UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum, which is marking its 70th anniversary in 2023, celebrated the milestone on Saturday, July 1, with its 70 for 70 Trolley Pagaent, a parade of 70 pieces of electric equipment from the museum’s collection. The event reflects the roots of the museum, which began in 1953 as the effort of 10 men to preserve a single Indiana Railroad interurban car and was initially known as the Illinois Electric Railway Museum. The museum calls Saturday’s parade calls it the largest collection of preserved traction equipment ever operated for a single event. With various delays and technical issues, the parade took some three hours to complete.
Additional 70th-anniversary events are planned in September. For more on the museum, see “Prairie State Preservation” in the July 2023 issue of Trains Magazine.
