Hi friends,

Wondering what "lost" relics and oddball unpreserved railroad equipment might be lurking between roughly Chicago and Rockford, IL.

I had heard of a CNJ reefer and hjopper in Chicagoland. What goodies might one want to photograph?

Rob

trains@robertjohndavis.com

> Wondering what "lost" relics and
> oddball unpreserved railroad equipment might
> be lurking between roughly Chicago and
> Rockford, IL.

www.irm.org

Seriously though, folks... the only thing I can think of is a dormant Alco switcher sitting at a gravel pit (?) on the southeast side of Elgin. Supposedly this unit, along with a bunch of beat-up ore jennies, is visible from the Metra-Milwaukee Road line. If anyone knows its history, I would be mildly interested.

Frank Hicks

frank@gats.com

Venture north and west to Oregon, IL to see the restoration of the former CB&Q depot now in full swing. The depot was listed in 1997 on the National Register of Historic places.

SJH


http://www.oregondepot.1hwy.com/index.html
sjhussar@aol.com

> Wondering what "lost" relics and
> oddball unpreserved railroad equipment might
> be lurking between roughly Chicago and
> Rockford, IL.

In Bensenville there's a Chicago Gravel 0-6-0 with a Milwaukee rib-side passenger car and caboose on display in a park. The engine was repainted by none other than Dave Conrad. It's on Church Road at the ex-MILW Soo Line tracks.

And at Terra Cotta, just north of Crystal Lake on Rt. 31, there are three heavyweights inside the company's dining room. You can see them through the big picture windows from the parking lot. Might make an unusual picture - I never tried to photograph them.

Diners: A Rock Island commuter coach is built into a restaurant right in downtown Chicago, on Congress at Wells. The Crystal Lake McDonald's has a Chicago L car sticking out of the building. Then there's Sandwich, IL, which might be out of your way, but it has an old Burlington wooden coach disguised as a shovel-nose Zephyr power car. Bizarre.

And I can think of lots of cabooses in various parks or back yards, too many to start listing.

Hope this helps.

The Mendota Railroad Museum located in the CB&Q depot there has an excellent model railroad, plus a number of relics. Also, CB&Q O1a #4978 and a wooden CB&Q caboose are displayed outside. As has been noted previously on this board and others, 4978 is probably the best maintained park engine in this country. The museum is open on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net