Good morning! The following message may be of interest. It was posted on the IlliniRail Yahoo group:

"A Chicago-area museum has in their collection a number of original Elgin, Joliet & Eastern wooden foundry patterns. While they have had these foundry patterns in their collection for 30 or 40 years, they have never had the space to properly exhibit them.
I have personally inspected these items and am satisfied that they are genuine. Rather than continue to keep them in storage, their board of directors would like to donate them to another museum or historical society that could properly exhibit and interpret them.
Anyone interested in acquiring these foundry patterns should contact me; I have been authorized to negotiate the donation of these items on behalf of the museum that has them.

Bill Molony - Blackhawk Chapter, NRHS
http://www.blackhawknrhs,org/"

Mr. Molony's e-mail address is bbmolony@juno.com.

Usual Disclaimers:
This message is posted for informational purposes only.
I do not have any financial interest in the matter.