Monticello (Ill.) Railway Museum volunteers pose with two steam locomotives in an attempt to re-create the famed Champagne Photo of the original Transcontinental Railroad ceremony from May 10, 1869.
Steve Smedley
MONTICELLO, Ill. — Monticello Railway Museum in central Illinois gave a nod to history at the end of Saturday and Sunday runs of Southern Railway 2-8-0 No. 401. Members posed the oil burning, 1917, Baldwin-built, Consolidation, next to Republic Steel 0-6-0 No. 191, on the museum’s first steam operating weekend of May 18 and 19.
The volunteers’ set-up was meant to evoke the famed Champagne photo from the original festivities celebrating the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869.
Museum volunteer Daniel Frye, 23, of nearby Forsyth, Ill., said the idea of the re-enactment had been ”thrown around for awhile, we knew logistically it would be difficult to make it historically accurate. We wanted to honor our volunteers while also tipping our hat to the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike and completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in Utah.”
Frye used the May 2019 issue of Trains to pose several members and passengers Sunday evening on the museum grounds.
that is cool. Have been there a few years ago for one of their steam weekends, came up with the local railfan group. Nice layout and we enjoyed our visit.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum (6th & Jefferson streets, Springfield IL) has just opened an exhibit about railroads and the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike in Utah. It’s located in Union Station (the former Illinois Central Station) across from the museum. The exhibit will be available until the end of 2019.