PRESERVING EQUIPMENT
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Gulf, Mobile & Ohio caboose #2962A Blackhawk member owns and is restoring this caboose. It currently is on private property.
It originally was a Western Maryland "Northeastern-style" caboose. It was purchased by the GM&O and sent to International Car Company and refitted with wide-vision cupola. It did receive Illinois Central Gulf orange paint and was retired when cabooses were phased out. |
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Rock Island caboose #17869In 1930, the Rock Island built their first steel cabooses, numbered 17850 to 17899. The cabooses were rebuilt in 1954-55 with the most notable change being the removal of some of the side windows. The only offset-cupola steel cabooses on the Rock Island, they were often seen in service on through-freights until newer cabooses bumped them to local assignments in the 1970s.
After the Rock Island shutdown in 1980, caboose #17869 was purchased by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) for use on work trains and assigned the reporting marks and number “NIRC 2002”. The NIRC (Northeastern Illinois Regional Commuter Rail Corporation) was a government-created company that operated the commuter rail service for the RTA on the former Rock Island and Milwaukee Road lines out of Chicago after both railroads went into bankruptcy. NIRC retired caboose #17869 and in 1995, it was acquired by the Tinley Park-Park District and placed on display at the Jaycee Grove picnic area at 16801 South 80th Avenue in Tinley Park, Illinois. It was painted bright red with incorrectly-styled lettering and the NIRC reporting marks. While in Jaycee Grove, an Eagle Scout consulted with Blackhawk members on his community project to restore the caboose, including a full restoration of the interior. When the Park District was required to build a retention pond at this site, the caboose was placed in storage until a suitable location could be found and on Aug. 24, 2009, it was moved to a new site between the Tinley Park Public Library and Freedom Park, just south of the 80th Ave. Metra Station. |
The Mystery of CB&Q #14570
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Every so often, we hear about a former Burlington Route wood waycar in north central Illinois that at one time apparently belonged to, or someone in, our group. We are working on unwrapping this mystery and finding out what it's current status is, but we can definitely tell you this -- as much as we'd like to claim it, we don't own it.
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 14570 was a typical design wood waycar (that is what the Burlington called their "cabooses") built in the 1880s. After being retired from active service, 14570, like other out-of-work cabooses, ended up in private hands. Much of the exact history is unknown to us, but the caboose eventually ended up in the town of La Moille, Illinois, located on one of the Q's many now-abandoned branchlines that used to blanket rural Illinois. It sits in front of the town's 19th-century CB&Q depot, miles from any active railroad lines.
Sometime in the early 21st century, sources on the Internet started attributing ownership to "Blackhawk Chapter NRHS." We have no paperwork or any other proof of ownership, so it's current status does not involve us. It briefly appeared for sale on an equipment broker's website, which is one of the ways it was brought to our attention. A 2014 article in the local paper has the caboose and depot being worked on by volunteers from the community. After that the trail runs cold.
We will continue to follow up on this mystery and hope to not only find out how 14570 ended up in La Moille, but also how our name got attached to it, and finally, how well the current preservation effort has gone for the waycar and depot and maybe even help it out, if needed.
Sometime in the early 21st century, sources on the Internet started attributing ownership to "Blackhawk Chapter NRHS." We have no paperwork or any other proof of ownership, so it's current status does not involve us. It briefly appeared for sale on an equipment broker's website, which is one of the ways it was brought to our attention. A 2014 article in the local paper has the caboose and depot being worked on by volunteers from the community. After that the trail runs cold.
We will continue to follow up on this mystery and hope to not only find out how 14570 ended up in La Moille, but also how our name got attached to it, and finally, how well the current preservation effort has gone for the waycar and depot and maybe even help it out, if needed.