Among my many and varied interests, there is none more long-standing than my fascination with railroads, particularly when they are steam-powered. I suppose that many younger persons may find this puzzling--but to those of us who are sufficiently (to use a particularly but typically objectionable example of that obnoxious term, "political correctness") "chronologically gifted" to remember when trains were pulled by monstrous black coal-smoke-puffing and steam-spouting locomotives that almost seemed to be living, breathing beings, such a fascination may seem more understandable.
At any rate, this page contains some links to some gorgeous black-and-white (naturally--after all, some of them come from almost as far back as the turn of the century) photographs of scenes from railroading in Illinois given to me recently by a friend who knows of my interest in trains. I hope that you'll enjoy them.
An IC yard after a snowstorm
An amphibious train, anyone?
Chicago's Union Station during wartime, when trains were "the only way to go."
Here is an Illinois Central roundhouse during the "Age of Steam."
A Chicago and Northwestern passenger train (remember those?) entering Chicago.
A locomotive with a "diamond stack," used to trap sparks.
A legendary train named after a legendary man.
