UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum boasts one of the most impressive railroad collections in the country.
The museum was founded in 1953 when a group of enthusiasts came together to purchase and preserve an Indiana Railroad interurban car, No. 65. The museum was originally named the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, and the museum’s collection includes an impressive collection of electrics, including interurbans, streetcars and L cars.
One of the museum’s prized pieces is St. Louis-San Francisco Railway No. 1630. Baldwin Locomotive Works built the decapod locomotive (a 2-10-0 wheel configuration) in 1918. The steamer was built for use in Russia but remained in the United States after the Bolshevik government could not afford to pay for the locomotive. The museum received the locomotive as a donation in 1965.
To see more from the museum, check out railfanning.org. For more information, visit irm.org.