Monday, March 28, 2011

The Oak Park Society of Model Engineers H.O Scale Model Railroad Club. Oak Park Illinois USA. Early March 2011.

I took this photo at a recent Wednsday night operating session, at the Oak Park Society of Model Engineers H.O Scale Model Railroad Club.

For a railfan like Myself, there is nothing quiete like seeing one of Your favorite and unfortunately "Long Gone -Fallen Flag" railroads from Your Childhood, alive and well operating in miniature.

One of My personal favorites amongst the many railroads that had served Chicago Illinois when I was just a kid back in the 1960's, was the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. I had an Aunt and Uncle who are both now deceased, that lived near West 22nd Street west of South Kedzie Avenue. I used to love seeing the silver streamlined passenger trains, and the freight trains of the C,B & Q that ran near their house back then.

The color scheme seen on this H.O Scale model of a Baldwin diesel locomotive switcher, was introduced in the early 1950's by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and was refered to as their "Blackbird" color scheme. By the late 1950's and early 1960's, this color scheme was replaced on the C,B & Q's EMD GP and SD Series roadswitchers, with a bright red and gray color scheme.

For a few years after the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, and the Spokane, Portland & Seatle Railroad merged on March 2nd, 1970 and became the Burlington Northern Railroad, it was still possible to find locomotives, cabooses and freight cars in the color schemes and markings of these predecessor railroads, at the BN Clyde Yard in west suburban Cicero Illinois.

Several pieces of C,B & Q equipment such as steam locomotives, passenger cars, diesel locomotives and the streamlined Nebraska Zephyr 1940's era passenger train, can be seen up close and in person at The Illinois Railway Museum in the town of Union Illinois.
www.irm.org

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