A museum tourist train, being led by Wabash Railroad F7A #1189, rests in front of the Nelson's Crossing depot.
Locale	Monticello, Piatt County, Central Illinois
Preserved operations
Reporting mark	MRMZ[1][nb 1] (Temporary equipment transfers/loans)
Length	15 mi (24 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1966 (1966)
Preservation history
Headquarters	Monticello, Illinois
Website
www.mrym.org

The Monticello Railway Museum (initialized MRYM, reporting mark MRMZ^{[1][nb 1]}) is a non-profit railroad museum located in Monticello, Illinois, about 18 miles west of Champaign, Illinois. It is home to over 100 pieces of railroad equipment, including several restored diesel locomotives and cars.

The museum offers a tourist railroad which operates excursion trains over a former railroad line that was owned by Illinois Terminal and Illinois Central Gulf. For a donation, guests can operate one of the locomotives during the "Throttle Time" program. Trains run from May through October and on holidays.

The Camp Creek yard was originally built by the museum's volunteers. The Terminal Division is a rebuilt Illinois Terminal right-of-way running from Camp Creek up to Blacker's towards White Heath. The Central Division was purchased by the museum from the Illinois Central. The Central Division purchase allowed the museum to enter downtown Monticello to the historic Wabash Railroad depot, which is the mainline of the museum's heritage railroad. The Central Division is currently being restored up to White Heath to allow occasional operation into that town. Only a short section of the Terminal Division is currently in use from the central switch down past Nelson's Crossing depot into Camp Creek Yard but has been restored to within a few miles of White Heath.

The Monticello Railway Museum is located off Interstate 72 at Market St. Exit 166. Turn at the stoplight onto Iron Horse Place at the Best Western Gateway Inn, and follow the frontage road to the end. Driving time is about 25 minutes from Champaign and Decatur; 50 minutes from Bloomington.

The Monticello Railway Museum, a not-for-profit educational organization, was founded in 1966 as "SPUR, Inc" (Society for the Perpetuation of Unretired Railfans, Inc). Its original goal was to encourage the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to continue operating its steam-powered railfan excursions.^[2] When that effort failed, the organization decided to operate its own steam-powered excursions and began a search for equipment and a suitable location. SPUR contacted the Illinois Central Railroad about operating on the West end of ICRR's lightly used Rantoul District between LeRoy and Sabina, Illinois. For such an operation, ICRR would require SPUR's equipment to be in "ICC condition" and use the railroad's union train crews. SPUR concluded this would be prohibitively expensive for the organization and continued its search. In 1966, SPUR was invited to Monticello, Illinois by a member of the Illinois Pioneer Heritage Center and moved its first piece of equipment, locomotive #1, a 1925 Alco 0-4-0T, to a vacant lot near the Heritage Center in Monticello.^[3] The organization's name was changed in 1970 to the Monticello & Sangamon Valley Railway Historical Society, Inc., and then shortened in 1982 to the present day Monticello Railway Museum.

The first land purchased was about five miles (8 km) of former Illinois Terminal interurban right of way between Monticello and White Heath. This right of way had been abandoned a few years before and the grade had only ballast in place. A former popcorn field was purchased for a railroad yard and maintenance area. The volunteers prepared the yard area for the arrival of locomotive #1 and moved it from the Heritage Center's lot in Monticello. Through the years track was laid on the former Illinois Terminal interurban grade toward White Heath until approximately 2+1⁄2 miles was completed. A run-around was constructed at (Blacker's), about 2 miles from White Heath. No further construction took place on the former interurban grade and Blacker's became the North end of the line. In 1988, after the purchase of some of the adjacent Illinois Central Gulf's Decatur District, the portion of the museum's trackage built on the former Illinois Terminal interurban grade was designated the "Terminal Division.

In 1975, an old-time piano contest by the name of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival was started on the land of the new railway museum as a fundraiser. The contest remained at the museum using a piano on the back of a caboose and the audience in lawn chairs around it for about ten years, until it was moved to the football field of Monticello High School.

In 1987, the museum purchased 7+1⁄2 miles of Illinois Central Gulf Decatur District trackage between Monticello and White Heath which parallels the Illinois Terminal right-of-way. The Nelson Crossing display track lead was extended to a new connecting turnout in the former ICG trackage, joining the museum's track with the newly purchased line. The connection was built by Museum volunteers in just two weekends. After a short "Golden Spike" ceremony, the museum's first run into Monticello was made. The former Illinois Central Gulf trackage to Monticello and White Heath was designated the museum's "Central Division."

Today the train ride primarily traverses the Central Division, using the Terminal Division only when pulling into the depot at Nelson's Crossing. The station names used on both the Central and Terminal Divisions were used by the original railroads.

Locomotive details^[4][5][6]

Number	Images	Type	Wheel arrangement	Builder	Built	Status
401		Steam	2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1907	Operational
1189		F7A	(B-B)	General Motors Diesel	1953	Operational
6789		FPA4	(B-B)	Montreal Locomotive Works	1959	Operational
1649		NW2	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1947	Display
8733		GP11	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1958	Operational
6071		SD40	(C-C)	Electro-Motive Division	1964	Display
1407		SW14	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1950	Stored, awaiting restoration
1559		RS-3	(B-B)	American Locomotive Works	1955	Stored, awaiting repairs
44		44-ton switcher	(B-B)	Davenport Locomotive Works	1940	Display
5764		E8A	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1952	Under restoration
1		Steam	0-4-0	American Locomotive Works	1929	Display
191		Steam	0-6-0	American Locomotive Works	1916	Display
333		Steam	4-6-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1916	Stored, awaiting restoration
6862		FPB4	(B-B)	Montreal Locomotive Works	1958	Operational
31		RS1325	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1960	Operational
784		SW1200	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1955	Stored, awaiting restoration
9940		E9A	(B-B)	Electro-Motive Division	1950	Display

Rolling stock details^[7][8][9]

Number / Name	Images	Type	Builder	Built	Status
892		Combine car	Pullman Company	1918	Operational
2541		Passenger car	Pullman Company	1925	Operational
2855		Coach	Pullman Company	1918	Stored, awaiting restoration
7		Observation car	Pullman Company	1917	Operational
3531		Passenger car	Pullman Company	1950	Display
Nautilus		Aquarium car	Pullman Company	1949	Display
405		Baggage car	American Car and Foundry Company	1957	Display
Pleasant Valley		Sleeper car	Pullman Company	1942	Display
3312		Sleeper car	Unknown	1942	Operational
2612		Passenger car	Pullman Company	1947	Operational
2920		Passenger car	Pullman Company	1925	Operational
1238		Passenger car	American Car and Foundry Company	1927	Under restoration
6		Office car	American Car and Foundry Company	1911	Display
903		Railway post office car	American Car and Foundry Company	1903	Stored, awaiting restoration
4112		Dining car	Pullman Company	1946	Operational
4110		Dining car	Pullman Company	1946	Operational
1907		Open-air flatcar	Nickel Plate Road	1929	Operational
827		Baggage car	Pullman Company	1892	Stored, awaiting restoration
758		Railway Post Office car	Chicago and Alton Railroad	1882	Stored, awaiting restoration
Timothy B. Blackstone		Sleeper car	American Car and Foundry Company	1950	Stored, awaiting restoration
9012		Sleeper car	American Car and Foundry Company	1950	Stored
City of Decatur		Parlor car	Pullman Company	1927	Stored, awaiting restoration
1827		Passenger car	Pullman Company	1947	Operational
Gulfport		Observation car	Pullman Company	1942	Stored, awaiting restoration
105		Tanker car	General American Transportation Co.	1928	Operational
7297		Tanker car	General American Transportation Co.	1925	Operational
80129		Hopper car	American Car and Foundry Company	1953	Operational
47947		Boxcar	Unknown	1927	Under restoration
82697		Boxcar	Wabash Railroad	1941	Out of service, awaiting repairs
41390		Boxcar	General American Transportation Co.	1937	Operational
567595		Boxcar	Unknown	Unknown	Display
65018		Hopper car	Illinois Central Railroad	1955	Operational
7990		Hopper car	Magor Car Company	1961	Operational
1145		Tanker car	Union Tank Car Company	1972	Stored
509		Tanker car	General American Transportation Co.	1965	Operational
3161		Tanker car	Unknown	Unknown	Stored, awaiting restoration
127		Boxcar	Unknown	1964	Stored
26012		Boxcar	General American Transportation Co.	1950s	Under restoration
3516		Boxcar	Chicago and Alton Railroad	1906	Stored, awaiting restoration
70528		Flatcar	General American Transportation Co.	1951	Operational
70557		Flatcar	General American Transportation Co.	1951	Operational
5571		Boxcar	Chicago Freight Car Company	1966	Stored
9831		Caboose	Illinois Central Railroad	1941	Operational
9926		Caboose	Illinois Central Railroad	1950	Operational
806		Caboose	Illinois Terminal Railroad	1924	Operational
2824		Caboose	Wabash Railroad	1949	Display
2834		Caboose	Wabash Railroad	1949	Stored
C1735		Caboose	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	1910	Display
500836		Caboose	Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway	1943	Display
555047		Caboose	International Car Company	1976	Operational
557530		Caboose	Nickel Plate Road	1960	Stored
1879		Caboose	Unknown	1909	Operational
14042		Caboose	Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	1891	Under restoration
477692		Caboose	Unknown	1909	Stored
9365		Caboose	Illinois Central Railroad	1972	Display
9570		Caboose	Illinois Central Railroad	1969	Display
2954		Caboose	International Car Company	1968	Display
99100		Caboose	American Car and Foundry Company	1910	Stored
2834		Caboose	Wabash Railroad	1949	Out of service
C2210		Caboose	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	1929	Stored

Nelson's Crossing Depot was donated in 1977. This Illinois Central Railroad depot was formerly located in Deland, Illinois. The depot was built in 1919 and rebuilt in 1942. The depot was moved to the museum in 1980 and is the ticket office and gift shop of the museum.

The Wabash Depot was built in 1899 to replace a smaller depot that had burned earlier that year. At the time the Wabash mainline went through Monticello between what is now the grain elevator and McDonald's. The line was moved west onto a fill, straightened, and a new steel bridge was built over what was the Illinois Central Railroad (now Monticello Railway Museum trackage). On April 20, 1904, the depot was moved to higher ground beside the new mainline. The depot was moved to its present location on May 29, 1987, and was restored by the Monticello Depot Association. January 1. 1993, that organization, its members and its assets were absorbed into the Monticello Railway Museum.

Among the special events at the museum, Railroad Days are held each year on the third weekend of September. One daily ticket allows riders to experience the ultimate railroad experience in the Midwest. A regular passenger train using former Illinois Central coaches and office car #7, a mixed-freight train, along with motor cars going into White Heath.

A fireworks special train, pulled by two locomotives, leaves at 8:00 pm and travels north to the museum grounds to view fireworks. Air-conditioned coaches, an open-air car, and open-window coaches are used.

• List of United States railroads
  • List of Illinois railroads
• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• List of railway museums
• This 1980 documentary film of Engine #1 was shot at this location. It provides an excellent overview of steam engine physics and nomenclature, and how to operate one. [1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monticello Railway Museum.

• Official website