Hicks Car Works: In Memoriam Ken Spengler

Monday, July 20, 2026

In Memoriam Ken Spengler

We are sad to report that longtime IRM volunteer Ken Spengler died yesterday. In more recent years, Ken was mostly active as a volunteer at the Strahorn Library. During the early 2000s, Ken worked with Craig Wagner for a number of years in the Electric Car Shop to completely restore the interior of the 972 and repaint the car's exterior. Ken was also well known to the traction modeling community, where he was very active. He will be missed.

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About This Site

The "Hicks Locomotive and Car Works" banner at the top is taken from original artwork of the company, which was in business from 1897 to 1911. The picture behind it shows the four restored CA&E wood cars at the Museum, starting with #309, which was built by the Hicks Locomotive and Car Works in 1907.

This is not an official website for the Illinois Railway Museum. It represents only the personal views of the authors.

It has been developed and tested using Chrome, Firefox, and IE7 with the screen set at 768x1024. If any other browser gives you a problem, please let me know.

Any reproduction or other use of the material posted here for personal or commercial profit or financial gain would be a miracle. So don't try it.

Our Current Projects

CA&E 36, 308, 309, and 319

For 2026, the 309 and 319 will be available for revenue service. The 308 may be used as a trailer. The 36 has broken leaf springs, and fixing this will be a priority.

CA&E 451, 453, and 460

The 460 has been reupholstered and is in regular service. The 451 is currently in the shop for interior restoration and mechanical work. New third rail beams are being made for all of them.

Shaker Heights 18

The 18 is operational; repainting is in progress.

Shaker Heights 63

Repainting of this car is nearly complete.