Old photo of unknown date of IRM's recent acquisition.

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?march03/03-13-03/ic1401.jpg
ryarger@rypn.org

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?march03/03-13-03/ic1401info.jpg
ryarger@rypn.org

Sister engine at Chicago in 1906, showing what these engines looked like then. These ran the commuter trains that are electric now.

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?march03/03-13-03/ic1402.jpg
ryarger@rypn.org

The inscription on this photo is incorrect as to builder's date. The locomotive first operated in May 1880. It was part of the first rapid transit line to be built in the Midwest. That line included two dedicated tracks next to the existing mainline from Great Central Station (not to be confused with the later and unrelated Grand Central Station) to Hyde Park. Special "lightweight" commuter cars were ordered as well. Improved suburban service was called for because a new town, Pullman, was rising next to the IC tracks further south and because a new competitor, the Chicago and Western Indiana threatenned to bleed away existing traffic.

Because this was a great civic improvement,the first run of the locomotive was very well recorded. As an aside, it appears that the locomotive's first run was conncurent (within weeks anyway) of the IC's first shipment of bananas into Chicago -- a trade for which they were to become quite famous. The locomotive was also used for the last steam revenue run on the lakefront suburban line, another well documented event. In addition to being a star at the Century of Progress and the Chicago Railroad Fair, on one occasion it was run through Soldier Field on temporary tracks. This once beautiful stadium remodeled as the "Mistake on the Lake" reopens this week. Lets go to IRM instead.

fred_ash@bankone.com