Take A Step Back In Time At The Illinois Railway Museum

The Illinois Railway Museum is a step back in time.

Growing Up I Was A Big Fan Of Trains

Trains were my favorite toy by far when I was a little boy. I could spend hours playing with them. I can still easily remember why I started liking them so much.

Growing up, my dad had to take quite a few business trips for his job. I hated when he left but he would always bring me back a souvenir. I could not wait to see what he got this time.

After a couple of years, he started working on a project for Tyco Toys. They made trains for kids to play with. Each visit, he would bring me back a new one. After a while, I had a nice collection, so the next trip he got some railroad track so we could run the trains.

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Not long after, I had an amazing train set up and running in our basement. I had the whole works including houses, bridges, multiple cars, crossing gates, and even a racetrack in the middle.

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Of course, eventually, I wanted to ride the real thing. Luckily, we lived near Chicago so my family would take the train into the city. That was always fun.

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I also enjoyed the train rides at amusement parks.

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The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has some cool train exhibits.

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But then, my parents found the best place to check out old trains.

Illinois Railway Museum Is The Ultimate Step Back In Time For Train Fans

All the things I already mentioned are a nice experience but the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois takes it to the next level. You can ride actual old trains. For a young child who loves them, this is absolutely amazing.

Video: IRM: A Museum in Motion

There are tracks running throughout the grounds and their collection of locomotives and cars is incredible. They have ones from all kinds of different eras.

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What is the Illinois Railway Museum?

According to irm.org,

"IRM was founded in 1953 and has grown to become the largest collection of preserved railway and transit equipment on the continent, with some 450 pieces of historic equipment including steam engines, diesels, streetcars, interurbans, passenger and freight cars, buses, and trolley buses.  The museum's site in Union, McHenry County, features some 100 acres of exhibit buildings and historic structures including the 1851-vintage East Union Depot, the oldest active train station west of Pittsburgh. Visitors ride historic trains on a one-mile streetcar loop and a five-mile mainline railroad, both lines constructed and maintained by the museum."

When you visit this attraction, you will feel like you jumped in a time machine to check out the past.

For more info, HERE.