U.S. Mail Railway Post Offices in Illinois.

Soon after railroads appeared in the 1830s, they started moving the U.S. mail. During the Civil War, railroads built rolling post offices to sort mail along the route besides moving mail. Special railroad cars called Railway Post Offices (RPO) employed postal workers to sort and handle mail in transit. They would pick up and drop off mail at station stops. They would pick up mail on the fly at places they didn't stop, "grabbing" mailbags from a special bracket without stopping the train. 

Mail Bag Catch & Drop from a Steam Locomotive Train.

Some electric interurban routes also had RPOs, which served the same functions as RPOs on steam (and later diesel) railroads. People could deposit mail on these cars via slots on their sides, and clerks would postmark that mail on board.

Illinois Central's United States Mail Railway Post Office № 51.

At their peak in the 1800s, RPO cars were used on over 9,000 train routes. But in the 20th Century, RPO use started to decline. After WWII, the Post Office began using large regional centers with machines taking over the sorting. In 1948 the RPO network had shrunk to 794 lines. As the Post Office canceled their "mail by rail" contracts, passenger trains that relied on mail revenue lost that revenue, contributing to the eventual creation of Amtrak in 1971. 

United States Mail Railway Post Office - HO Scale Car. (1:87 scale = 3.5 mm to 1 foot)

On June 30, 1977, the last RPO ended operations after 113 years.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Sparta Community Airport ─ Hunter Field (KSAR), Sparta, Illinois.

Hunter Field has two runways; An asphalt runway 18/36, a turf runway 9/27 and one Heli-pad. 

 

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Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is one tenth of the magnetic azimuth of the runway's heading in degrees. A runway numbered 9 points east (90°), runway 18 is south (180°), runway 27 points west (270°) and runway 36 points to the north (360°)

The Hunter brothers were the first in Sparta to own an airplane. In June 1924, three young coal miners, John, Albert and Walter Hunter, went to St. Louis to purchase a Curtiss Biplane from the Robertson Aircraft Corporation. They and their other brother Kenneth "Beans," had big plans to use the airplane commercially, and they used the fairgrounds for their landing field. 

By September 1924, they had assembled "Hunter's Flying Circus of Sparta." They owned and operated three airplanes and staged thrilling stunts to benefit the fairground crowd. Their repertoire had wing walking, parachute leaps, changing from one plane to another in mid-air, looping the loops, tailspins and all other sensational stunts. They also carried passengers for $3 ($50 today) each for a seven to ten-minute ride over the city and fairgrounds.

Big-Ben Refueling.

The four Hunter brothers, flying over Chicago on July 4, 1930, completed an air-to-air refueled endurance record of 553 hours, 41 minutes and 30 seconds. THAT'S 23 DAYS ALOFT!

Kenneth and John were the endurance plane pilots, and Walter and Albert refueled from the "Big Ben" airplane.

The History of Sparta, Illinois, incorporated in 1837 as "Columbus."

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Illinois Central Railroad No.121 Green Diamond Streamliner Passenger Train. 1936-1968

The Illinois Central Railroad moved into streamlining with the articulated "Green Diamond" rail engine and cars in 1936. 

The Illinois Central's Chicago-St. Louis, Missouri, Green Diamond streamliner was built in 1936 by Pullman-Standard, with electrical-mechanical components by Electro-Motive. It was the last articulated trainset to be built with the integrated power unit; the locomotive carried number 121. In 1947 the IC's Paducah shops overhauled the train, then operated as the "Miss Lou" between Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1950 it was retired and scrapped. 

Illinois Central proudly billed as "the first standard-size diesel-powered streamliner." 

The Illinois Central Railroad proudly billed the Green Diamond diesel engine built in 1936 by Pullman-Standard and powered by Electro-Motive Corporation.

The Engineer Cab.

Advertising for the Illinois Central began in 1936 on the system between the Midwest and Southeast that covers 7,000 miles in the process and visits such towns as Detroit, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee.

The quick popularity of the early-years design of streamliners turned out to be the reason the design ended up a financial disaster. The early design did not allow the train to be lengthened or shortened, and late streamliners featured a matched but separable locomotive.

Car № 125 - 8 Seat Dining Area.

The apex for streamlined passenger trains in America was in 1956.

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The purpose of trucks on train cars is to provide support at high-speed, guidance, and passenger comfort. Freight car trucks are separate units that can be removed for maintenance, repair, or replacement. Trucks are a common cause of train derailments.

Each Car Has A Specific Purpose.

Cars do not change positions or trains in the early years.

Car № 121:

The Power Car was a (Winton Engine Works) Winton-201A, 1,200 hp, sixteen-cylinder Diesel Engine. The railroad engineer's control room was, of course, at the front of this car. The auxiliary generator and heating boiler controls were here. Below the floor, the first truck was powered. The second truck, articulated with the second car, was not powered. A 725-gallon fuel tank was mounted between the trucks. 

Car № 122:

Baggage, Storage, and U.S. Mail Car. The Mail Compartment occupied near one-half of the coach. Registered Nurse/Passenger Assistant onboard each trip.

Car № 123:

56 Reclining Seats in Coach. The Conductor's Office, and Restrooms.

Car № 124:

60 Reclining Seats in Coach. 

Car № 125:

The Dining & Lounge Observation Car, aka The Parlor Car. There are 8 seats available in the dining room, 20 more in the lounge, plus standing room. The Kitchen was in the forward portion of this car with table service at the rear of the lounge. It was said to have been a spectacular view out of the back window.  

An old magazine article mentioned the spacious restrooms; for a train car, of course."The toilet is big enough for me at six foot three to comfortably change into a suit. I learned quickly that a five-hour train ride in a suit does not build self-confidence."  — Unknown

Green Diamond Information

The train is fully Air-Conditioned and Heated. There is radio communication. Within the train, private and public communication use the same system. Full-width rubber diaphragms joined the cars. All cars were articulated, sharing a truck with the neighboring car, giving extra stability and a smoother ride. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

La Grange, Illinois, Burlington Northern Freight & Amtrak California Zephyr Passenger Train Crash, August 27, 1977.

At least 32 people were injured when an Amtrak California Zephyr passenger train collided with the just derailed oncoming Burlington Northern freight train, knocking more than 20 cars off an overpass onto the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks. No passenger cars were reported off the tracks.

A Burlington Northern freight train. This photo is a visual aid.

Amtrak California Zephyr passenger train (1960s).  This photo is a visual aid.

The collision was in La Grange, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. It involved a westbound Zephyr with 192 passengers and an eastbound Burlington Northern freight train that derailed just before the collision causing the passenger train to strike the freight train.

The Zephyr locomotive laid upside down below an overpass after it collided with a Burlington Northern freight train late Saturday as it traveled over the bridge crossing the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks at LaGrange, Illinois. About 12 freight cars were piled up by the collision, but none of the passenger cars on the Zephyr left the tracks. Twenty-four of the 192 passengers and Eight Amtrak employees were treated in area hospitals.

Ambulances from throughout the area were called to the scene. The authorities described most of the injured as "walking wounded" and were released from the hospitals in short order.

A crew member on the Zephyr, who did not want to be identified, said, "It's quite obvious what happened. The eastbound Burlington Northern train derailed, and the westbound Zephyr just couldn't stop in time and slammed into the Burlington Northern."

The wreck's cause was traced to a defective freight car on an eastbound train that derailed and blocked all three tracks. The westbound Zephyr hit the wreckage with the two SDP40F locomotives derailing at the bridge. The sheer weight contributed to the bridge collapse.

The wreck was a mess with numerous derailed freight cars and the two Amtrak locomotives that had to be removed before the bridge could be rebuilt and the line reopened. Thankfully only the head cars of the Zepher train were also directly involved, and nothing was moving under the bridge at the time of the wreck. 

Carlo Findalo, an attendant at a nearby service station, said he had a clear view of the collision. "I called Amtrak, and I told them one of their trains crashed, and they wouldn't believe me," Mr. Findalo said. "So I called the LaGrange police."

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

History of Chicago Executive Airport, Wheeling, Illinois, formerly Palwaukee Municipal Airport (PWK)

After World War I, a barnstormer named Ray Gauthier (or Roy Guther) flew a circuit around the upper midwest that included regular stops near Dam #1 (removed in 2014) on the Des Plaines River.

Dam #1 on the Des Plaines River, pre-2014.

In 1926, two brothers, Frank and Pete Barchard, set aside a 40-acre grassy open area with dirt runways on their farm in Prospect Heights, Illinois, to become a permanent airport. They hired an airport manager and purchased a plane to give flights and lessons. The Airport was known as "Swallow Airplane Field," named after the first plane they acquired. Eventually, the spot gained the nickname "Gauthier's Flying Field."

In November 1928, three North Shore businessmen who envisioned creating a center for commercial aviation on the Northshore purchased the growing Airport. They incorporated it and named it Palwaukee Airport. 

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The Pal-Waukee Airport was named for its location near the intersection of PALatine Road and milWAUKEE Avenue. 

The Airport expanded to 91 acres in the 1930s, and 1933 brought the addition of a Blimp Hangar to the field. The Airport also experienced significant growth during the 1940s when it was developed to cover 109 acres, consisting of a gravel runway and 70 individual T-hangars.

Following WW II, in 1946, the Palwaukee airport was purchased by Park Aircraft Sales & Service of East Saint Louis, Illinois, which already had an established Ercoupe Dealership on the field.

By 1953, Park Aircraft Sales & Service had decided to consolidate its business and sold the Airport to George Priester. Priester Aviation Service continued to develop the Airport for the next thirty-three years. Lighting was installed on the paved runway, and a DC-3 hangar was constructed in 1954. By May 1959, the Airport consisted of four runways. A VOR approach was established for the Airport in 1961. New corporate hangars and a 5,000-foot runway (16/34) were constructed in 1965. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commissioned an air traffic control tower at the Airport in 1967.

A 1,600-foot partial taxiway parallel to Runway 16/34 was completed in 1974. In the same year, the FAA began an ILS installation. The most giant corporate hangar constructed to date was built in 2000. Improvements made by Priester Aviation at the Airport continued throughout the late 1970s into the early 1980s until the Airport was acquired by its neighboring communities.

On December 26, 1986, the Airport changed from private to public ownership, as the City of Prospect Heights and the Village of Wheeling purchased what was then Palwaukee from Priester Aviation. Priester continued to operate the only fixed base operation following the purchase. The FAA, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the municipalities contributed funding for the purchase. Funding from Prospect Heights and Wheeling was provided through airport revenues and did not affect the municipal taxes for the two communities.

The Airport has undergone significant construction, upgrading, and development projects. The intersection of two major arterial roadways and a drainage ditch were relocated beyond the runway safety area. A new air traffic control tower was commissioned in 1997. Beginning in 1997, Priester Aviation constructed three new corporate hangars in the east quadrant of the Airport that can provide access for the new transcontinental business aircraft entering service. North American Jet, Inc. began constructing a new second fixed base operator facility in 1998.

Chicago Executive Airport — Click Map for Expanded View

• Chicago Executive Airport has 325 aircraft, including 57 corporate jet aircraft. 
• The Airport logs over 77,000 takeoffs and landings each year and is the fourth busiest Airport in Illinois.
• Chicago Executive Airport has three active runways and covers more than 412 acres.
• It is the fourth busiest Airport in Illinois and plays a crucial role as a reliever for the region, which includes O'Hare International Airport.
• The Airport operates 24 hours a day year-round with three runway options.
• The air traffic control tower is staffed by the FAA and operates daily between 6 AM weekdays (7 AM weekends) and 10 PM.
• The primary users of Chicago Executive Airport include private airplane owners, flight schools, businesses that maintain their company aircraft at the Airport and major national corporations.

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Runway 16/34 — 5,001-foot long by 150-foot wide precision runway served by an ILS to runway 16. Both ends of the runway are served by a four-light PAPI visual slope indicator and an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), 243 feet long by 170 feet wide at each end of the hard surface.

Runway 12/30 – 4,415 feet long by 75 feet wide, served by a four-light PAPI visual slope indicator on both ends. The threshold of runway 12 is displaced 295 feet, while the runway 30 threshold is displaced 432 feet.

Runway 6/24 – 3,677 feet long by 50 feet wide. Only runway 6 includes a PAPI visual approach indicator. The threshold on runway 6 is displaced 372 feet, while the threshold on runway 24 is displaced 1,249 feet

ACCIDENTS

• October 30, 1996, a twin-engine Gulfstream IV business jet with three crew members and one passenger lost control upon takeoff and crashed immediately to the north of the Airport. All four aboard perished.

• January 30, 2006, an eight-seat twin-engine Cessna 421B with four passengers crashed about one mile south of the Airport. The aircraft was heading from Kansas to Palwaukee. There were no survivors.

• January 5, 2010, a Learjet 35A crashed into the Des Plaines River in the Cook County Forest Preserve about a mile south of the Airport while on final approach. The jet, operated by Royal Air Freight Inc. of Waterford, Michigan, was empty during the crash, and the pilot and co-pilot were killed.

• November 28, 2011, a Piper PA-31 crashed on approach to Chicago Executive Airport. The aircraft was operating as a medical transport plane. The pilot, the patient, and the patient's wife were killed in the crash. Two other people on board survived. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators determined the accident to be caused by "the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and poor in-flight decisions," resulting in the loss of power due to running out of fuel during the approach. The pilot's decision to operate an aircraft after smoking marijuana caused the accident.

Flight from Chicago Executive KPWK (with ATC) to Chicago. 

Cessna 172 - N9831G, Filmed 9/2022, in 4K. [runtime 18:00]

VISIT OUR PALWAUKEE AIRPORT SOUVENIR SHOP

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Fool Killer Submarine was found in the Chicago River in 1915.

William “Frenchy” Deneau was a minor celebrity in Chicago. He was a diver who recovered 250 bodies from the Chicago River in the Eastland disaster in 1915. His expertise in the water put him in demand, and the next November, Deneau was back in the water to lay electrical cables underneath the Rush Street Bridge. While there, his shovel brushed against something metal. Further excavation found a metal submarine, forty-foot long and made of iron. Some reports say it was found under the Rush Street Bridge, others say it was found under the Wells Street Bridge, and others say it was under the Madison Street bridge. 

Submarines had been the news since the battle of the Merrimac and the Monitor in the Civil War. During this time, submarines were used in World War I battles. Some people feared this was a primitive U-boat from a failed German invasion. Others wondered if this was something left over from the Civil War. No one knew, but they tried to find out. The newspapers took up the story and watched it with interest. The vessel was nicknamed the "Foolkiller" by the newspapers.

Deneau was given permission to salvage the submarine, and it was hauled from the Chicago River on December 20,1915. Once inside, the discovery was made of a man’s skull and a dog’s skull, just the skulls. Police combed their missing persons' records to see who the skull could belong to. Deneau partnered with the SkeeBall company and put the Foolkiller on display. With the slogan “Come for the Foolkiller, Stay for the Skee Ball!” the submarine went on tour in February 1916. For the low price of a dime, people could tour the interior of the Foolkiller and have a question-and-answer session with Deneau. Attendees had to tour at their own risk.

Why old photograph's handwritten notations are reversed when printed.

Still, there was no indication of how the submarine got there. The thought that it was a German U-boat was dismissed as wartime propaganda. The U.S. wasn’t in the Great War at this time. There was also speculation that it was built in 1890 by Peter Nissen. 

The Chicago Tribune initially reported, “The boat is said to have belonged to Peter Nissen, spectacular mariner, who was lost in his revolving vessel while attempting to drift across Lake Michigan … The “Foolkiller” was so called because it first appeared shortly after the Chicago fire, in the days when submarines were unheard of, and drowned its original owner, a New York man when it made a trial trip. Nissen then bought it.” Peter Nissen was originally an accountant turned daredevil, but his boat designs were very different than the submarine found. Also, Peter Nissen died on a different boat, so he could not be the human skull found.

Another speculation has said it was a creation of Lodner Darvantis Phillips, a shoemaker from Michigan City, Indiana, who also happened to be a submarine pioneer. He had built successful submarines in the Great Lakes, and one of his designs from the 1840s resembled the submarine found. According to his family legend, a prototype he built sank in the Chicago River and claimed the Foolkiller as one of their ancestor’s creations. 

This is the only evidence. However, his designs resembled the submarine found more closely than Nissen’s. Then who was the man found on the submarine?

Some people believe that Deneau added the skulls as a bit of showmanship to generate interest in his find. Deneau was in a spot of financial trouble, and the submarine tour generated some needed cash. However, we will never know the truth about the submarine as its last known location was Oelwein, Iowa, in May 1915. It is lost in the mists of time, but it could still be out there waiting for its mystery to be unraveled.

Shortly thereafter, the submarine was displayed at 208 South State Street, Chicago. For 10¢, you could see the submarine and the skulls.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Standard Oil Gas Station, Odell, Illinois on Route 66.

In 1868, John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the beginning of the Standard Oil Trust Company, which would soon dominate oil refineries and gas stations around America. 

In 1890, the Standard Oil Company set up its first company in Illinois.

In 1932, a contractor, Patrick O'Donnell, purchased a small parcel of land along Route 66 in Odell, Illinois. There he built a gas station based on a 1916 Standard Oil of Ohio design, commonly known as a domestic-style gas station. 

This "house with canopy" style of the gas station gave customers a comfortable feeling they could associate with home. This association created an atmosphere of trust for commercial and recreational travelers of the day.

The station originally sold Standard Oil products, but after O'Donnell leased the property to others, the station began selling Sinclair and the now famous Phillips 66. 

In the late 1940s, O'Donnell added a two-bay garage to accommodate repair services, which was necessary to stay competitive with the nine other stations that occupied the short stretch of Route 66 through Odell. The gas station was in constant use during the heyday of travel on Route 66. It was a welcomed rest stop for weary travelers and a place for the kids to get out and stretch their legs.

The station sold gasoline until the 1960s and then became an auto body shop until the late 1970s when it closed its doors for good. It fell into disrepair and would have been destroyed had it not been for the town of Odell and the people who loved their gas station. In 1997, the station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Then, thanks to a collaborative effort, the Illinois Route 66 Association, the Village of Odell, the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and Hampton Inn Landmarks restored the station to its former glory. A Standard Oil sign hanging from the roof swings gently in the warm breeze, and an old-fashioned gas pump looks ready to serve the next customer. Although Odell's Standard Oil Gas Station no longer sells gasoline, it has become a welcome center for the Village of Odell. 

The station won the National Historic Route 66 Federation Cyrus Avery Award in 2002 for the year's most outstanding Route 66 preservation project.  

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

People's Pure Ice Company, Chicago, Illinois. Founded 1901.

People's Pure Ice Company started in the 1890s and originally consisted of four buildings at 34 Clybourn Place. Today's location would be Cortland Street at Winchester Avenue. 

The plant was built on one floor and was the first plant in the United States to utilize the "closed system" throughout. Nowhere within the buildings or about the plant is any escaping steam visible or is any water to be seen. All the machinery and apparatus, steam condensers, ammonia condensers, reboilers, water filters, etc., are all enclosed, and the steam passes in a continuous course, absolutely unexposed, from the boilers to the cans in the freezing tanks.

The model plant where all this was satisfactorily accomplished was known as the ice factory of the People's Pure Ice Company, Chicago, which was erected in 1901.

The "Ice and Refrigeration" Newsletter,  March 1, 1904 (pdf), an 11-page article, with lots of pictures. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois.

EARLY PASSENGER OPERATIONS

The Fox River Line dates back to 1896. At the turn of the century, this interurban line was part of the Elgin, Aurora and Southern [EA&S] Traction Company and ran about 40 miles along the Fox River from Carpentersville to Yorkville. It also included and was connected to the streetcar systems of Elgin and Aurora. 

In 1906 the EA&S became part of the high-speed interurban, the Elgin, Aurora, and Chicago Railroad [EA&C]. This line ran west from its connection with the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company and had four branches with western terminals along the Fox River in the same towns that the Fox River Line served. Even though the two divisions were part of the same company from 1906 to 1919, they were continuously operated separately with different equipment, repair facilities and employees.

In August of 1919, the AE&C went into receivership, both divisions emerging from bankruptcy in the early 1920s. They were separated and renamed. The third rail division to Chicago (former AE&C) was renamed the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad [CA&E], and the Fox River Division was renamed the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company [AE&FRE].

The AE&FRE on its own began again in 1924, acquired new one-man cars, cut costs and modernized its track, signaling and operations. Business was good through most of the 1920s, but as more people purchased automobiles and the roads in Kane County were paved, ridership began to drop. First to go were some, then all the streetcar routes in Elgin and Aurora, with the last being retired in 1934. All of these were torn up and replaced by company-owned bus routes, with the interurban line between Aurora and Elgin (including our right-of-way) being the final one in March of 1935.

THE FREIGHT ONLY YEARS

As you can see, not all of the track was torn up. A short 3.5-mile segment was retained from the interchange with the Illinois Central at Coleman north along present-day Route 31 to the State Mental Hospital in Elgin. Two homemade flatcar motors were kept to handle the freight-only business, chiefly coal and other supplies for the hospital and a few other customers along the route. Carload freight tonnage was high, the overhead low, and the AE&FRE even dieselized in 1946.

Things were going well for the freight operator until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the hospital in 1971 that it would have to stop using coal (from Southern Illinois) for its power plant because of pollution. This was the railroad's last and only customer, and this loss forced AE&FRE out of the freight business.

A MUSEUM CONCEPT WAS HATCHED

The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway went out of business in 1961, but a small group of loyal railfans struggled to keep the line's memory alive. Starting first as the Railway Investment Club in August 1959 and then as Railway Equipment Leasing and Investment Co. [RELIC] in September 1961, they began what would become the Fox River Trolley Museum. 

RELIC first acquired several CA&E cars saving them from scrapping. Next was finding a suitable place to store and someday run them. RELIC agreed with Bob DeYoung, the line owner, to hold their cars on his mainline and later operate them on weekends when there were no freight operations. 

WELCOME TO THE MUSEUM

A new electric railroad had to be brought in, cleaned and assembled. All this was done by a group of volunteers who had never worked a day for an actual railroad. 

Finally, all was in place, and the RELIC TROLLEY MUSEUM opened on July 4, 1966. The first rides were 50¢ ($4.60 today). Now named the Fox River Trolley Museum, located at 365 South La Fox Street, South Elgin. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.