Sunday Night on WGN

Our good friend Art Peterson has sent us some good news: he will be appearing on WGN's program "Backstory" this Sunday, October 6th, at 11pm. The subject of the episode will be nostalgia, of course a subject near to our hearts, and they'll be featuring Art and his collection. The episode will also be available on WGN's website starting the following day. Don't miss it!

See Us on YouTube!

We were recently contacted by Jeffrey Ornstein, who manages a YouTube channel that examines interesting and unusual transit (mostly rail transit) designs of the past. He was interested in using our article on Chicago Surface Lines 4001 as an information source for a video feature about the car. We were happy to oblige, as was the museum when it came to permission to use photographs in the IRM collection, and he just posted the resulting video yesterday.

Check the video out here!

It's an excellent overview of car 4001's history and significance. The only thing I realized was that I haven't updated the blog article's "current status" for the car! The history article still says that car 4001 is tarped and stored outside, but in fact it's been in Barn 13 for several years now. Oops.

Anyway, if you're interested in reading more about car 4001, click here. And you can find all of our car-specific history articles here. Many thanks to Jeffrey for the great video on CSL 4001, for the greatly appreciated credits and plug in the video, and helping to "spread the word" about this unique car's history!

The 728th Railway Operating Battalion in World War II

For those of you who will be in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Saturday, November 28, 2009, I recommend you stop by and say hello to me. Bowling Green, besides being home to my alma mater, Western Kentucky University, is also home to a very nicely restored Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot and museum, now called the Bowling Green Historic Railpark.

The Railpark his hosting yours truly as a guest speaker. The subject: The 728th Railway Operating Battalion in World War II. This battalion consisted of many employees of the L&N, and was instrumental in supporting the Allied advance through France in the months following D-Day. The L&N helped re-open and operate the railroad from Cherbourg, France to Paris.

The reason for the invite is more complicated. Back at WKU, I wrote my senior thesis on the 728th, and largely forgot about the subject. A few months ago, a volunteer at the Railpark was doing research on the 728th so he could give the presentation, found my thesis, and managed to find me, all the way out in Missouri.

Of note, the depot includes several restored railcars on display, and I'll take lots of photos for a new Dave's Depots feature.

UPDATE: WKCT Radio in Bowling Green is doing a phone interview with me at 1:30 PM CST on Monday, November 23, 2009. There is a "listen live" feature if you dare.

UPDATE-UPDATE-The interview is a taped one, so don't listen live.