the door because it hadn't yet been painted and was still in tired Amtrak black.
#210 - It looks like N&W 2050 has been getting a paint job
#218 - N&W 2050 is partly in primer and partly in shiny black paint
#219 - Here's the 2050 again, still on the steam shop lead, with North Shore 714 barely visible in the background spotted in Yard 4 West.
#238 - N&W 2050 has attracted some attention sitting in front of Barn 8 on the steam shop lead
#466 - This picture gives you a good idea of how rough N&W 2050 looked when it arrived at IRM after years as a stationary boiler. What a difference a coat of paint makes!
#147 - I believe this is the throat to Yard 10, though I'm not certain. Is that engine straight ahead IC 3719?
#201 - IC 3719 when it first arrived at IRM
#202 - Another shot of IC 3719 on its flatcar. It was lettered for its last railroad, the Bevier & Southern.
#203 - The 3719's tender
#205 - IC 3719 has been taken off the flatcar and reunited with its tender in this photo taken on the steam shop lead
#213 - IC 3719 sits in front of the steam shop; beyond it appears to be C&NW 10304, our wooden bay-window caboose.
#214 - It looks like a paint booth has been set up around the 3719
#458 - Illinois Central 2-6-0 3719 appears to be spotted outside the steam shop, possibly with some fresh paint on its smokebox front. This engine is currently (as of 2023) undergoing cosmetic restoration work.
Olin Anderson: The IC 2-6-0 sat on a spur for either Yard 10 or 11, southwest of barn 8 (9). I think it was under restoration by a steam shop member that died a bit too young for our preference.
#459 - Here's another photo of IC 3719 in front of the steam shop. When it arrived, it was lettered for its last railroad, Bevier & Southern 109.
#007 - GTW 6323 on the steam leads
#008 - GTW 6323 on the steam leads
#027 - GTW 6323 and a CB&Q ballast car are on the south steam lead, with the 1630 being fired up behind them
#047 - Our two GTW steam engines, 6323 and 8380, on the steam leads
#097 - GTW 6323 is on the steam leads in this view looking south. I would guess this is about where the coal pile is today. This was probably taken at the same time as #089.
#194 - A favorite photographic subject, GTW 6323, on display on the turntable leads.
#206 - Grand Trunk 6323, probably on the turntable leads
#228 - GTW 6323 on the steam shop lead
#392 - Today we'd be looking at the Springfield Avenue waiting shelter, but it was just a gleam in Dave Diamond's eye when this was taken. GTW 6323 and a Rock Island coach grace the turntable leads.
#473 - Handsome GTW Northern 6323 sits in front of Barn 8, today Barn 9
#472 - The only ex-GTW 0-8-0 to actually make the trip from Sterling to Union was 8380, shown here after receiving a quickie paint job to return it to GTW livery. The material yard in the background looks like much more "yard" and much less "material" than it is today.
#333 - This tender was joined to the C&NW pile driver for many years, but it was actually an ex-Illinois Central tender. Within the last couple of years it's been fixed up and put to use as a water car for the 1630.
#334 - And here's the pile driver, along with its idler, most likely pictured in Yard 10. Behind it, the wooden passenger car is C&NW baggage car 1131, which was scrapped in 1998.
#338 - The lighting isn't great, but it looks like ComEd 19 on the left is back-to-back with C&WI wrecker 1900 in the center, both sitting on the turntable leads in this view looking southwest.
#344 - C&WI 1900, the "Big Hook," is shown on the turntable leads, where it still resides today. During the 1970s this crane was steamed up at least a handful of times.
#316 - These four forlorn narrow-gauge steam engines came from some failed Marriott endeavor, if memory serves. They were unwanted orphans at IRM and we resold them after a few years.
#343 - It's a steam engine tender frame, but any idea what engine it's from?
#376 - Anyone know what's going on here? And I don't mean the crazy angle, I mean the freshly painted tender tank sitting on top of what appears to be New York Central (maybe?) flat car 498136.
From Olin Anderson: This is probably the tank to the B&LE 2-8-0 restored for the Ford Museum. Hucksdorf was around painting a lot of stuff during this time.
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