Illinois Railway Museum

The Illinois Railway Museum, as you see it today, is the result of decades of effort by a dynamic group of dedicated volunteers. All of the buildings, track, locomotives and cars were assembled here at Union on what was once farmland. Our main line trackage was laid on the vacant right-of-way of the Elgin & Belvidere Electric railway. Why would rational adults freely contribute so much of their time and treasure to creating this repository of railroad history? The Illinois Railway Museum is probably the ultimate railroad historian special interest group. Originally formed to preserve one important piece of rolling stock, it has evolved into an educational and historic preservation organization recreating possibly the largest operating demonstration railroad showcase on the North American continent.

Illinois Railway Museum

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy No. 3007 is a class S-4 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1930. It went into service pulling passenger trains on the the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy such as the Ak-Sar-Ben, the Aristocrat and the Black Hawk, eliminating the need to swap one locomotive for another during the trip. The S-4 was one of the most successful steam locomotive classes operated by the CB&Q. The class was also fast: one was recorded hauling ten standard passenger cars between Cochrane and La Crosse, WI, at 112 mph. One of its sisters, #3002 was streamlined to haul the stainless-steel Zephyrs, and named Aeolus. No. 3007 was retired in 1961 after a few years in storage and it was donated to the city of Quincy, Illinois, where it was displayed for a time in Quinsippi Island Park, near the Burlington Route's new bridge over the Mississippi River. It was then moved to Griggsville in late 1979/early 1980. 3007 is now part of the collection at the Illinois Railway Museum, but today funds are being raised to restore it to working order.

Locomotive Wiki

BN-3 was originally built as Chicago, Burlington & Quincy E9A #9989A by EMD in January 1956. It became Burlington Northern #9989 after the merger of March 2, 1970. In April 1973 it was rebuilt for Chicago commuter service and became E9AM #9919, the "Joseph F. Coyle." At this point, the locomotive technically was owned by Chicago’s West Suburban Mass Transit District and leased to Burlington Northern. The rebuilt E-units were retired from Chicago commuter service in July 1992, and in August #9919 was transferred back to Burlington Northern. It was sent to be repainted and emerged on January 6, 1993 as BN-3. It joined BN-1 and BN-2 in Executive Service until the 1996 BNSF merger, after which it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum.

Robert D. West

Essential information about the Illinois Railway Museum

IRM was founded in 1953 and has grown to become the largest collection of preserved railway and transit equipment on the continent, with some 450 pieces of historic equipment including steam engines, diesels, streetcars, interurbans, passenger and freight cars, buses, and trolley buses. Among the famous trains at the museum are the Nebraska Zephyr, the only complete surviving Zephyr streamliner; Frisco 1630, a 1918 steam locomotive originally intended for export to czarist Russia; and the Electroliner, a revolutionary high-speed electric train dating to 1941. The museum's site in Union, McHenry County, features some 100 acres of exhibit buildings and historic structures including the 1851-vintage East Union Depot, the oldest active train station west of Pittsburgh. Visitors ride historic trains on a one-mile streetcar loop and a five-mile main line railroad, both lines constructed and maintained by the museum. IRM receives no state or federal funding and all of its operations and historic preservation activities are funded through daily operations and donations.

Illinois Railway Museum