According to the web site linked below, there were 5 steam locomotives and 1 diesel on the property of a winery located in Monee, IL. The web site indicates there are three locomotives left (2 steam, 1 diesel).
Can anyone confirm this?
Thanks

Boyd

Steam Locomotives of Monee
ddg14@attbi.com

> According to the web site linked below,
> there were 5 steam locomotives and 1 diesel
> on the property of a winery located in
> Monee, IL. The web site indicates there are
> three locomotives left (2 steam, 1 diesel).
> Can anyone confirm this?
> Thanks

> Boyd

Have you looked at steamlocomotive.com and/or steamlocomotive.info? Both gentlemen do a pretty good job of keeping their lists current.

JAC

php-nuke installed at johnacraft.com

Unfortunately, the info at steamlocomotive.com and steamlocomotive.info don't agree and have questions about their information.

Boyd


Steam Locomotives of Monee
ddg14@attbi.com

Boyd,

According to the owner of the #4 on the website you are looking at, the steamers and the Davenport still remain on site as the owner intends to keep them. He also said that apparently the winery burned about a year or so ago and surely inflicted damage on the 2-6-0 that was closest to one of the depot structures. This is unconfirmed though.

The Mid-South Rail Heritage Foundation is steadily making progress on the restoration of the #4 along with our NC&STL caboose #87.
Our group is also helping to operate the Hardin Southern Nostalgia train as well as restoring a Davenport engine owned by some of our members.

Please visit our website below to see all of our progress.

Bruce Pierce
Mid-South Rail Heritage Foundation

http://www.midsouthrail.com
brucepierce@frankelectro.com

Bruce,

What Davenport is at the Hardin Southern? Is is steam or diesel?

restoring a Davenport engine owned by some
> of our members.

Bruce Pierce
> Mid-South Rail Heritage Foundation


ryarger@rypn.org

The link below has a brief description of the rise and fall of the winery written by John Thompson himself (pictured below in the linked photo). Aside from the locomotives and the stations (accounted for in the article) what other equipment did/does Thompson own? Are there more pieces at Monee in need of preservation? Also, CRI&P 17731, a wood outside-braced caboose is reported to be on site in poor condition.

Note: The observation car pictured below looks suspiciously like IC #7, which is presently at the Monticello Railway Museum.



Chicagoland Beer History

rrhistorian@hotmail.com

> What Davenport is at the Hardin Southern? Is
> is steam or diesel?

The Davenport at The HSRR is a 20 ton diesel mechanical. It was built for the US Army, Corp of Engineers in July, 1941. You can see it at our website: www.midsouthrail.org

There is/was a 44 or 45 ton Davenport at Monee. It was a double ender like a GE.

The office car at Monee was an IC Office car, but I don't remember the number.

Stuart Hale



Davenport on HSRR
gnufe@apex.net

John E. Thompson owned L&A 4-6-0 #509, a two-truck Heisler, a bunch of "oh-four-two-tees", and Roberval & Saguenay 2-8-0 #17. #17 was sold by J.E.T. to Crab Orchard & Egyptian in 1974. #509 is at TVRM, I think.

J. David, you know far, far more about all this than I do.... chime in, willya?

And what happened to Dave Krall, J.E.T.'s "locomotive manager"?

hpincus@mindspring.com

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the info on the web site is all correct except for the info on Swift and Co fireless 0-4-0 #2. The little fireless is now on display at the METRA station in Tinley Park, IL.

Boyd

bowens@rypn.org

> Thanks for the info. Sounds like the info on
> the web site is all correct except for the
> info on Swift and Co fireless 0-4-0 #2. The
> little fireless is now on display at the
> METRA station in Tinley Park, IL.

> Boyd

Boyd (and others interested):

Here are the facts. There were three depots at the Thompson Wimery site; two were joined together into a "V shape" to make the winery itself and these burned to the ground. A third depot was at the "entrance" to the site and was the old Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad's Beecher, Illinois depot. Although in poor shape, the depot was returned to Beecher a few years ago and has been undergoing an amazing restoration (stop by and see it if you can) by the local people in Beecher.

The IC business car in the photo (which is from a magazine article at least 25 years old!) is Illinois Central #2. This car has been moved from the winery site to private property on the Thompson farm a few miles away. The car is a steel sheathed wood car!

One of the two steam locomotives still at the site was a 2-6-0. It was next to one of the depots that burned and suffered some fire damage although it may only have been superficial (the wind was blowing AWAY from the engine.) Not so lucky was the wood Rock Ialand single sheathed wooden bodied caboose...all that was left was the framing. The other steam locomotive there (2-6-2T #9) was not affected by the fire.

I have not been back to the winery now for over a year.

midlandblb@cs.com

> John E. Thompson owned L&A 4-6-0 #509, a
> two-truck Heisler, a bunch of
> "oh-four-two-tees", and Roberval
> & Saguenay 2-8-0 #17. #17 was sold by
> J.E.T. to Crab Orchard & Egyptian in
> 1974. #509 is at TVRM, I think.

> J. David, you know far, far more about all
> this than I do.... chime in, willya?

Dear Howard: Oh goodness, if you insist...
JET sold the 509 to me, I sold it to Larry Spreckelmeier, et al at Brookville, IN who leased/sold/gave it to TVRM who sold it in 9/2002 to the City of Cookville, TN where it now rests.
You are correct, JET sold the 17 to CO&E who sold it to Boone & Scenic Valley at Boone,IA
The Heisler was sold to the now defunct Kettle Moraine Ry, at Northlake, WI it is supposedly going to the museum Green Bay, WI.
There was only one 0-4-2T in JET's collection, it was sold to the Hoosier Valley group at North Judson, IN (Les Beckman can fill you in on this one).
In addition to the three 2-6-2s at the farm and later at the winery there was one with a cabbage stack, acquired with No. 509 from Mid-State Materials, former Calcasieu Long Leaf Lumber No. 69 (BLW c/n 41562), sold to Bill Richmond at Strome, AB who later sold it to Ronald Bergseth at Sedgewick, AB. Note that several people have gotten this locomotive mixed up with the 2-6-2 at Edmonton, AB (BLW c/n 52255) which had been owned by Calcasieu Paper Co. (No. 107). No. 69, which I worked on for JET had (as I recall) an excellent firebox and boiler except for heavy pitting on the belly just ahead of the firebox, now a fairly easy repair under the revised rules, but then a death sentence.
> And what happened to Dave Krall, J.E.T.'s
> "locomotive manager"?
Last I heard, Dave was still working on restoring and building theater organs and had made a name for himself in that field.
J. David


jdconrad@snet.net

> There was only one 0-4-2T in JET's
> collection, it was sold to the Hoosier
> Valley group at North Judson, IN (Les
> Beckman can fill you in on this one).

For the record, 0-4-2T #6 was not sold to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum although it is currently at the museums site in North Judson. Three gentlemen (all of who are HVRM members, moved the aftorementioned IC business car #2 from the winery to the Thompson Farm. As part of the deal to move #2, the 0-4-2T passed into their hands. They are the owners of the locomotive and it is kept at the HVRM for them.

Les Beckman (HVRM)

> In addition to the three 2-6-2s at the farm
> and later at the winery there was one with a
> cabbage stack, acquired with No. 509 from
> Mid-State Materials, former Calcasieu Long
> Leaf Lumber No. 69 (BLW c/n 41562), sold to
> Bill Richmond at Strome, AB who later sold
> it to Ronald Bergseth at Sedgewick, AB. Note
> that several people have gotten this
> locomotive mixed up with the 2-6-2 at
> Edmonton, AB (BLW c/n 52255) which had been
> owned by Calcasieu Paper Co. (No. 107). No.
> 69, which I worked on for JET had (as I
> recall) an excellent firebox and boiler
> except for heavy pitting on the belly just
> ahead of the firebox, now a fairly easy
> repair under the revised rules, but then a
> death sentence.
> Last I heard, Dave was still working on
> restoring and building theater organs and
> had made a name for himself in that field.
> J. David


midlandblb@cs.com

As an added note, another locomotive at Monee was a former Texas & New Orleans 4-6-0 originally from the Houston & Texas Central. #319 was a Cooke 1892 product that Thompson had a great deal of boiler work done to. It is now in Georgia outside of Atlanta, and no one seems to know what plans are in store for it.

> For the record, 0-4-2T #6 was not sold to
> the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum although
> it is currently at the museums site in North
> Judson. Three gentlemen (all of who are HVRM
> members, moved the aftorementioned IC
> business car #2 from the winery to the
> Thompson Farm. As part of the deal to move
> #2, the 0-4-2T passed into their hands. They
> are the owners of the locomotive and it is
> kept at the HVRM for them.

> Les Beckman (HVRM)


runner@i-55.com

> As an added note, another locomotive at
> Monee was a former Texas & New Orleans
> 4-6-0 originally from the Houston &
> Texas Central. #319 was a Cooke 1892 product
> that Thompson had a great deal of boiler
> work done to. It is now in Georgia outside
> of Atlanta, and no one seems to know what
> plans are in store for it.

Many moons ago, I talked to the gentleman from Georgia who purchased the 319 from the Thompson collection. He had been spending his summer vacations coming down to Monee, Illinois to take things off of the engine to lighten it up for its eventual move down there. His plan was to eventually run it on some line that had a tie-in to Franklin D. Roosevelt (I assume this meant Warm Springs where FDR spent a bit of time and where he eventually died in 1945.) I saw a newspaper article about these plans after the 319 was eventually trucked down to Georgia but that in itself was some years back. I am not sure that gentleman still owns the locomotive of if the plans are still alive or what. Anyone down in Georgia know?

midlandblb@cs.com