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Date: 2005-06-22
FOX RIVER TROLLEY MUSEUM SLASHES PRICES
FOX RIVER TROLLEY MUSEUM SLASHES PRICES FOR ITS
BIRTHDAY;
PLANS $1 FARE FOR TWO DAYS!
The Fox River Trolley Museum is celebrating two
birthdays for two days this Independence Day weekend!
Not only is July 4 Independence Day, it is the 39th
anniversary of the day the museum began public
operations. Because Independence Day occurs on a
Monday this year, all riders on all trips at the
museum will be charged just $1 for two days -- July 3
and 4!
The museum calls it Red, White and Blue Dollar Days.
Riders will make the four mile round trip on its
scenic line bordering the Fox River and running
through the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve for just a
fraction of its everyday low fares.
The core of the museum’s operations is over historic
trackage of the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric
line. Museum operations began July 4, 1966, and
co-existed with the freight service for six years,
said Bruce Moffat, museum member and rail historian.
Railroad owner Robert DeYoung operated freight service
on weekdays, and the museum operated its trains on
weekends, Moffat said. The museum paid its “rent” in
the form of trackwork and other maintenance on the
railroad.
The railroad is one of the oldest
continuously-operating interurban railway lines in the
United States. It began operation between Elgin and
Geneva on June 30, 1896. The railroad linked Elgin
and Aurora with frequent, inexpensive electric railway
service from 1901 until 1935. From 1901 until 1924,
it ran between Carpentersville and Yorkville, a
distance of more than 40 miles. From 1935 until its
purchase by the museum in 1972, the railroad
concentrated on freight service linking the Illinois
Central Railroad with the Elgin State Hospital and
other industries in the South Elgin area.
Although at one time, freight customers included a
meat packing plant, a tannery, a gravel pit and the
Village of South Elgin, freight service in later years
consisted almost exclusively of coal for use at the
State Hospital’s power plant, Moffat said. In 1972,
when environmental regulators ordered the plant to
burn natural gas instead of coal because of pollution
problems, coal shipments ceased and DeYoung sold the
railroad to the museum. In 1978, the museum abandoned
the trackage between today’s Castlemuir depot and the
State Hospital and removed the rails.
The museum’s line was once part of a larger network
of electrically-operated railroads that operated
throughout the western suburbs. The museum rosters
more than 25 pieces of historic railroad, streetcar
and interurban electric railway equipment, much of it
from the Chicago metropolitan area.
Other upcoming special events include:
Model Railroad Day, July 17. Enjoy model railroad
displays from area clubs and ride their big brothers,
the museum’s historic trolley cars!
Trolleyfest, Aug. 20-21, and South Elgin’s Riverfest
Express, Aug. 18-21. Two great celebrations, and one
great time! Riverfest provides food, music and fun as
the museum expands its hours, operating Aug. 20 and 21
only from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Fox Valley Dollar Day, Sept. 18. Meet your neighbors
from Kane County Fox River Valley communities for a
day of family fun at the museum. Community residents
ride for $1 per trip this day only, young or old!
Fall Caboose Train Rides, Oct. 2 and 9. As the
colors begin to change along the scenic Fox River and
in Blackhawk Forest Preserve, there’s no better place
to watch than the cupola of the museum’s Illinois
Central R.R. caboose!
Harvest Festival, Oct. 8. The museum and the South
Elgin Dept. of Parks and Recreation provide hayrides,
food, fun and a 7K “Harvest Hustle” run as part of its
Harvest Festival. Children 3-11 who present the coil
ticket they receive when they puchase a pumpkin from
the village of South Elgin’s County Park patch, just
north of the museum, will ride free. Other riders
will pay regular fares.
The Pumpkin Trolley, Oct. 15, 16, 22 and 23. Don’t
get your pumpkin till you take a ride to the Pumpkin
Patch aboard a Fox River Line trolley. Pumpkin
tickets are $1 extra apiece.
Fares at other times are $3.50 for adults and $2 for
both senior citizens and children ages 3-11. Children
under 3 ride free.
The Fox River Trolley Museum is an all-volunteer,
not-for-profit organization located at 361 S. LaFox
St., on Illinois 31, in the village of South Elgin,
Ill. It can be reached by taking either Interstate
88, Interstate 90 or U.S. 20 to the Fox River Valley
and exiting at Illinois 31. Riders can board at the
museum’s Castlemuir depot, on Route 31 in South Elgin,
three blocks south of the State Street stoplight, or
at the picnic grove of the Blackhawk Forest Preserve,
just off of Route 31 in St. Charles Township. For
information, or to charter a train, call (847)
697-4676.
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