The Heritage Series Sixty Years Along The Illinois Central
The Illinois Central existed
for nearly a century and a half and this program covers the last sixty years
from 1938 to the winter of 1998-99, the independent I.C.’s last.
The show begins at the
headquarters of the St. Louis Division in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1938. Passenger trains behind a Pacific and a
Mountain are seen, before we head to the yard where Mikados are seen in action.
We next visit the
mid-fifties, including a short cab sequence aboard a 2-10-2 and a pacing
sequence with another 2-10-2 on a local freight. Mikados and an 0-8-0 are also seen under
steam, along with a glimpse of a 2-10-0 Decapod.
Next we look at the late
sixties, as passenger and freight trains are seen in the Champaign, Illinois,
area. Locomotives in the green diamond
black scheme are seen, along with the new orange and white split-rail
image. Early Paducah rebuilds are seen,
along with a rare General Electric U30B leading a train.
Then we look at the Illinois
Central Gulf era, which is covered in newly acquired footage. The mixed bag of motive power typical of the
I.C.G. era is on display, with orange and white power mixed with locomotives in
black, grayback and GM&O colors.
Next we see the transition
from the I.C.G. to the new image Illinois Central. An early sequence from this era shows freshly
painted power alongside locomotives being prepped from the paint bay in the
roundhouse at Centralia, Illinois. Over
the course of two years, the new image replaces the mix-and -match look of the
I.C.G. era.
Our look at the new image
Illinois Central covers the last decade of the railroad’s independence. At first, Paducah rebuilt power abounds. Later, Burlington Northern SD40-2’s arrive,
and we see some of them in B.N. paint before they became the new 6100 series. Finally, the 1000 series SD70’s arrive. The program ends during the winter of
1998-99, mere months before the railroad was folded into the Canadian National
system.
This program is one of the
most comprehensive looks at the history of the Illinois Central available
anywhere.