Lima 1949
Union Pacific 900075
Steam Rotary Snow Plow
UP 900075 is a steam-powered rotary snow plow. It is effectively a giant snow blower, with its steam engine – housed entirely within the streamlined car body for easier maintenance in winter conditions – powering a large blade at the front that throws snow to the side of the tracks. It is not self-propelled and was designed to be pushed by a locomotive. Diesel-powered rotary snow plows are still employed by railroads but the last steam-powered rotary plow was retired in the 1970s.
Electro-Motive 1982
Amtrak 945
AEM-7 main line passenger locomotive
Amtrak 945 is an 11,000 volt electric passenger locomotive built in LaGrange, Illinois. It is the fastest locomotive at IRM. It was designed for a maximum speed of 125mph, which it would reach in service on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. It was retired in 2018 and acquired by IRM, where it is preserved as a static display.
PC&F 1975
Milwaukee Road 992300
NE Caboose
Milwaukee Road 992300 is a standard railroad caboose designed for general freight service over the Milwaukee Road system. It has a widened (or “extended vision”) centered cupola on the roof to provide the conductor better visibility over his train.
GE 1960
Union Pacific 18
D-E Turbine A Unit 8500 GTEL
Union Pacific 18 is an example of the most powerful locomotive ever built in America. Rated at 10,000hp, it consists of the cab unit; the main power unit containing a turbine engine, similar to a jet engine, numbered 18B; and a tender to carry fuel for the turbine. The railroad designed these locomotives specifically to pull freight trains between Omaha, Nebraska and Ogden, Utah and 18 is one of only two in preservation. Their poor fuel economy and high maintenance costs of the turbine led to their retirement in the late 1960s.
The above texts all come from the IRM website.
www.irm.org/
National Train Day was a marketing thing that Amtrak came up with. They had some interesting displays of equipment at Union Station in Chicago. They quit it because they didn't have the budget for it. But, as usual, things created by the government never truly fade away. 😜
Here are some pictures I took at Union Station in 2010.
Illinois Railway Museum
Union, Illinois 42.227986, -88.527277
July 27, 2024
My Illinois Railway Museum album
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