Fox River Trolley Museum

The Fox River Trolley Museum is a railroad museum in South Elgin, Illinois.

Location

The museum grounds are located at 361 South LaFox Street (Illinois Route 31), approximately two blocks south of the intersection of LaFox and State Streets.

Collection

The museum maintains a collection of 30 antique electric trolleys, railroad cars, and locomotives which range in construction dates from 1887 to 1959. The majority of the museum collection is focused on railways and electric transit lines of the Chicago area. One of the most exceptional cars in this collection is the wooden interurban (inter-city) Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad car #20, purchased directly from CA&E after that railroad discontinued passenger service. Car #20 was constructed in 1902 and is the oldest electric interurban car operating in the United States. The most recent collection acquisitions include the interurban electric railway car, Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric Co. #304, that was built for the Fox River Line in 1923, and ran in daily service between Elgin and Aurora until March 1935. Between 1935 and 1954, it operated in Cleveland over the line best known as the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit. The car was then sold, with three other ex-Fox River Line cars, to real estate entrepreneur Gerald E. Brookins, whose family operated Trolleyville USA, in Olmsted Township, Ohio, in suburban Cleveland, until 2002. AE&FRE #304 made its first run over its original railroad on August 21, 2010, over 75 years after it last ran on the line.

Heritage railroad

The museum operates a heritage railroad and visitors may ride on excursions over a 4 mile line along the banks of the scenic Fox River to the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve. The museum's right-of-way passes through Coleman, IL; a former interchange between the east-west running Illinois Central Railroad and the north-south running AE&FRE.^{[citation needed]}

Visitors can board at the Castlemuir depot, on the museum grounds at the north end of the line in South Elgin, or at Blackhawk station, at the south end of the line, adjacent to the picnic grove of the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve. Blackhawk station is handicapped-accessible. The museum's trackage was originally part of the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric Company (AE&FRE).

The museum operates its trolley excursions from Mother's Day to the first Sunday in November every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During July and August, the museum excursions operate on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Non-profit organization

The Fox River Trolley Museum is operated by the Fox River Trolley Association (FRTA). The FRTA is an educational, member-based 501(c)(3) tax exempt Illinois not-for-profit corporation. The museum gratefully accepts donations to support its operations, exhibits, programs, research, preservation and public interpretation.

External links

• Fox River Trolley Museum