The 4-4-0 was the "early on" favorite because the design was hard to foul up.  It did fall out of favor because of size limitations, but it seems like there are always exceptions to the rules, and the Chicago and Illinois Midland is one of them.  They used a 4-4-0 on their Peoria-Springfield train until the end of service in the '50s.

Thank you for the info.  I am a lot more familiar with recent history than with 100+ years ago.  I remember reading that one could tell if someone had railroad work experience by the number of missing fingers.  Years ago I worked at the East Peoria Caterpillar complex.  They had an extensive 30 inch gauge system with flat cars to move parts through the buildings. which used links and pins.  There were no track locos; all the track was paved and used "Mercury Pettibone" jeep-like vehicles to tow the cars.  I remember the guys using hooked handles to hold up the links and pins so their hands wouldn't be smashed.

About 25 years ago, while playing with my kids by old riprap fill on the Illinois River shore, I found a couple of pins from the link and pin days.  One of them has "ICRR" indented in it.  Anyone know the time frame when these were discontinued in favor of knuckle couplers?  Were there, for a while, trains of links/knuckles mixed?

Rather far out, but I did see a mention of it: Pennsy S2 6-8-6 turbine. I have some HO, and would buy in that scale if offered.

I acquired a few of the Athearn "blue box" loco kits years ago.  For some reason, the thought of painting the handrails never crossed my mind as I assembled them, and now they are rusty.  I figured on carefully using a jeweler's screwdriver to remove them, and sandpaper to remove the rust.  For paint, would you use a brush, or spray?

I had relatives who joined the Navy in the '50's.  They would go to Great Lakes from Peoria on the Rock Island Rocket.  It was neat watching the action at the station!  Later, I remember seeing North Shore steeplecabs, and the Illinois Terminal streamlined train in Morton.  Still later I got to ride the Aerotrain, and I saw 0-6-0's pulling coal out of the strip mines by Farmington.  I went to college and had a good living in a profession, but I wish now that I'd gone to work for a railroad.   

From what I read, they had about five or six minutes' warning, enough to get everybody off the concourse.  It seems like plenty of time to enlist crew and passengers to crank down the brakewheels.  I admit, I'm not familiar with how well this works to stop locos/cars, but it sure seems worth the effort, even if it only slowed the speed by ten or 15 mph.

Didn't GG1's and Pennsy passenger cars have manual brake systems?  Wouldn't this have prevented the runaway into the Washington DC Union Station (early 50's)?

The Peoria distillery was built after prohibition was repealed in '33, so they were probably from a number of years after that.  Somewhere I do have old B&W photos which I am going to try to locate.  One of them is of five of the reefers in front of the plant.  The other is of an 8,000 (?) gal. tank car, which has a doghouse-like fabrication at its center, which covers the expansion dome.  It has the Walker "W" crest on its side. 

Back in the '30's Hiram Walker leased some reefers, which had company lettering.  Although icing wasn't necessary, I was told reefers were acquired because they got a good deal on them.  I was wondering if anyone knows what color the cars and lettering were.  About 25 years ago TMI (Train Miniature of Illinois) released a gray steel reefer that had red lettering, but I don't think this scheme was correct for what actually existed.

One particular St. Louis visit I remember was 35+ years ago.  I took a steamboat ride upriver, and noticed a standard gauge RR track that sloped down the concrete bank, into the river.  Over the years I asked a bunch of railroad enthusiasts what this track was used for, but got only guesses.  Anyone here know what the specific purpose was? 

About 15 years ago I bought a Chicago & Eastern Illinois HO coach (orange lettering) at a show.  It doesn't appear to be custom painted.  I have never seen any other cars in this road.  Anyone know who made it?