Illinois Railway Museum Union Il

Start A New Christmas Tradition With Your Family This Year

Days for this event are Saturdays and Sundays, November 25th , 26th, 27th, December 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 17th, and 18th. Trips take place at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm. . Parking lot opens 30 minutes before the first trip and closes 30 minutes after the last trip returns. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled trip. Ticket prices are $22 per ticket. Everyone past their second birthday must have a ticket. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable, all ticket sales are final. Many display buildings and portions of the museum grounds will not be open for this event. Parking is free.

The train ride will leave from the historic 1851 East Union Depot. Santa will ride the train with you. Hot chocolate and cookies will be available. Display Barns 6, 7, and 9 will be open. Additionally, streetcars will be in operation on our Trolley Loop, and our brand new Model Railroad exhibit will be open in the heated Multi-Purpose Building. for a property map.

Tickets are available online. If you are unable to print your tickets at home, bring a copy of your order confirmation email to the museum store where you will check in for your ride.

Join us for the most exciting holiday train in the greater Chicago area! All Aboard!

Accessible Seating

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NO REFUNDS – except in case of event cancellation, ALL ticket sales are final.

History Of The Museum

The Monticello Railway Museum, a not-for-profit educational organization, was founded in 1966 with the goal to operate steam-powered passenger train excursions. Since then, the Museum has expanded by collecting historic equipment, constructing display and restoration facilities, and offering various train rides and events.

What To Expect At The Illinois Railway Museum

The main Illinois Railway Museum campus in Union, Illinois, features more than twenty structures spread out across 100 acres of land. These include exhibit buildings which house much of the museum’s collection of trains as well as historic structures like the 1851 East Union Depot, Spaulding Tower, the Schroeder Mercantile Store, and the Central Diner.

IRM is an outdoor museum so when planning your visit please dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. Exhibit buildings are not heated or air-conditioned but are wheelchair-accessible. The Schroeder Store, Central Diner, Model Railroad Exhibit, and Gallery have heat and air conditioning.

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The Illinois Railway Museum Has The Largest Collection Of Historic Railway Equipment In America

When you plan your visit, plan on spending the day. From horse-drawn streetcars to million-pound steam locomotives, from sleek streamliners to workaday boxcars, there’s a LOT to see!

Please check the operating schedule and our calendar for open days. The grounds are open for self-guided tours all days the museum is open.

You can purchase tickets at the gate or, to save time, purchase your tickets online. to reserve tickets online. Museum members do not need a ticket and just need to bring their plastic membership card.

Some mask requirements are currently in effect. Please read through these policies here before your visit.

Safety First: always look both ways before crossing any railroad tracks and expect a train on any track at any time. Climbing on trains can be dangerous and is prohibited except where boarding a train is specifically indicated.

Media In Category Illinois Railway Museum

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Museum Hours And Admission Prices

Weekends May through October, and Special Event days: Electric cars and steam or diesel trains operate hourly 11:00am-4:00pm, or more often as needed, and streetcars operate on the streetcar loop 11:00am-4:00pm as needed Electric cars operate hourly 11:00am-3:00pm or 11:00am-4:00pm

On open days, the Museum grounds open at 10:00am and close one hour after the last train departure unless otherwise announced.On open days, the parking lot opens at 9:30am and closes 30 minutes after the grounds close.Hours and admission rates for special events may differ check calendar listing for details. Special fare events require a separate ticket.

*children younger than 2 are free and do not need a ticket

Chartered trains are available on dates the museum is open and may be available on certain other dates. For charter information, or write to the Charter Director, IRM, PO Box 427, Union, IL 60180.

For further information, telephone 815-923-4000 or 1-800-BIG-RAIL.To find driving directions and information on reaching the museum via public transit .Food service is available at the Central Diner weekends between mid-June and early October with a limited menu. There is currently no food service on weekdays. However you are welcome to bring your own food any day the museum is open.Central Diner hours are 11am-4pm on weekends.All equipment, schedules, and prices subject to change without notice.

What Are People Saying About Illinois Railway Museum

Here are some reviews from our users.

5 starsss!!!! This place is amazing! They have a gift shop full of fun stuff. The lines werent long & the train wasnt overly crowded. They have several trains to view and take pictures on & also a trolly as well. The train takes you to a pumpkin farm where you can pick a pumpkin, take pictures and enjoy all the setups! The train takes you back to the Illinois Railway Museum & you get off there. Everyone was very nice and helpful! We had such a wonderful time. Our sons first time on a train too!

The lines werent crazy. We went around Halloween so they had a pumpkin patch you could get pumpkins from that was fun. Alot of history on the railroad. Pry wont return but the experience was worth it. Its not for everyone. Have fun!!

Great collection of running trains. Would be nice if they had all barns open and access to enter the trains and passenger cars in the barns. There are a lot of cool trains hidden in the closed barns that you can see on the website, but unfortunately wont see in person due to only access to employees.

Always a magical experience! So educational, rich with history, peaceful yet immersive. They have lots of special days of different featured trains to ride and more! We love going

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Union Depot Railroad Museum

The Union Depot Railroad Museum building is what remains of the original Mendota Railroad Station. However, when the society acquired the site it was virtually a empty shell. Many volunteers spent countless hours restoring the building to its original state with ticket office and waiting room. The museum has a waiting room for trains that stop in Mendota, a large HO model railroad layout depicting Mendota with its grand railroad station, display rooms with railroad artifacts, and a large railroad library.

What To See At The Illinois Railway Museum

The highlight of the Illinois Railway Museum is its collection of historic railway equipment the largest collection in North America, in fact. On your visit youll have the opportunity to tour several large exhibit buildings packed with antique trains. There’s much more to see in addition to the trains themselves, though. From restored buildings and signs, to educational exhibits and model trains, there’s a wide variety of things to see.

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What Our Visitors Are Saying About Their Experience

• So much fun for our little boys! They love riding the trains and they have so many old restored trains. Some of their restoration jobs are fantastic and really capture the feel of the height of rail travel. I dont know of any other place quite like this. Its a great educational experience even if you dont love trains.

  Andrew Ryan

• The largest railway museum in the USA and they run demonstrations of many working trains. The trains vary from 1800s steam engines to the recently retired CTA Red Line trains. They have old Pullman cars which are nicely displayed.

  Lenore Ettinger

• The IRM is a fantastic place. The Thomas The Train is a wonderful time of course, but you MUST visit and see all the amazing Steam, Diesel and Electric Streetcars on display, being restored and running. When you ride an electric streetcar, you have to wonder why they are not still used! With the same capacity as a modern bus and with no vehicle emissions, they are just great. The Illinois Railway Museum is a Must See.

  Dave Loucks

Lake Superior & Ishpeming 2

If you look very carefully at the front truck on the tender of this LakeSuperior & Ishpeming consolidation you will see a side rod. That is agive-away that this locomotive has a tender booster. The Hocking Valley RR inNelsonville, Ohio operated sister locomotive LS& I #33. That locomotive alsohad a tender booster. However it was removed and scrapped after its first yearof operation on the tourist railroad.

This locomotive started out as #19 on the LS& I. It was changed to #35 in1923. It was donated to the IRM in 1985 and moved to the museum fromMarquette, MI in 1986. It is one of eleven surviving LS& I consolidations.

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About Illinois Railway Museum

The most enticing exhibits at the Illinois Railway Museum dont sit in glass cases. Instead, they can be found chugging along the five-mile mainline or the one-mile streetcar loop at various points in the day, giving visitors an opportunity to witness these antique machines functioning the way they were meant to do. This emphasis on living history is a key part of the museums mission to educate visitors about the growth and development of the railroad industry throughout the Chicagoland area as well as the United States in general.

Although it already possesses extensive collections of trolley coaches, electric cars, diesel engines, steam locomotives, and railroad cars, the Illinois Railway Museum is still bent on acquiring more pieces, hoping to eventually represent each major chronological period in the history of rail travel. The museums volunteers do their best to restore antique equipment whenever possible, either by rebuilding original parts or by using modern reproductions and cosmetic touches to fill in the blanks. This ensures that visitors will not only be able to see restored, full-sized versions of historic rolling stock, but can also witness them in motion and even ride some of them.

What To Do At The Illinois Railway Museum

The Illinois Railway Museum strives for an immersive experience: we want you to feel transported back into the glory age of rail travel aboard our rolling time machines. The centerpiece of the museum experience is the train ride. One or more authentic, historic trains will be in operation during your visit.

Take a ride on our time machines.

Board the streetcar next to the 50th Avenue L station for a ride up to the historic 1851 East Union Depot, where on weekends during the summer you can transfer to a main line steam or diesel train. A train trip on the museums five-mile main line railroad takes 35-45 minutes and returns directly to the depot. Hear the clickety-clack of the rail, feel the breeze through the open windows, and smell the coal smoke of the steam engine.

If youd like a shorter trip, a ride on the streetcar line is just the thing. Streetcars operate in a loop around the property, stopping at several locations around the museum campus. You may board or alight at any stop. A complete circuit of the streetcar line takes about 15 minutes. On weekends during the summer there are typically multiple trains operating on both the main line and streetcar line. On weekdays an electric train will travel over both routes.

Explore the museum campus.

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No Injuries After Train Catches On Fire Inside Building At Illinois Railway Museum In Union

No injuries were reported after a train caught on fire inside a building at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union Monday morning, fire officials said.

The Union Fire Protection District and Marengo Fire and Rescue Districts responded around 10:45 a.m. Monday to the Illinois Railway Museum, 7000 Olson Road in Union, for a report of a structure fire.

First arriving firefighters found smoke showing from the facility on the east side of the property.

A quick fire attack extinguished the fire within 10 minutes.

The locomotive was then pulled from the facility by workers which allowed firefighters to extinguish the remaining hot spots underneath the locomotive.

The diesel locomotive was undergoing restoration and it is believed grease on the underframe ignited, Vucha said.

Chicago Milwaukee St Paul & Pacific Class S3 4

265 is one of 10 Class S3 Northerns. They were built by ALCO in 1944 and weredifferent from the previous S2 class. Wartime restrictions prohibited newlocomotive designs. So ALCO combined a Delaware & Hudson boiler, a RockIsland frame, with a Union Pacific tender and came up with a class S3Milwaukee Road Northern. The result turned out to be quite an attractivedual-service locomotive.

After retirement in 1956, 265 was donated to the city of Milwaukee. In 1975it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. 265 is the only survivingsister engine to Northstar Rail’s #261 which operates out of Minneapolis, MN.

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Norfolk & Western Class Y3a 2

This is Norfolk & Western’s class Y3a 2050. It is one of only two survivingN& W 2-8-8-2s and the first from the Y3a class . Built in 1923 inRichmond, this 2-8-8-2 could pull with 114,154 lbs of tractive effort runningin compound expansion mode and a staggering 136,985 lbs in simple mode whereall four cylinders were supplied with high-pressure steam. It could generate3,400 draw-bar HP and could travel up to 50 MPH. The N& W 2-8-8-2s were basedon the USRA design. While many other railroads eventually converted their2-8-8-2s into faster, simple expansion locomotives, the N& W kept their fleetas more efficient compound expansion locomotives where were well-suited toN& Ws tonnage, grades, and curves. Notice the large front low-pressurecylinders.

2050 was retired and sold to the Armco Steel Corp. in Middletown, OH for scrapin 1959. It was later donated to the Illinois Railway Museum in April, 1976.

Special Events For 2022

Events listed below are subject to modification or cancellation due to health and safety regulations. Please check back on our website 1-2 weeks in advance of each event.

Saturdays Bunny Trolley HopRide the streetcar to meet the Easter Bunny and help him find his eggs! Special Fare Event. No passes honored for this event. Check website for opening times.

May 8 Sunday Mothers DayAll Moms admitted free when accompanied by at least one full fare paying child or adult.

May 14 Saturday Scout DayBoy Scout and Girl Scout troops participate in a day-long event. The day includes a flag ceremony, awarding of badges, and participating in various projects, as well as touring the Museum.

May 28, 29 & 30 Saturday, Sunday & Monday Memorial Day WeekendThe summer begins! Steam or Diesel and Electric trains will operate all three days. During this event, active Military personnel and their families admitted FREE with military ID.

Saturday & Sunday Railway Post Office WeekendOperations and Demonstrations of Railway Post Office railway cars with on-the-fly mail pickups. See how railroads played a major role in the handling of the U.S. Mail.

Saturday Chicago DayCommemorate the 64th anniversary of the last day of streetcar service in Chicago by riding railroad and transit equipment from the Windy City.

Sunday Fathers DayAll Dads admitted free when accompanied by at least one full fare paying child or adult.

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Unlimited Train Rides During Your Visit

On operating days, exhibit buildings will be open. Admission is charged on all operating days but parking is always free. Except for special-fare days, when you may have an assigned train time, your general admission ticket includes unlimited train rides and access to all public areas of the museum.

Facilities available during operating days include restrooms in the East Union Depot and Central Diner. Food service is available in the diner on weekends between mid-May and early October, and on weekdays between mid-June and Labor Day. When open, diner hours are 11am-4pm on weekends and 11am-3pm on weekdays. The Central Diner incorporates an original 1930s roadside diner. It also features a dining room with panoramic views of streetcars on the streetcar line.

There are picnic tables located around the property and you are welcome to bring your own food. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.

Chicado Burlington & Quincy 2

There is an interesting story behind these two locomotives. In 1960 GrandTrunk Western 8380 was one of 16 0-8-0s sent to the Northwestern Steel & WireCo. in Sterling, IL to be scrapped.

Until 1964, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy mikado 4963 was in revenuefreight service on the Bevier & Southern. After 1964, the CB& Q briefly kept4963 as a parts supply for sister locomotive 4960 which the CB& Q was alreadyusing in excursion service, Richard Jensenacquired the 4963 in 1966 but lost it in a court battle in 1969. From 1970on, it sat rusting away in a Chicago scrap yard along with famous CB& Qnorthern 5632 .

The 16 GTW 0-8-0s that were sent to Northwestern Steel & Wire turned out to bein better shape than the CB& Q 0-6-0s that Northwestern Steel & Wire Co. hadbeen using. So, instead of scrapping the the 0-8-0s, NS& W chose to scraptheir own 0-6-0s and use the 0-8-0s for their operations. For 10 years NS& W used the GTW 0-8-0s. When NS& W no longer needed the0-8-0s, they chose to donate them to the IRM instead of scrapping them.However, all of them remained at Northwestern Steel & Wire for the moment.The last operating 0-8-0s may have been some of the last steam locomotivesin revenue service.

In 1988, the Illinois Railway Museum made an effort to get 4963 out of thatChicago scrap yard. The IRM worked out a trade which included five of the GTW0-8-0s. Obviously, 4963 was deemed more valuable than the 0-8-0s.

Here is a table which shows the fate of all 16 GTW 0-8-0s.

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