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Issue 04-3, Fall 2004
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Express Train to Revenue Enhancement
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The"POLAR
EXPRESS" lights up the night with 2400 Italian lights
at Blackhawk Station in the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve.
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On December 4 and 11 twenty-four Fox River Trolley Museum members made the holiday season happy and bright for
many children and their parents. Included are Bob Blaus, Bob Breese-Rodenkirk, Chuck Galitz, Jim Gonyo, Luke Helm,
Paul Kaufman, Dan Kelly, Ed Konecki, Fred Lonnes, Don MacBean, Bill Minerly, Stan Nettis, Mark Petersen, Andy
Roth with family members Eric and Elise, Ralph Taylor, Marty Tuohy, Rachel Tuohy, Ken Ward, Bob Wayman and
Don Zavacky.
Friends from the community included: Marcie Lautanen-Raliegh, Elmhurst Historical Museum; Ed Klemm, Wheaton
North High School; Dave Doerner, Consulting Mechanical Engineer; and York High School students.
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Bob Blaus, Conductor extraordinaire, Santa's Helper and
organizer overseeing one of the December 4 "POLAR EXPRESS'S."
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On December 4
Drew Bendelow (guitar), Caitlin Mower, Kelley Westerberg, Jenna Dunkle, Jason Koval and his younger brother,
Lara Niersbach, Abbi Patel, Cori Haack, Katie Kieft, Amy Maduram, Madeline Brodt
On December 12
Drew Bendelow, Jason Koval and his younger brother, Keith Olson, Drew Nanninni, Katie McCann, Meg Dolan,
Rollin George, Shanna Cardea
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Marty Tuohy, Bob Wayman, Dave Doerner and Rachel Tuohy have
turned IC 9648 into "Santa's Kitchen" preparing gallons of
hot chocolate for thirsty travelers on the "POLAR EXPRESS."
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Bob Wayman and Mark Petersen "Cheffed" the hot chocolate operation
for the December 11th "POLAR
EXPRESS" near track two at Castlemuir.
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Some other vital statistics that give a better picture of the magnitude of the undertaking.
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SUPPLIES
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500 Jingle Bells
100 luminaries
700 cups of hot chocolate
200 feet of garland
72 bows
25 decorative candy canes
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40 pounds of cookies
17 on board crew
Gallons of hot water
10 pounds cocoa mix
Propane gas and 3 stoves
Gas powered Electric Generator
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PA system and speakers
lean to tent
200 feet of extension cable
2400 Icicle Christmas lights
Over 100 reservation requests
About $4,000 in revenue
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"Santa Claus" aka Ed Konecki with the help of Elise Roth
makes his way through CTA 43 passing out "jingle bells"
presents to the delight of youngsters at the North Pole.
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Ed Klemm, speech teacher at Wheaton North
High School, sensitively reads the enduring Chris
Van Allsburg story "POLAR
EXPRESS" to train's passengers.
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Fifty "good boys and girls" get their just rewards from
a jolly and enthusiastic "Santa Claus."
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York High School e-news
of Dec. 9, 2004:
"ECO Club members, sponsor Mr. Blaus and English teacher, Mr. Bendelow are bringing Chris VanAllsburg's book
"POLAR EXPRESS" to life for nearly 800 parents and children visiting the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin this month.
ECO students are helping out while patrons board an antique electric railroad car at the Blackhawk Station in The Jon Duerr
Forest Preserve for a scenic four mile ride along side the Fox River. The road from the highway to the platform was lit with over
100 luminaries made from milk jugs collected by Wendy Soltau and her students at LaBrigade. Santa awaits all at the north end
of the track. During the return from the "North Pole", Drew Bendelow and his magic guitar lead the group in holiday songs."
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South Elgin's, River Trail Restaurant offered a 10% discount on all menu items to holders of FRTM "POLAR
EXPRESS" tickets.
The Museum hosted The Batavia Park District as they operated their sixth annual "POLAR EXPRESS" this year with three trains and over
300 guests and helpers. A gas motor generator crisis occurred hours before the first train's departure was quickly, promptly and enthusiastically
resolved by member Fred Lonnes. - Thanks Fred!
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"POLAR EXPRESS" trains have been popular for years in our area. METRA reported that 18 communities and park
districts offered "POLAR EXPRESS" train gallery car sections and charters again this year. Many were sold out months in
advance. Some were in their eighth or ninth year of operation. The Museum's trains however were different than those on
METRA . . . we ran our own on our own historic interurban Fox River Line.
Kudos and our hats are off to Bob Blaus for all of the many hours of hard work, organizing, implementing and overseeing
this great and successful new effort to enhance the Museum's revenue and provide
"education through
demonstration."
Don MacBean
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Ghost Train
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By a crackling camp fire, Marcy Luatanen-Raleigh spell binds
the kids from the Ghost Train with spine tingling stories to the
accompaniment of appropriate strains from Drew Bendelow's guitar.
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The Fox River and the dark autumn woods provide a great background for
50 kids and their parents to be "scarred out of their wits" with ghost stories.
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Starbucks Or . . . ?
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As a museum on a mission we want to preserve and interpret Chicago's and more specifically the Fox River Valley's
electric transport era. We work full out maintaining trolleys, trains, and tracks; because we believe that electric railways were a way
of life for generations of people from all walks of life. We preserved the trolleys. We have the tracks for the trolleys. We
give trolley rides. But, what are we doing to interpret what we mean by way of life and walks of
life?
Our Museum should not only be about riding antique trains. It must also be about people having a truly unique experience.
A special experience that is, in actuality, education in a fun and meaningful manner. The Museum can provide this kind of
unique experience, but we must start thinking of ourselves, first as teachers who teach folk lore, American culture,
teamwork, architecture, craftsmanship, electricity, business economics, industrial organization, and engineering practices. If we deliver
on this kind of educational experience, people will never stop coming to South Elgin.
Here is a modern example. When a person walks into a Starbucks, they are not buying a cup of coffee. That
Starbucks customer is buying a unique and exciting experience. Otherwise, why pay $2.00 for a $0.50 cup of coffee. The
Starbucks customer is buying a special $1.50 experience. Now let us return to the Museum. When we sell a $3.50 ride ticket, how
much of that ticket represents the ride and how much represents a truly unique and exciting experience that will bring a person
back repeatedly. My hunch is that most of that $3.50 does not represent a beating-down-the-door experience . . . only a ride . . .
a relic.
To be relevant in the 21st century, we need be more like Starbucks. Instead of selling the experience of coffee, we will sell
the experience of education not just through demonstration, but also through personal participation . . . So, how now brown cow?
Ed Konecki
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Mission
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To preserve and interpret Chicago's electric transport era that began in the 1890s and
peaked before 1950. The electric transport era is significant because electric railways,
including interurban, rapid transit, and streetcars, helped the Chicago region grow to be one of
North America's great metropolitan areas. The Museum strives to show that electric railways
were more than convenient, they were and are a way of life for generations of people from
all walks of life.
The Museum fulfills this mission by preserving, interpreting, and operating historic
railway vehicles on its demonstration electric railway, over the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River
Electric route at South Elgin, Illinois. Furthermore, the museum preserves, displays and
interprets smaller artifacts, photos, oral histories, and documents which help relate the importance
of electric transport in and around the Chicago Metropolitan Area, putting them in context
with their surroundings and era.
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Five Minute Quiz
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Here arethe answers to the 10 questions about the Museum and where we operate that were shown in the last issue issue
of "Fox River Lines." See how you did!
TRUE or FALSE
1. Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway number 20 is the oldest car in the Museum's collection.
FALSE. See TROLLEY TIMES - Number SOO 130, SOO Line Caboose built in 1887 and acquired in 1974 by
the Museum.
2. The two large oak trees by the Castlemuir station are over 400 years old.
TRUE. George Ware, Chief Taxonomist of the Morton Arboretum, visited the Museum in 2000 and established
the approximate age of both trees as over 450 years.
3. There is a memorial to two soldiers located in the Jon J. Duerr (Blackhawk) Forest Preserve.
TRUE. See Pictures.
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A far view of the monument along the main trail in
the Jon J. Duerr (Blackhawk) Forest Preserve steering
the hiker to the grave site.
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A closeup of the "Soldiers Memorial" which has
an arrow pointing towards the grave site. It reads
"In memory of two soldiers who camped near here in
July 1832 on their way to join General Winfield Scott."
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4. Coleman Grove and the Coleman station of the Illinois Central (Canadian National) were named after the inventor of the
Coleman Stove and Lantern.
FALSE. Named after one of the original farmers in the area.
5. The Museum is located on LaFox Street in South Elgin - once known as "Fox River Trail."
TRUE. See page 228 - Ralph Tredup,
South Elgin - 150 Years of Heritage, © 1989, South Elgin Heritage
Commission, South Elgin, Illinois 60177
6. Two soldiers are buried in a grave site in the Jon J. Duerr (Blackhawk) Forest Preserve.
TRUE. See Pictures.
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The grave site and grave marker of the two soldiers buried in Jon J. Duerr
(Blackhawk) Forest Preserve. It is located on a branch of the main trail
about 30 feet from the memorial stone.
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7. The gravel pit originally owned by the Illinois Central R.R. and its predecessors through which we operate was served
also by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company and its predecessors.
TRUE. See Fox River Lines issue 99-2.
8. The Museum opened rail service to the public on July 4, 1966.
TRUE. See TROLLEY TIMES -Visitor's Guide
9. The current "Castlemuir" station building was used to sell gifts and tickets on July 4, 1966.
FALSE. The first station building at Castlemuir was built in 1967 with a later addition. See RELIC 1966 Annual Report.
10. There is a waterfall located in the Jon J. Duerr (Blackhawk) Forest Preserve.
TRUE. See Kane County Forest Preserve Education Guide - 2004 and picture below.
Don MacBean
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The waterfall is located in the south section of the Jon J. Duerr
(Blackhawk) Forest Preserve. It is on a small stream that goes under
IL Route 31near the junction with McLean Boulevardand then goes
over the falls and flows a little later into the Fox River.
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Doug Christiansen
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1939 - 2005
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Friend, entrepreneur, photographer, railfan, railway executive, historian, organ and theater restorer, lover and protector
of animals the epithets are endless and Doug was all of these and more. We met as persons having a common interest - the
saving of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad in the middle 1950's. Discontinuing service to Wells Street in September 1953
and struggling to maintain service from DesPlaines Ave., Forest Park to the western suburbs after that produced the mix of
events that brought Doug and me together. He, Wendell Dillinger and I met in August of 1953 to see what we could do to
preserve several CA&E cars. These activities began a long friendship that included founding of Railway Investment Club which
later became the Railway Equipment Leasing and Investment Co. (RELIC) and culminating in the Fox River Trolley Museum.
Doug was most always enthusiastic, positive, forward looking and dedicated - fun to be around and it seemed most time
- tireless. In addition to CA&E preservation, Doug and many RELIC members took numerous trips to the North Shore
Line, C&EI, Milwaukee Road, Monon and South Shore Line locations to photograph trains and look at business cars. Along
with Fred Crissey, Ian Muir, Dave Hoffman and myself, Doug spent many hours commuting on the C&NW to Chicago (on the
rear platform of the 7:18am train from Glen Ellyn) where we all discussed and planned the saving of the CA&E and the cars.
Doug was instrumental in moving RELIC through its developmental years establishing continuity and growth helping to make what
Fox River Trolley Museum is today.
Doug you are and will be missed.
Don MacBean
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Every Artifact Tells a Story . . .
Will We Continue to Tell Ours?
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Each item on display in a museum or historical society has a story to tell - two stories in fact. First there is the tale of why
the artifact is significant or how it fits in a historical context. Then there is a back story, the saga of how that thing made its journey
to the institution. It makes headlines when someone donates a multimillion- dollar Monet, but most donations aren't news. Most
of what hangs on the walls or sits in display cases are gifts representing more emotional than financial investment. They are
there because someone has made the decision to share a meaningful thing with the rest of us.
Charles Leroux - Chicago
Tribune, April 21, 2004.
When we picture in our mind's eye the Fox River Trolley Museum we see cars - CA&E 20, CNS&M 756, CTA 4451 and
so on. Maybe some of us see car parts, tickets or collections of old books timetables, post cards or other memorabilia. But
are these the only "artifacts" that the Museum is preserving and restoring? What is our "biggest" artifact? W&SR #73? Surely it
is by weight. Or the two 450+ year old oak trees? What is the artifact that everyone sees whether the Museum is operating
or not? It is our biggest artifact in any size term, weight, length, width, height or age. It is the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River
Electric Company track, ties, trolley poles and wire and right of way and all of its parts.
Other than things like tie replacement, bonding rails, weed spraying, adjusting trolley wire, replacing joint bars and so forth
we pay little attention to preserving it short and/or long term and yet it is probably one of our most endangered assets.
Consider this, our closest railroad and trolley museum is and has been investing hundreds of thousands of dollars
acquiring property adjacent to their railroad right away to protect it against urban sprawl. Or consider the fate of the Santa Fe
Speedway or farmland in eastern Kane County. Well, do we have to worry? After all the property on one side of our right of way
is owned by the Kane County Forest Preserve Commission or is the Fox River and on the other side a fully developed but
mostly hidden upscale housing. Recent developments there should give us pause to think about preserving our biggest asset. The
Village of South Elgin is progressing with its TIF district with the building of a four story condominium complex on a whole block
at State and Gilbert Streets. How do we preserve our "biggest" asset? How do we continue to be good neighbors and
preserve our "biggest" asset? The American Association of Museum's annual meeting in Indianapolis in May has as its theme
"A Defining Moment - Museums at the Crossroads."
Are we dealing with ours?
Don MacBean
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Fox River Lines Staff
Managing Editor—Don MacBean, 817 College Ave. #5, Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 665-2581 E-mail DMacbRR@aol.com
Layout and Graphics— Jack Sowchin
Fox River Lines is the official publication of the Fox River Trolley Association, Inc., an Illinois not-for-profit
corporation. It is published four times per calendar year for distribution to members and friends of the museum. Reproduction
of Fox River Lines, either in part or in its entirety, is strictly prohibited without prior permission from the editorial staff or the FRTA board
of directors. Entire contents Copyright © 2004 Fox River Trolley Association, Inc.
Submissions: Submission of stories from members and others is necessary to publish
Fox River Lines. Feature length articles are always welcome and considered. Please contact the staff before undergoing a project.
Contributors submit materials with the understanding that no monetary compensation is provided.
Correspondence: Comments, suggestions, and corrections relating to
Fox River Lines should be directed to Managing Editor Don MacBean at the address listed above. The editorial staff appreciates your feedback.
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