Tour the CA&E in 1962

Thanks to a fascinating collection of photographs from Art Peterson, we can take a tour of the CA&E. The catch? The photos were all taken several years after the end of service, likely in 1962 though possibly in 1961. Still, they make for an arresting snapshot of the railroad in its last days before removal.

No reproduction without permission.

Main Line - Forest Park to Wheaton

First Avenue, Maywood, looking southeast

First Avenue, Maywood, looking northwest

6th Avenue, Maywood, looking west (photo #35)

25th Avenue, Maywood, looking east

28th Avenue, Maywood, looking east from the IHB bridge

Westchester line junction, Bellwood, looking east

Garden Home (51st Avenue), Bellwood, looking east

Bridge over Wolf Road, Hillside, looking east

Taft Avenue, Berkeley, looking east

Taft Avenue, Berkeley, looking west

County line, Elmhurst, looking east

Poplar Avenue, Elmhurst, looking east

York Street, Elmhurst, looking east

York Street, Elmhurst, looking west

Illinois Central crossing, Elmhurst, looking west

Spring Road, Elmhurst, looking east

Spring Road, Elmhurst, looking west

Villa Avenue, Villa Park, looking east

Ardmore Avenue, Villa Park, looking east

Ardmore Avenue, Villa Park, looking west

West of Glen Ellyn

College Avenue, Wheaton, looking east

College Avenue, Wheaton, looking west

Aurora Branch

Warrenville, looking east (photo #34)

Warrenville, looking west

Electric Junction, Warrenville, looking west

Batavia Junction, Naperville, looking west

Aurora Avenue, Aurora, looking northeast

Aurora Avenue, Aurora, looking southwest

Batavia Branch

CB&Q and Route 25 bridges, Batavia, looking northwest

Batavia terminal, looking north

Elgin Branch

Wesley Street, Wheaton, looking northwest

Ingalton Road, looking southeast (photo #26)

Prince Crossing (Ingalton Road), looking northwest

Prince Crossing, looking northwest

Wayne, looking southeast

St. Charles Road, looking southeast

St. Charles Road, looking northwest (photo #28)

Renwick, Elgin

Elgin, looking north

Museum Trains at Wheaton, Spring 1962

Cars 36 and 319 spotted just west of Wheaton Avenue in Wheaton

Cars 36 and 319 spotted west of Wheaton Avenue in Wheaton as EJ&E 212 approaches

The "east hospital train" makes its last stop at the Wheaton station: cars 36, 319, 409, 303, 318, 308, and 315.

EJ&E 212 switching the four cars going to Trolleyville: 303, 409, 319, and 36.

EJ&E with the four Trolleyville cars.

EJ&E 212 shoving the four Trolleyville cars over West Street in Wheaton.

EJ&E 212 pulling what appears to be cars 315, 308, and 318.

EJ&E 212 with cars 315 and 308 behind it.

The rearranged "east hospital train" gets picked up by a C&NW SD9: cars 318, 308, 315, 36, 319, 409, and 303.

Unidentified Photos

Photo #14

Photo #21

Photo #33

It's Inspection Season

Frank writes...

Annual inspection season is upon us again! Over the next few weeks, we plan on conducting annual inspections of our regular service CA&E wood cars. At the moment, this means the 309, 319, and 36, probably in that order.

First up is the pride of the fleet, the 309, which Joel and the crew brought over from Barn 8 on Friday. Here it is in its first foray into the new Barn 4 extension. Joel did all the inspection work on the #1 truck, air compressor, grids, and roof - if you look closely, you can see him up there about at the junction between the new and old barn sections, adjusting the angle of the car's pole. A few minor things that needed fixing were found. I inspected the #2 truck when I arrived mid-afternoon.

Joel then pulled the 309 out to the car line using the 25-tonner, as shown above, after which I switched the car over to Barn 8. I also moved the 36 and 319, which were at the door, west into the barn. We ran out of time and manpower before we could test-fit the new axle cap bearing, but we hope to fit that job in sometime within the next couple of weeks.

At the end of the day, I put a coat of cream paint on the windows for the 18, shown here. These will be ready to install in the car the next time I'm out. There are very few drop sash windows that still need fresh paint, but there's plenty of other work to do on the car's exterior like patching the drop rail, painting the belt rail, fixing up the doors... the list goes on!

Sunday was opening day of the 2024 regular season, but there wasn't much of a crowd thanks to the cool temperatures and driving rain that didn't let up until about closing time (of course), after which the sun came out. Several volunteers were working on a variety of car shop projects but I didn't get any photos. I did snap a photo of this: the rail display that Richard is working on over in Barn 8 is starting to come together. The bottom shelf is done and the second shelf is in place, minus it risers. These will also feature under-cabinet-style lighting that will illuminate the sections of rail and make it a very eye-catching exhibit.

If you didn't see the post a couple of days ago, check out our Take a Seat campaign for the 451, 453, and 460! We're very excited about this opportunity improve the look of the 460, which is one of our regular service cars, and get the 451 and 453 closer to regular public operation.

Friday Projects

On Friday I had a few miscellaneous tasks to accomplish, most of which weren't worth taking a picture of.  I found we have plenty of spare parts for a deal of the week that we're working on, so stay tuned.  And checked some of the bearings, straightened things up, and so on.

Meanwhile, I can report that Tim continues to make steady progress on the interior of the 1808.  As always, it's being done to the highest standards.  

And here we have an interesting car card.  You could take the Northwestern Elevated to the "Aviation Field" back in the old days.  Remember Meigs Field?  It just disappeared without warning one night, vanishing into history like Atlantis.

Jewell Road

Spring is here, so it's time to get back to restoring the Jewell Road shelter.  I think I mentioned this last year, but right now three sides have been repainted, and there's one more to do.  My plan is to make new wood parts for the entire side (or most of it), paint them on all six sides, and then tear the old siding off and replace it.  It should be possible to do that in a day.

Today Dave Diamond let me borrow a pickup and the B&G credit card, so I could drive to Woodstock and pick up the wood I needed.

When I got back, I unloaded the wood.  I decided that it wasn't feasible to take the long boards home, so they've been stored in the wood shop and will be prepared at the Museum.  The shorter boards on either side of the window can be done at home easily enough.

And I should point out that this project is being funded through the B&G Restricted Fund.  You can help keep the Museum grounds and structures in good condition, and help the entire campus continue to grow and expand, with a contribution to the B&G Restricted Fund.   Thanks!!!

Update:  After less than an hour's work, I started on the boards I took home, ripped them to the correct width, and beveled the corners accurately.

But wait -- those corners don't look quite square.  That's embarrassing!  How could that happen???

On the other hand, perhaps if I play around with these boards long enough, I can get them to fit together somehow.  It'll just have to be good enough for Museum work.

Museum Within a Museum

You know, with a little imagination we could have a fantastic museum of contemporary art, out in the material yard.

Something like this:

I personally prefer art from the Middle Ages, but that's just me.