Preserving Our History

Museums | Documenting | Community | Authors & Press | Railroad Equipment

The Blackhawk Chapter has an extensive track record of involvement in numerous railroad preservation or railroad-themed community projects throughout Chicagoland and Northern Indiana.

Are you restoring a piece of railroad equipment? Did your ancestors work for the railroad? Want to know more about that railroad running through your town? The Blackhawk Chapter can connect you with the people and resources that will answer your questions.

Click on the links below and see how the Blackhawk Chapter and its members are preserving our area's railroad history:

The Blackhawk Chapter works with local historical societies and museums by sponsoring, creating and displaying railroad-themed exhibits, giving the public an historically accurate portrayal of railroading.

Aurora, Elgin & Fox Rivcr Electric #304

The Blackhawk Chapter provided financial support to the Fox River Trolley Museum for repairs and the repainting to authentic colors of one of the last remaining cars that ran on this line until the Fox Valley Line's almost total abandonment in 1935.

The museum expects to have #304 in operation during their 2010 season and is soliciting donations to make that possible. Click here for more on the history of #304 and how you can help this preservation effort.

Grasselli Tower

The Blackhawk Chapter provided financial support to the
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in their effort to save
Grasselli Tower, one of the last interlocking towers in Northwest Indiana.

The tower was moved from East Chicago to North Judson in April of 2009 and the museum plans to turn it back into a working interlocking tower. Click here for more information on Grasselli Tower and their preservation effort.

Will County

The Blackhawk Chapter was the primary contributor to the
Will County Historical Society's exhibit “Trains, Trains, Trains” which ran from November 6 to 24, 2007 at their museum in downtown Lockport, Illinois. This popular exhibit featured displays of model trains, operating layouts, historic railroad photos, and timetables provided by Blackhawk Chapter members, as well as a collection of dining car china and important railroad items from the Society's archives.

Blackhawk Chapter volunteers are currently helping the WCHS catalog its vast archives of railroad papers and photographs, including many unique and priceless items from the 19th century.

The Blackhawk Chapter is also working with the WCHS to arrange for the prompt and complete acquisiton of the historical records of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, now owned by CN Railway.

Scott Special

On Tuesday, July 11, 1905, a three-car passenger train chartered by noted charlatan and showman Walter “Death Valley” Scott passed through Joliet, Illinois at 11:02 a.m. en route to Chicago. Crowds lined the tracks to see the train charge through town. The train finally came to a stop in Chicago, having made the run of 2,265 miles from Los Angeles in 44 hours and 54 minutes!

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of “The Scott Special,” the Blackhawk Chapter produced an exhibit displayed during the July and August of 2005 at the Joliet Area Historical Museum incorporating historical accounts, promotional items and a model of “The Scott Special” as it approached Joliet at Santa Fe's Lorenzo station. Books and maps rounded out the exhibit and railroad-related activities for both adults and children were held in July and August to accompany this exhibit.

Griffith Historical Park
and Depot Museum

The Blackhawk Chapter was successful in securing an
NRHS Railway Heritage Grant for the Griffith (Indiana) Historical Society to help move the former EJ&E interlocking tower to the museum site, saving it from demolition.

Photo CD-ROMs

The Blackhawk Chapter has produced a series of CD-ROMs featuring digital reproductions of photos an papers from their archives.

Images of the Rock Island features over 100 images from the Blackhawk Chapter archives of the Rock Island from Chicago to Joliet.

Images of the Chicago & Western Indiana features timetables, postcard images and and rare pictures of the C&WI and its owner railroads.in and around Chicago's Dearborn Station.

The Blackhawk Chapter's is the exclusive producer of
Images of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern, Volumes 1, 2 & 3,
a series of CD-ROMs featuring photographs and drawings from the Blackhawk Chapter archives documenting the railroad that goes “Around, not thru, Chicago.”

The Blackhawk Chapter has preserved a set of 16mm films of the EJ&E's complete right-of-way, filmed in the early 1970s and is working on reproducing these in the DVD format.

Books

The Blackhawk Chapter has reprinted the 1854 book covering the organization of the Joliet & Northern Indiana, which later became the Michigan Central's “Joliet cutoff.” This material has been unavailable for over 150 years and provides a rare inside look at America's early railroad era.

RailCamp Scholarship

Since 2007, the Blackhawk Chapter has sponsored area high school students at the NRHS's popular RailCamp for teens.

The Blackhawk Chapter is one of the few NRHS chapters that provides full scholarships to this popular and influential program.

The Blackhawk Chapter is always looking for young men and women who may be interested in this program. For more details, please click here.

Railroad Parks

The Blackhawk Chapter addressed the village council to encourage community support for the building of a viewing platform and railroad equipment display in Homewood, Illinois, which opened in spring of 2007.

Railroad Depot Restoration

The Blackhawk Chapter has been involved in numerous depot restoration projects throughout Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. For a closer look at these projects, go to our Preserving Our Depots page.

Blackhawk Chapter members volunteer on the annual
CN/IC Christmas Train. A holiday tradition for over 30 years, the CN/IC Christmas Train brings the Christmas spirit to the communities of Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee counties in rural Illinois.

Books

The Blackhawk Chapter provided archival photographs and historical information to author Gene Glendinning for his monumental book on the complete history of The Chicago & Alton Railroad.

The Blackhawk Chapter has also provided material to recent books on Chicago's suburban railroad history and an upcoming book on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern.

Magazines

Blackhawk Chapter members have written articles on local railroad subjects for a variety of railfan publications.

Recent articles from Blackhawk Chapter members have appeared in the National Railway Historical Society's “NRHS Bulletin” and in “The Rocket,” the official magazine of the Rock Island Technical Society.

Newspapers & Radio

Blackhawk Chapter officers and members have been quoted in articles about historic and contemporary railroad events in local area newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Southtown and the Joliet Herald News as well as local AM talk radio station WJOL AM 1340.

Privately-Owned Equipment

A Blackhawk Chapter member owns and is restoring Gulf, Mobile & Ohio caboose #2962, an early steel Western Maryland caboose rebuilt by International Car for the GM&O and eventually retired by the Illinois Central Gulf.

Restoration Projects

An Eagle Scout consulted with Blackhawk Chapter members on his community project to restore Rock Island caboose #17689 in Tinley Park, Illinois.

The Blackhawk Chapter will be happy to assist individuals or organizations on their equipment preservation projects.