Train Adventures: Monticello Railway Museum

 The hubby recently woke his buried love for train and trains rides. He really wanted to go to Boone County Iowa for their train museum but schedule conflicts forced us to pivot our vacation plans. With Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky on the docket, I had went in search of a train museum for the hubby. My original plan was to go to Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, IN but another schedule conflicted forced me pivot again.  Monticello Railway Museum fit in the plans and was on the way home.

Monticello Railway Museum is located in Monticello, IL about 30 minutes southwest of Champaign. It is open on weekends May-October 10:30-3:30 plus it offers a Polar Express ride in November and early December. There is also a bunny train around Easter. Admission is $15/adults and $8/children. 

You can pick the train at the museum at the Nelson Crossing Depot or the Wabash Depot in downtown Monticello. We picked it up at Nelson Depot. We initially board the train in a passenger car. 

The train stops at the Wabash Depot. We got off and looked around the small museum at the depot. If we chose, we could have walked around downtown Monticello. Due to time constraints, we didn't but it also didn't look much around downtown to keep us occupied for a good hour. 

We saw there was a caboose at the end of the train. I wanted to ride in the caboose. We had a very enjoyable ride to the end of the line before headed back to the depot. From Wabash Station to the end of the line, the train went backwards so looking out of the back of the caboose we actually felt as we were going forward.

Once we got back to the Nelson Depot, the hubby wanted to go up in the Stair Tower. The stair tower is a replica of a railroad interlocking tower that was found a railroad junction to control the signals and lights along the line. The docent was very informative and I learned a vital part of the railroad. The hubby even got to pull the levers that controlled the lights and signals. They were heavy.

We hurried our way through the train barn. It had many of the same trains as other train museum

A Mail Car

A Sleeper car that seemed not a very comfortable way to travel. I'll stick to cars and hotels.

There was a display on Railroad Express Agency that not only carried mail and packages but also in the time of war, bodies of soldiers. This is something we never think of but had to be done.

I wish we had more time to explore the train yard but we had to get on the road. 

The Monticello Railroad Museum is definitely worth the stop. The train ride was enjoyable. The museum was well done. 

I wonder where our next train adventure will take us. Stay tuned. 

2249. Go to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union

 Conversation I had with the hubby earlier this year
Hubby: Where is the Illinois Railway Museum?
Me (after confirming with Google Maps): Union, IL.. about 3 hours from here. Just over the border from Lake Geneva
Hubby: They have this Union Pacific Turbine Engine.. only one of two still around. We should go see it.

Mind you, I have been telling him about this place for years since Stacy and her family regularly visit. It never made a connection until he saw something on Twitter that interested him. We made plans to go over the 4th of July weekend. 

Illinois Railway Museum is located in Union, Illinois literally in the middle of corn fields. It is open May-October on Weekends (Sundays in April) and weekdays Memorial Day through Labor Day. The museum opens every day at 10 and closes at 4 or 5. There is plenty of free parking. Admission is $20.weekend and $14/weekdays. Kids save $2. It includes unlimited train rides. Depending on the day of the week/time of year, depends on how many trains are running. 

You can get tickets online ahead of time or day of. We opted for day of. I would suggest getting there about 10:15 to avoid the massive line of every one checking in/getting tickets especially on the weekend. Even if you get your tickets ahead of time, you still have to check in.

There are two buildings right next to the gift shop. One was a museum dedicated to Milwaukee Road Railway. It was had a lot of neat artifacts especially for someone who grew up knowing about the Milwaukee Road like the hubby did. 

The second building was their model railroad set up. It was quite an impressive set up especially the scenes of Wisconsin. 

Since the trains did not start running until 11, we wandered in to the train buildings. I would have liked to see all the trains but the hubby wasn't interested in it all (too much walking). We did check out one complete train barn. You couldn't go in any of the trains but they did have some unique pieces.

As we headed towards the depot for a train ride, we saw the Union Pacific 18 -- the massive turbine engine. It was similar to a jet engine and had a tender to carry the special fuel for the turbine engine. They did not last long as the fuel price skyrocketed. It was a mighty beast though. 

Then we decided it was time to ride the rails. Since it was the 4th of July Weekend, they had an expanded schedule of trains operating. Normally 1 electric train and 1 steam and/or diesel engine running on weekends. There was the electric train, diesel engine, steam engine, and a caboose train all running. 

The first train we took was a the electric train. It was a Chicago Transit Authority Train that was built in the 1920s. We road the train about 15-20 minutes in one direction and then headed back. With the electric train, the engineer was able to just switch to a different engine compartment on the other end of the train on the way back. It was a nice ride.

When we got back the steam engine was also getting ready to go so we hopped on that. It takes travels the same route as the electric train except when you get to the end of the line, the engineer drive the train in reverse to get bac to the depot. It is a straight track so it was a pretty easy to navigate. You could tell you were on a steam train with the herky-jerky movements. 

We took a break from the trains for a bit and road the trolley. Unfortunately they had to break to lunch so we did not get to do the whole loop.

The last train we rode was the Chicago and North-Western Bi-Level Train. We opted to sit upstairs. This was a new experience for us. Sitting up higher, you could really feel the train move. Like the steam engine, it only went one direction so it went backwards for half the journey. 

Three train rides on the same track was a lot. We were starting to get sick. We both felt another train ride would not be good. I guess I will have to wait to get my caboose ride or go to the Minnesota Transportation Museum. 

There is plenty to see in the yard as well. Signs, crossing signals, and various trains. 

We ended the day with a short electric bus ride. The bus was fun but the ride was way too short. 

The hubby can't stop talking about our visit. He says we need to go back. There is still stuff we have not seen and I still need to ride on the caboose. It is definitely worth the $20. We spent a good 4-5 hours there which is a long day for us in one place. I highly recommend checking it out if you or your kids have an interest in trains. 

5597. Visit the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom

 The hubby has been wanting to go to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum for a few years. We tried to go last summer when we were in Reedsville for baseball but it didn't really fit. When he heard about the Vintage Car Weekend, he decided that's when we should go. So as soon as we found out when Vintage Car weekend was, we put it on the calendar.

Vintage Rail Car Tour Weekend is usually the first weekend in October. This year it fell Sept 30-Oct 1. The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is in North Freedom about 30 minutes southwest of the Dells. They are open weekends starting Mother's Day weekend through the 3rd or so weekend of October. From Mid-June to Labor Day they are open Tuesday-Sunday. There is also a Santa Train two weekends in late November/Early December. The museum is free but train rides cost $24/adults. On Vintage Rail Car weekend, train tours are an additional $15/adult. 

Vintage Rail Car Weekend gives you an inside look of some of the old wooden train cars they have painstakingly restored. They are tour guides that tell you the history of the railcar. This year they had a fish car open. I didn't even know that such a thing existed but back in the day when rail was the major mode of transportation, it was how the government stocked ponds and lakes. The fish would be stored in special milk cans and then traveled packed in ice until they reached their destination. Oh and people could sleep above the fish.

There was also a second class train car that was used as a school train in Minnesota before using to transport workers in the iron mines of the Upper Michigan. That tour guide kept repeating things and we almost missed our train.

The last car we visited was also from Minnesota and the tour guides were pheromonal. Since we were the only ones in the car, they told us a lot about the train, the museum, and restoration.

The train ride is 55 minutes through the countryside. It is kind of misleading. It's about 15-20 minutes to the turn around point where we sit for about 10-15 minutes while they turn the train around. You can get out and take a picture with the engine. Then it's 15-20 minutes back to the depot.  It's a nice ride. They do try to tell the history but the people in our car was not interested. 

The best part of the train ride was going through the ghost town of LaRue. It was an old mining town.

 

After the train ride, we checked out the rest of the trains. Besides the trains you could go inside of you still had access to the both train barns and the restoration barn. I really liked the snowplow train.. just to see how immense the plow was incredible. 

By far, the best part of the day was the restoration barn. This is where the volunteers painstakingly restore these vintage wooden rail cars. Mid-Continent Railway Museum specializes in wooden railcars which can take millions of dollars and thousands of hours to restore. 

One of the cars they are in the process of restoring was donated by a couple from Virginia. They found an old sleeper car that was used as a fishing cabin on Lake Superior. Initially they wanted to use it as a cabin until they realized that this car really should be in a museum. Much of the original seats, bunks, and even windows were in storage. To hear how they found this car and the process of restoring it was unbelievable. The hubby already said we need to go back to see the progress next year.

The hubby wanted to see the Crossing Tower. It was originally in Neenah.

Besides all the trains in the barns, there are engines and cars out in the yard. There is a ton to see. It is great place to spend several hours if you are train buff. There are no real concessions on site so it is best to eat before or after you unless you pack a lunch.

It is definitely worth the 2.5 hour drive to check out. If you have any interest in trains, it is worth checking out especially if you are already in the Dells.