July Fourth trolley event has new twists

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UNION – The Illinois Railway Museum kicks into high gear Saturday with its annual Fourth of July Trolley Pageant.

The nonprofit museum, which boasts more than 400 pieces of equipment on 56 acres at 700 Olson Road, will feature about 30 pieces of equipment during its trolley day – some of it not seen outside a storage barn in 15 years.

The lineup includes South Shore Line and Illinois Central electric street cars and interurbans; the latter running between communities. Among them is the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Electroliner, a 1941 electric streamliner – which has idled in recent years because of ongoing electrical issues with its eight engines. Museum General Manager Nick Kallas said it will be pulled out of the barn and placed next to the museum’s re-created “L” stop for pictures.

This year’s Trolley Pageant moves from the slow and congested street car line to the more open and photo-friendly mainline. Equipment that cannot negotiate the tight curvatures of the street car line – such as the newly restored Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban cars 308 and 309 – will run on the museum’s 4-1/2-mile line in front of the depot. The interurbans are wood coaches, built in 1908 by the Hicks Locomotive and Car Works in Chicago Heights.

Another first at the festival, Kallas said, is the use of time-appropriate rolling stock. “Electric locomotives will be leading realistic freight trains,” he said.

Other attractions include operating trolley buses and street cars, and music by the West End Jazz Band. An estimated 75 to 100 volunteers will work the event.

Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for children. The parade, past the depot, starts at 1 p.m. Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with equipment operating 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information or directions, visit www.irm.org or call 815-923-4000.

Other upcoming events include Diesel Days July 18-19, featuring a newly repainted SD40-2 road engine, built in the 1970s by Electro Motive Diesel for the Union Pacific Railroad. The UP donated it the museum last week, following a lengthy storage.

“We worked on it and got it running,” Kallas said. “We have some volunteers who work for the railroad as mechanics and they are very capable.”

Kallas said the museum likely will spend $4,000 to $5,000 to paint the 68-foot-long engine Chinese red. The paint costs $200 a gallon. But he predicted it will wow spectators.

“It’s quite an eye-catcher,” he said.

Other upcoming events include the 19th Annual Vintage Transport Extravaganza Aug. 2 and Day Out With Thomas, featuring rides with Thomas the Tank Engine Aug. 14-16, 22-23. Admission to the latter is $18. The grounds open at 8 a.m. all five days and close at 7 p.m. Equipment will operate 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Buying time-sensitive ride tickets in advance is recommended.

The museum is open through September.