It’s been a while since I participated in the Lens Artists Photo Challenge but when I saw Anne’s choice of subject for this week, I realized I was working on something that would easily Fill The Frame.
Welcome to The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. It is the largest of its kind in the United States. On our most recent trip a few weeks ago, we got to walk through five display barns and took a ride on a streetcar and an electric train. Although I’m not exactly a train buff, I enjoy any opportunity to take pictures and this was one of those times. It was a lovely day, not too hot, so just right for walking around and, if you want to see everything, there is quite a bit of walking involved, outdoors as well as inside.
I was intrigued by these two stone sculptures that I took to be from some now defunct station in Chicago but I couldn’t find anyone who could tell me where they originated. If anyone from the Chicago area has any ideas I’d be interested to hear.
There are elevated walkways in between the carriages in the display barns so you can get a good view of the inside of the cars. I haven’t traveled in anything other than the Metra and CTA trains in our area, and it’s been many years since I enjoyed my favorite mode of transport in the UK, so I can’t speak for rail travel in general, but these interiors certainly looked quite luxurious.
The streetcar ride took us on a loop around the museum and although it wasn’t what you’d call a scenic tour, it gave us a look behind the scenes at some of the old stock that wasn’t on display and other odd items like the London Transport bus.
The display barns are full of carriages, locomotives and all kinds of rolling stock, some dating back to the late 1890’s. There are over 500 pieces of equipment at the museum which covers 100 acres of land.
Our ride on the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin electric train took us on a 40-minute round trip on the several miles of track that the museum owns in the surrounding countryside. Nearly all the people who work at the museum are volunteers and are very knowledgeable about the railway and its history. They were a cheerful group who answered all our questions and shared their love of trains with us. The Museum was founded in 1953 and moved to Union in 1964.
My eldest daughter and her husband are real railway enthusiasts and last year attended the IRM’s annual fundraiser at the Sanfillipo Estate in Barrington, where they won a prize in the raffle. My son-in-law got to ride in the engineer’s cab in one of these beauties.
It’s not hard to see why IRM relies in large part on fundraising events. Restoration work on pieces like this costs thousands of dollars. In 2016 IRM purchased a 130ft turntable for $10,000 that will be used to store their steam locomotives.
Our family does have a history with the railways in the UK. My 2nd great-grandfather started out as a plate-layer for the railway in 1853. He went on to become a railway guard, then stationmaster and at the time of his retirement was a railway inspector. When I researched his history I found that at the time of his marriage in 1853, he was unable to write his name in the registry, so I thought his rise through the ranks from plate-layer to railway inspector quite impressive. I couldn’t help wondering what he would have made of some of these displays.
It’s not always easy to give an indication of just how enormous some of these locomotives are. The wheels on some of them were taller than my 5ft 3in height.
Before we left, we stopped in at the hobby shop where they had a grand layout of model trains and shelves full of items for sale.
Awesome museum and pictures that definitely fill the frame!
Many thanks, Anne.
😊
Very nice documentation here!
Thank you, Indira.
An awesome museum Sue. I do love rail museums. Another great one is in York England. Cheers. Allan
Thank you for visiting, Allan. The IRM brought back fond memories of riding in the old steam trains in the UK many years ago.
That is quite an impressive railway museum. I was intrigued by one of the menu items: chicken lobster. I puzzled over it and then looked it up. I learned that these are small lobsters that are apparently as tender as chicken. I hadn’t heard of them described that way before.
Very interesting post. Thank you. 🙂
Many thanks for stopping by, Lynette. I wondered about the chicken lobster too. I was also astounded by the prices, considering how expensive eating out is these days.
Wow. You always find the neatest gems right here at home. Looks like an all-day tour. This isn’t too far from me. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for visiting, Lori. IRM makes an interesting day out, without having to drive too far.
Wowwwww. That is QUITE the museum! Well photographed. Trains are sooooo heavy. Mind boggling. LOVE the Silver Pilot!
Thank you, John. The Silver Pilot was always a favorite of mine. It was the first engine that I photographed at IRM many years ago.
This is really nice. You got one single topic to display so many examples of the challenge. Nicely done!
Thank you, Egidio!
That is my kind of museum.
Even though I’m not particularly a railway enthusiast, I do enjoy visiting the IRM.
Wow Sue – John Steiner is going to go nuts for your post – he’s a huge train buff! Loved the post, especially like the way you put your grids together. The images are fantastic. You really brought the experience to life! Great to see you joining in again.
Thank you, Tina!
A day well spent. And not only are the photos terrific, the application to filling the frame was perfect. Welcome back, Sue. It was. great theme to join us with. I loved the colors and shapes you brought to us through the history of the RR. Loved the walkway and seeing how the passengers travel with luxury. We have a steam engine “park” where we can ride on the trains, but nothing to this scale. This was great.
Thank you, Donna! I was glad I was able to join in the challenge.
That is a wonderful museum. So many well captured photos, but I always have a soft spot for trams 🙂
Thank you for visiting, Sofia.
Excellent photos of more trains than I have ever seen in my life!
Thank you, Ann-Christine!