Equipment Information

Illinois Terminal 504, named the “Peoria,” is the only interurban sleeping car preserved in the United States. It was built for overnight service between St. Louis and Peoria and in later years, after sleeping car service was curtailed on the IT, it survived in maintenance-of-way use. It has been preserved in unrestored condition but with several of its original “sections” complete.

FUN FACT: Like most railroad sleeping cars, this one has upper and lower berths, like a bunk bed. See those little windows just below the roof on the “Peoria?” Those windows are there so that passengers sleeping in the upper berths can see outside. When this car was built, upper-berth windows were nearly unheard-of. On most other railroads, people sleeping in upper berths were “left in the dark.”

Illinois Terminal 504 Details

Builder: American Car & Foundry Company
Year Built: 1910
Seats: 20
Length: 54ft
Width: 9ft 3in
Height: 12ft 10in
Weight: 84500 lbs
Brakes: AB
Motors: None
Control: None
Compressor: None
Trucks: AC&F MCB
Description: Double End / Double Truck / Arch Roof / Wood Sleeper
Arrived: 1966
Condition: Incomplete / cosmetically restored / not operational

Photo gallery

IT 504 Ownership History

1910-1928 – Illinois Traction System #504 “Peoria”
1928-1938 – Illinois Terminal #504 “Peoria”
1938-1960 – Illinois Terminal #049
1960-1966 – Privately owned
1966-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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