Eastbound 1920's era CTA 4000 series rapid transit train racing a thunderstorm. The Illinois Railway Museum. Union Illinois USA. August 2000.

The weather is about to make a change for the stormy in the town of Union Illinois, as a 3 car train of Chicago Transit Authority 1920's era rapid transit cars heads east on the museum's mainline at speed.

The Illinois Railway Museum is a beautiful outdoor operating museum that runs trains rain or shine. The train shown here isn't actually racing the approaching thunderstorm, but rather just performing a routine demonstration run for the visiting patrons on the mainline. Trains like this operated for the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, and later the CTA after November of 1947. This equipment operated on the Chicago subway and elevated systems 7 days a week in all kinds of weather, both around the clock and around the calender.