THE Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) based in Union, Illinois around 50 miles west of Chicago is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
The attraction was founded in 1953 initially as the Illinois Electric Railway Museum to preserve interurban light rail vehicles, large numbers of which were being made redundant following the closure of multiple lines.
Renamed in 1961 as its collection now included steam locos and relocated from its original base to Union in 1964, the railway owns a section of the former Elgin and Belvedere Electric interurban route which it now uses to operate steam, diesel and electric trains.
The IRM site has more than three miles of covered storage and maintenance space, plus outdoor
