We've been hard at work ensuring everything at the museum is in tip-top shape. While the spotlight has been on the restoration of CA&E Car 458 which is entering service later this month, we also have been putting a lot of work into our track to help ensure a smooth and safe ride for all passengers.

Last Friday, our Assistant Roadmaster Patrick Storm was out conducting track work on the main line at Coleman, near where our tracks cross underneath the Canadian National (formerly Illinois Central) tracks. He made almost a dozen trips back and forth with Locomotive #5 and a home-made easy dumper track cart, delivering crushed concrete along the track to help prevent the erosion of the roadbed in that area.

This past Sunday, a Ford Model T club came to complement our vintage trolleys with some automobiles.

They posed one of the cars with 4451. The Ford Model T was introduced in 1908, while the 4000 series Chicago Rapid Transit cars were introduced in the 1920s.

They also had their lineup of Model T's and other vintage cars in our parking lot in front of car 5001.

After a tour of the cars we have on display, the members of the club came back to the depot to board a train.

After a great season in 2022 and a busy off-season getting ready, we have now officially begun our 2023 operating season! For our opening day, we ran North Shore car 715 and Chicago Transit Authority car 4451. In addition, we had Chicago Transit Authority cars 40 and 43 and Illinois Central caboose 9648 on static display.

For a little more added excitement, the car department has also been hard at work on Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin car 458 and was performing test runs on the line while we were carrying passengers on 4451 and 715.

After several months of the off-season, we saw many smiling faces today, ready to see railroad history brought to life.

Jan poses with North Shore 715

Car 4451 being prepared for service

Chicago Transit Authority cars 40 and 43 being prepared for display

Passengers disembarking from Chicago Transit Authority 4451 after a trip down to Blackhawk

Passengers are all smiles on North Shore 715

Passengers boarding North Shore car 715

Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin car 458 is taken out of the barn for testing

Changing ends on car 458

Sneak peak of the restored interior of 458

Work continues on Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin car 458 to make it ready to carry passengers.

Felix and his dad stopped by and helped Jeff knock out a half dozen seats In CA&E 458!

Tom and Chris just couldn’t help but get in on the action of getting 458 ready for opening day.

Felix had no problem doing heavy work! What a great kid!

Jeff snaps a selfie, happy with the progress of the day.

Today we kicked off our packed schedule of events for 2023 with the first Bunny Burrow Express. We saw many smiling faces searching for the Easter Bunny, and of course also some Easter treats.

The Easter Bunny was all smiles, happy to see everyone ready to celebrate.

Along the way, the passengers found some Easter eggs at the Bunny Burrow.

All the families had the chance to get their photo with the Easter Bunny and get their own treats.

Then the Easter Bunny and the passengers had to say goodbye as the train returned to Blackhawk.

Make your own Easter memories and meet the Easter Bunny at the Bunny Burrow Express! There are two more chances, on April 1 and April 8 at 10am, 11:30am, and 1pm. Tickets are still available for all trains!

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Purchase tickets for April 1

Purchase tickets for April 8

After heavy use for the Polar Express, cars 40 and 43 were put away for the winter. However, with Easter approaching, this weekend they were brought back out from hibernation to get ready for the Bunny Burrow Express later this month. A crew consisting of Damin, Donna, Jacob, Mike, and Tom together took on the task of transitioning the cars from Polar Express to Bunny Burrow Express.

At the time we started, all the decorations from Polar Express were still there and needed to be removed.

We arrive to a train still decorated for Polar Express

Tom packs up some of the decorations into bins for next year

Jacob unloads a box of Polar Express decorations

Then, with the Polar Express decorations removed and stored for next year, it was time to put up the Bunny Burrow Express decorations.

Donna hangs up a paper streamer

Damin hangs up another paper streamer

Donna wraps a pole

With that, we had a train decorated and ready for the Bunny Burrow Express!

We of course made sure to show our Easter spirit on the outside of the train.

We look forward to seeing everyone show their Easter spirit for the Bunny Burrow Express starting on March 25!
Tickets are still available for all trains!

More Information

Purchase Tickets for March 25

Purchase tickets for April 1

Purchase tickets for April 8

We would like to thank the Examiner of South Elgin for recognizing all of our hard work at the museum. We pride ourselves on our relationship with our local community and are grateful to see ourselves recognized for the value we provide, and are looking forward to a great season this year.

Jeff and Thee smile and wave as the north cab area is just about completely stripped.

A door restoration station, consisting of a couple of sawhorses, has been set up.

Every door (ten by last count) has to come off, be stripped of handles, trim, kick plates, catches, closers, glass, etc., and then be sanded and repaired as needed.

Since some (most) doors have 5-10 coats of paint, this process is slow going.

It's all hands back on deck in 316. Jeff, Barbara, and John are each addressing some bit of detail work. 

This was Barbara’s first time using an orbital sander. She did great, and we love the extra hands!

Here is a great close up of how detailed the sanding is. The woodwork is so detailed and every bit of it must be sanded so the refinish job takes correctly. The wood is sooooooo soft that it must be done, inch by inch, by hand!

Ben confirms that this a difficult task, showing off the parts of his finger tips that are worn away from all the sanding.

And good ol' Johnny! He got a headlight from Santa!

With the floors now freshly sanded in 316, a layer of protective matting is installed while the rest of the work is done.

Outside, we have Mike and Mike working away on 458. Here they are unwrapping the parts from the painter and placing them where they need to be installed.

The upper trim was installed and all the fasteners for the luggage rack on one side are now in.

The heater box grates are all back from being painted as well.

Jeff snuck away from floor sanding to install a few heater grates.