SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. — The Fox River Trolley Museum will hold a special photo event on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Chicago Transit Authority, featuring passenger and work equipment that operated in Chicago before coming to the museum.
The event will feature posed photography opportunities of the museum’s CTA collection in areas not easily accessible to the public, including:
— Chicago City Railways 1908 electric locomotive L202;
— Recently restored crane car S-314;
— Unique 1947 Pullman-Standard articulated steel-aluminum car 5001, posed along the line from Castlemuir to Blackhawk.
Participants will ride on recently restored 1925 Chicago Elevated Car 4451 and some of the museum’s 1959 St. Louis single cars.
Jeff Bennett, director of the museum board, calls the museum “the Valley’s hidden gem.” The facility opened in 1966 on track once operated by and still property of the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric Co., which Bennett says offers “views that are breathtaking and boards right in downtown South Elgin.
“Our all-volunteer organization provides rides on vintage North Shore, CA&E [Chicago, Aurora & Elgin], or CTA trolley cars, many that have been meticulously restored, down our 4-mile round trip into Jon Duerr Forest Preserve.” Museum tickets are good all day for unlimited rides, allowing passengers to enjoy a picnic lunch in the preserve and return on a later trolley.
The museum notes the Oct. 2 event will be outdoors, held rain or shine, and will include walking over uneven terrain, so participants should wear appropriate footwear and clothing.
The event is projected to last 4-5 hours. Those taking part should arrive by 7:30 a.m. to park, explore the museum collection, and enter raffles for an authentic CTA sign. Cars will depart at 8 a.m.
Tickets are $25 for museum members and $50 for non-members, with a cab ride for part of the day available for only $20 more. All proceeds will benefit the museum.
Tickets are available here; more information on the museum is available at its website.
THey should be playing reecordings of Larry Lujack, Dick Sainte, John “Recoods” Landecker and other Chicagoland DJ’s on WCFL and WLS during the event…
John, None of those guys were around when the equipment being demonstrated was in service. (Well, maybe the St. Louis single cars that plied the Skokie Swift….)
When these cars were in service WLS was a time share radio station with another and was known for its morning “Prairie Farmer” report. That even predates Dick Biondi.