At the 2024 fall conference of the Heritage Rail Alliance (HRA), held in Springdale, Arkansas, the Illinois Railway Museum received two HRA Achievement Awards.
The first award, in the Significant Achievement-Archives category, was presented jointly to IRM and to the Chicago & North Western Historical Society (C&NWHS) for the construction and opening of the Chicago & North Western Archives Building. The C&NWHS built this structure in cooperation with IRM and opened it in the spring of 2024. Its 8,000 square feet houses more than 10 million pieces of paper including historic documents, drawings, maps, and other records, as well as books and artifacts from the Chicago & North Western Railway. At the front of the building is a display room with artifacts and the C&NWHS Hall of Memories. The archives building is on IRM's historic Main Street and is open to researchers by appointment.
"We're proud that our museum and the North Western Historical Society were recognized like this," stated IRM Executive Director Nick Kallas. "This building is a real example of how much we can achieve through cooperation with other historical groups. The North Western Archives Building being here at IRM, on Main Street, really helps advance our educational mission. It's a great addition to the Museum and we're grateful to HRA for the recognition."
The second award, in the Significant Achievement-Traction category, was presented to IRM for the restoration of Illinois Terminal (IT) overhead line car 1702. The IT built car 1702 in 1922 in Decatur, Illinois, at its shop complex there. The IT operated the car in central Illinois until the end of electric service in 1958. The car came to IRM that year, but it had never operated in preservation when museum volunteers embarked on a full restoration of the car in 2021. Woodworkers among IRM's volunteer corps restored its wooden body over the course of roughly two years. After this, volunteers in the Electric Car Shop rebuilt car 1702's electrical control system. Car 1702 debuted at the Illinois Traction Society conference held at IRM in April 2024. It operated during that event for the first time in 66 years.
About the Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum, a “Museum in Motion,” is the largest museum of its kind in the United States. The Museum was founded in 1953 and is located 35 miles northwest of O’Hare in Union, McHenry County. It encompasses all aspects of railway history including steam and diesel locomotives, electric streetcars and elevated cars, and historic passenger and freight cars which operate on the museum’s 150-acre site and 4.5-mile-long railroad. The Museum, a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization, is owned and operated by volunteers. IRM relies entirely on visitors and donors to fund its preservation efforts. For more information on IRM's preservation and educational mission, click here. For more information on the Chicago & North Western Historical Society, click here.
