I went down the stairs into Indianapolis Union Station and was soon spotted by Chris Parker, who had flown in yesterday. We walked out to the rental car and soon were headed out of town for Illinois by way of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on this rather dark and windy morning. We drove out of Indiana on Interstate 74 through some rain showers into Illinois. At Champaign, we visited a Walmart for some warmer clothes before going to Bob Evans Restaurant for a fantastic French toast platter. On the road again, we proceeded to Interstate 57 South for a couple of miles to Interstate 72, which we took west to Monticello. We exited onto Iron Horse Boulevard which led us to the Monticello Railway Museum.
We turned after we saw the steam engine on a sign and headed straight to the museum.
At the sign, we turned right and followed the directions they sent me. We met someone who asked why we were there, then gave us directions to the steam shop.
Monticello Railway Museum 4/12/2007
Illinois Central RS-3 704 really ex Long Island Railroad 704.
Another view of the Illinois Central RS-3 704.
We went inside the Steam Shop and met the workers before taking pictures of Southern Railway 2-8-0 401 under restoration.
Another view of the Southern Railway 401.
Tennessee Central E8A 5764 ex Pennsylvania Railroad 5764.
Back end of Southern Railway 401.
Inside of the steam shop. After that picture I decide to go have a look around the museum's grounds on this very cold and strong wind blowing morning.
Illinois Central Passenger/Baggage 892.
Norfolk Western Caboose 557530.
Soo Line Caboose 99110.
Illinois Central Business Car 7.
Canadian National Steam Generator Car 15421.
Illinois Central Carondelet 2612.
Illinois Central 404 RPO/ Express/ Mail Storage.
Illinois Central Caboose 9926.
Nickel Plate Railway Post Office Car 356.
Gulf Mobile & Ohio Caboose 2954.
Milwaukee Road URTV 26012.
Wabash Caboose 2824.
Wabash Box Car 82697.
Illinois Central Caboose 9831.
Tank and Baggage Cars.
Illinois Central Coach 2920.
ICX238 and ICX 4352.
Illinois Central Jordan Spreader X9151 in a line of equipment.
Republic Steel 0-6-0 191.
Green Bay & Western RS3u 308.
Mississippi Eastern 4-6-0 303 built by Baldwin in 1916.
Chicago Transit Authority 53.
Refrigerator Cars Ice, Dry and Mechanical.
Norfolk Western Blue Coach. With this last picture, I walked back inside the Steam Shop to warm myself up and there I met Ron Berkman who would give us of tour of the engine shop and the car shops.
Canadian National FPA-4 6789.
Illinois Central GP-11 8733.
Milwaukee Road NW-2 1649.
Wabash Railway F-7A 1189.
Another view of Milwaukee Road NW-2 1649.
The Wabash symbol on the nose of Wabash 1189.
The Chicago Milwaukee ST. Paul and Pacific emblem on the 1649. Next we went inside the machine shop.
Inside the Machine Shop.
A view of the wheel lathe. We went inside the Car Shop and saw the fantastic collection of equipment that this museum owns. We thanked Ron for the excellent tour and I showed Chris the equipment outside.
Line of equipment.
Wabash Caboose 2834.
New York Central Red Caboose.
Bridge Crane. We walked back to the Steam Shop thanking everyone there before we drove down Nelson Crossing Station to see more of the museum's unique equipment.
Wig Wag.
Nelson Crossing Depot.
Delaware and Hudson Baggage 405.
Lincoln Sand and Gravel BB-switcher 44.
Santa Fe Sleeper Pleasant Valley.
Illinois Central 575 Railway Express Agency Mail Storage.
Nickel Plate REA 329 Baggage.
Illinois Central 404 Baggage United States Post Office.
Norfolk Western 555047.
Another line of equipment. This picture was one last one at the Monticello Railway Museum. Chris and I then headed into downtown Monticello and found the station building there.
The Monticello Station. From here he drove south to US 36 which we took east and at Tuscola found the end of a freight train.
Canadian National 2465 South at Tuscola.
Canadian National 5559 North at Tuscola.
Illinois Central SD-40-2 6018
Illinois Central SD-40-2 6011. We returned to US 36 and now needed gas and stopped at the first station we could find on this cold windy mid day.
Welcome to Chris!
Welcome to Chrisman, really! It was a good thing Chris Parker and Chris Guenzler were both in Chrisman this afternoon. Chris had gone into a cafe to get a hot drink and I finished up fuelling the rental car. I drove over to the restaurant to find Chris. We then walked out to the car and as we opened the doors, we saw an older man collapse as he tried to get into his daughter's car. We ran over to help. I went inside to call 911 while Chris assisted the daughter with her father. Chris covered him up with his jacket while I learned from the daughter that her father had major heart problems. He had fallen flat onto his face and his glasses cut deeply into his face. Chris tried to get him up, but his legs would not hold him. The Volunteer Paramedics arrived followed by the Volunteer Fire Department. What struck me as odd was that his blood pressure was never taken. He was put onto a backboard and they almost took Chris' jacket with him. They thanked us for our help and we could not wait to get out of Chrisman. We drove east to Indiana 83 in Indiana, which we took south toward Terra Haute. On the way there, we received a telephone message from Ray Burns of Trainweb.com, who gave us the phone number of a Moberly, Missouri radio station which wanted to interview me about my upcoming Million Rail Mile trip. I did a fifteen minute phone interview as we came into Terra Haute. Chris stopped at a fast food restaurant before we continued south on US 41/150 to Sullivan. We turned east onto Indiana 84 and as we approached Linton, we made a sudden stop as we could not believe what we had just found.
The Ted Monier Scrap Yard. Inside we saw the former part of an Amtrak French Turbo Train.
Turbo Power Car 59.
Two Turbo Coaches. This was a true surprise. Back in the car, we continued east to Bloomfield then turned south onto US 321. At Loogootee, we turned onto US 50 east to US 150 which took us to Indiana 54 and French Lick for our next train ride.
