Back from the South...

[doctorwayne]

...well, actually from the northern part of Illinois, which is still south of where I live in southern Ontario.
As some of you have seen elsewhere on the Forum, I recently visited the Illinois Railway Museum, a large site with lots to see and do. If you get the chance, visit it in person - you'll surely enjoy it. However, if you want to have a really great time, see it with someone who really knows the place - I was very fortunate to hook-up with a couple of good friends who showed me around. Here's a shot of all three of us - I call it Three Amigos, but a bystander quipped that we looked more like The Three Stooges. Larry is on the left, and I'll leave it up to you to decide the identities of Moe and Curly:


I saw lots of stuff new to me, including this CB&Q SD24, on which the paint was barely dry:


A Milwaukee Road dynamometer car:


A Milwaukee Road Northern, under power (well, okay, electric power):


One of my favourite steam-era heralds, in mosaic tile, no less:


We rode Ceres, the diner of the Nebraska Zephyr, behind an E5 (we were all dying for a coffee, but when I looked in the galley, the chef was nowhere to be seen):


I learned that Burlington Northern was unable to take advantage of Kadee's close-coupling for Stewart F-units, and had to improvise for their "Executive Fs":


You'd be forgiven for thinking that I'd strayed even farther south, but this SP "Cadillac" is far from its Los Angeles base - the lovingly applied weathering gives it a real "in-service" appearance, though


I also thought that I'd found romance, but we were unable to load this lovely lady into the trunk of my Mazda:


Another shot of The Three Amigos:


On the way home, I stopped at Owosso, Michigan, site of Railfest 2009 later this week. Unfortunately, the place was locked-up, with only a glimpse of PM 1225 available. I did see, though, through the fence, this restored F-unit lettered for the Cincinatti, New Orleans & Texas Pacific - Southern's famed "Rathole" Division.


All-in-all, a great (if too-short) trip, made even better in the company of friends - thanks Deano and Larry! As someone once said: "I'll be back!".

Wayne