Illinois Railway Museum
Illinois Railway Museum
Chicago is a great city built on the railway. This museum showcases the rich history and importance of the railway system as a way of getting goods to cities and how cities sprang up around railway stops.
Importantly, it highlights the subway system of Chicago which was created soon after the turn of the century, when systems of tunnels were carved 40 feet below the surface in the hard blue clay that makes up this area. This system of railroad tunnels unlike any other in the world was created under each downtown street, utilizing the most advanced construction techniques available at the time. By 1909, a 62-mile grid of intersecting freight tunnels connected all major railroad freight houses and many commercial establishments in downtown Chicago.
At the time, the Chicago Tunnel Company operated more than 3,000 diminutive freight cars and 100-plus electric locomotives on this network of two-foot gauge track, coal, ash, and merchandise were moved throughout downtown. In addition, millions of cubic yards of excavation debris and cinders were hauled to landfill sites through the tunnels, creating what is now known as Grant Park.
This system had a strong but quiet influence in political and engineering history of the City of Chicago from 1900 until this facility was abandoned in 1959, yet few people ever saw this system and many never even actually knew of its existence. Sadly, virtually no artifacts have been preserved.
In 1978, a group of people banded together to start building a collection to commemorate this important facility. Five cars and one electric locomotive remained intact, stranded in a short section of tunnel connecting to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and the Railway Museum was started. This is a definite must see venue if you're in the Chicago Area.
