Chicago Railroad Fair: Official Guide Book

Midwest, West, South
Wabash F7 1189, UP E9 949, and Southern FP7 6133 line up momentarily during movements around the Spencer grounds.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

The Reading takes a ride
“Reading” F7 284 (ex-C&NW) rides the Spencer turntable.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

They don’t make ’em like they used to
Spanning decades of cab-unit design, Amtrak P42 No. 42, painted to honor U.S. armed services veterans, pulls beside Iowa Pacific E8 515, wearing magnetic signs to assume an “IC 4035” identity.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

IC for a day
Iowa Pacific E8 515, dressed in IP’s standard Illinois Central-style livery, donned magnetic number-board and nose-emblem signs to become “IC 4035” on the first day of Streamliners at Spencer.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

E’s and F’s of four roads
Left to right at the Spencer roundhouse: Erie E8 833, Norfolk Southern F9 4271, “Lackawanna” F3 664 (ex-Bangor & Aroostook), and Wabash E8 1009.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

An Erie E Erie
E8 833 enjoys its moment in the turntable limelight. Painted blue and numbered 4022, the unit was for a time Conrail’s only executive E unit.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

J meets F7
N&W class J 4-8-4 meets Wabash F7 1189. The J had arrived at Spencer a few days before the Streamliners event for work that will return her to excursion service.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Calling all cabs!
The signature image of Streamliners at Spencer was of cab units grouped around the turntable, as in this night view, which shows less than 40 percent of the 28 streamlined locomotives in attendance.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

E9 outside, GP38-2 inside
Union Pacific 949, like its UP heritage fleet sisters 951 and 963B, was rebuilt in the mid-1990s with a single 645 engine and a modern electrical system. Externally they’re E9s; inside they’re the equivalent of a GP38-2.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

FP7 duo
Southern FP7 6133 backs off the Spencer turntable onto a track beside Soo Line FP7 2500.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

New Haven FL9
The Spencer turntable operator watches carefully as NH FL9 2019 eases back onto the table. Note the unit’s Hancock air whistle and third-rail shoe.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Shades of Cincinnati Union Terminal
During a night photo session, fans focus on soon-to-be-overhauled Norfolk & Western class J 4-8-4 611, Southern FP7 6133, Pennsy E8 5711, “Baltimore & Ohio” F7 722 (ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie), and “C&O” F3 8016 (ex-Clinchfield).
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Portholed pioneers
Floodlights for a night photo session illuminate the flanks of Electro-Motive FT 103 and an FTB at Spencer.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Cab-booster-cab
“Lackawanna” F3As 664 and 663 (ex-Bangor & Aroostook) bracket F7B 664B (ex-Boston & Maine) on a freight consist on the Spencer grounds. Currently, only the 664 is operable.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

C&O in Southern country
“Chesapeake & Ohio” F3 8106 (ex-Clinchfield, owned and restored by the C&O Historical Society) rides the Spencer turntable as New Haven and Wabash F units look on.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Two builders, three nose types, six models
At the Spencer roundhouse, from left: CN FPA 6789, Soo FP7 2500, “C&O” F3 8016 (ex-Clinchfield), CB&Q E5 9911A, ACL E6 501, and NH FL9 2019.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Bath time
PRR E8 5711 gets a bath at Spencer after its journey (with sister 5809) from Philadelphia. The two Juniata Terminal–owned E8s were among the few streamliners to arrive under their own power.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

By their noses ye shall know them
Pan Am Railways FP9 PAR1, Southern FP7 6133, and “Lackawanna” F3 664 (ex-Bangor & Aroostook) compare noses at the Spencer roundhouse.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

NS’s executive F9s
Most of the streamliners at Spencer were museum pieces, but a few still worked for major railroads. NS executive F9s 4271 and 4270 brought a four-car special to the event.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Crowd favorite
The most celebrated of the two dozen streamliners was the Alco PA1 being restored as NKP 190 by owner Doyle McCormack. The Spencer event marked the public debut for the ex-Santa Fe unit, which is not quite operable yet.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

The first was last
The last locomotive to arrive at Spencer, late in the afternoon of May 28, was Electro-Motive FT 103, built in 1939 as part of the very first set of F units. SOU GP30 2601 retrieved the historic unit from the NS interchange. For its move from St. Louis, No. 103 was given the temporary reporting mark CNTP (for NS component Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific).
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Alco smoke
CN FPA4 6789, built by Alco licensee Montreal Locomotive Works and the only operable Alco-design diesel at the Streamliners event, clears her throat during a spin on the Spencer turntable on May 29.
Robert S. McGonigal photo

Slant-nosed sisters
CB&Q E5 9911A and ACL E6 501, two of the four surviving slant-nosed E units, stand in elegant repose during a night photo session at the Spencer roundhouse.
Robert S. McGonigal photo