IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

URBANA, IL

Old Saves New, Again I think we all know by now that Amtrak's decision to buy the Siemens locomotives was a poor one, to say the least. As I understand it, the prime mover is in fact excellent, but all things electronic just kind of suck. They also apparently lack aux gens. Wild. Well, whatever specifically seems to be the issue with the "Chuggers" as we've taken to calling them, at least in my circle, it has been hitting the City of New Orleans a fair bit recently. Just weeks after an IC SD70 had to rescue the CONO, it happened again - this time an ex-GTW SD40-2 in CN North America dress taking the reigns. Built as Missouri Pacific 3180 in 1975, this nearly 50 year old EMD is certainly not built for this use case. It was howling the whole way north, reaching an absolute maximum of 63mph, but it held that speed well! The gearing on it would not allow it to reach the full 79mph if it had enough power, anyway. This locomotive is a Memphis hump/switcher unit as I'm told, making its surprise change to passenger service a little more impressive. Talk about a work out! I woke up late to the heads up this was leading, but thanks to a southbound Amtrak meeting it at Humboldt, plus some MOW in Tuscola, it was easy to spring out of bed and get to Hayes to see this odd lashup. As an aside, I had funnily enough shot the 5934 third-out on an A408 just the day before. It then got tacked onto the end of the southbound CONO after the northbound arrived - hard time staying still for this thing, huh? At least if the Chargers broke down on the southbound train, they'd have a rescue engine already attached... Haha
Old Saves New, Again Credit: Leo Blackwelder

The Transportation Archaeological Research (TAR) in Urbana, IL is a project coordinated by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP). This project focuses on the investigation of transportation-related archaeological sites in the state of Illinois. Through the use of archaeological field and laboratory methods, the project seeks to identify and document the history of transportation in the region. The research is conducted by a team of archaeologists, historians and engineers.

The research conducted by TAR seeks to identify and document the transportation-related archaeological sites in the state of Illinois, including railroad lines, canals and roads. The research focuses on the identification and evaluation of archaeological sites, the development of data and the preparation of reports. The reports are used to inform land use decisions and preserve the archaeological evidence.

The research conducted by TAR is supported by a variety of sources, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, federal, state and local agencies, private organizations, and individuals. Research projects are funded through grants, contracts, and donations.

The TAR project in Urbana, IL has been instrumental in the identification and preservation of numerous transportation-related archaeological sites. The project is dedicated to providing the public with an understanding of the region's transportation history and its associated archaeological resources.

IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH is a Uncategorized or General Museum in URBANA IL. US MID #8401700123

The museum is classed as GMU (Uncategorized or General Museums). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Midwest (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin).

Old Saves New, Again I think we all know by now that Amtrak's decision to buy the Siemens locomotives was a poor one, to say the least. As I understand it, the prime mover is in fact excellent, but all things electronic just kind of suck. They also apparently lack aux gens. Wild. Well, whatever specifically seems to be the issue with the "Chuggers" as we've taken to calling them, at least in my circle, it has been hitting the City of New Orleans a fair bit recently. Just weeks after an IC SD70 had to rescue the CONO, it happened again - this time an ex-GTW SD40-2 in CN North America dress taking the reigns. Built as Missouri Pacific 3180 in 1975, this nearly 50 year old EMD is certainly not built for this use case. It was howling the whole way north, reaching an absolute maximum of 63mph, but it held that speed well! The gearing on it would not allow it to reach the full 79mph if it had enough power, anyway. This locomotive is a Memphis hump/switcher unit as I'm told, making its surprise change to passenger service a little more impressive. Talk about a work out! I woke up late to the heads up this was leading, but thanks to a southbound Amtrak meeting it at Humboldt, plus some MOW in Tuscola, it was easy to spring out of bed and get to Hayes to see this odd lashup. As an aside, I had funnily enough shot the 5934 third-out on an A408 just the day before. It then got tacked onto the end of the southbound CONO after the northbound arrived - hard time staying still for this thing, huh? At least if the Chargers broke down on the southbound train, they'd have a rescue engine already attached... Haha
Wild in Wildlife Unique, rare, or otherwise odd leaders can be found on any train on any railroad, really, but there are few times when something special appears on the last of the roadrailers. NS256 is one of only two surviving roadrailer trains, and it is almost always headed by NS AC44C6M rebuilds, however this time we got something a bit special. The BNSF Fakebonnet 751 took the charge of the eastbound roadrailer, which was a real treat. With the longevity of these two roadrailer trains heavily in question these days, getting a fun leader like this made for a nice change of pace. The faded red and purple henbit in a field near Sidney are a nice change of the usual black and white of the NS-led Triple Crowns. A fine treat for sure.
Meet n' Greet The ever elusive NS roadrailers, the 255 and 256, always have to meet somewhere on their treks between Detroit and Kansas City. It's fairly common for them to meet somewhere between Decatur and Lafayette, though it's always hard to predict where. Sometimes, however, you get a little luck. NS 256, eastbound to Detroit, was put into the hole at Unity-Siding siding. A westbound manifest passed by shortly after, and then we were treated to the westbound 255 passing as well. To our surprise, the 255 began to slow way down and then came to a halt at Unity on the main. What a treat. Naturally, as the 255 slowed, we had to snatch some glamour shots of the two sets of Triple Crown trailers side by side. The location and timing was just perfect, and boy did we take that to our full advantage. Here, 255 is still moving, but very slowly to be sure. It would stop just a few more trailer lengths later. Not a photo opportunity you get to have often! Lots more out of this set to come later.
Come Together If there's ever anything I've ever learned, it's that timing is one of the most important things in life. I'd just picked up a buddy to join me in shooting some stuff in the local bubble when an eastbound over Tolono popped up on ATCS as we headed south - we shot ahead to Philo to spot it with crossed fingers. Roadrailer! The 256 was a treat - and exactly what we'd been looking for. It was also slowing down! Unusual to be sure, so we kept following. To our surprise, 256 came to a stop over at CP Sidney, placing its last trailer just a few trailer-lengths away from the crossing in the middle of the Unity-Sidney siding we had met it at. We had a westbound manifest pass by, and when 256 still didn't move on, we knew there was only one thing they could be waiting on. What else has the kind of priority to put a roadrailer in the hole these days, eh? NS255, with Dash 9 NS9928 on the head, came rounding the bend on the curve into Sidney. Plus, a little hole in the clouds for some sunlight that we had missed out on earlier. Talk about timing! How much more can you ask for? We weren't even asking for more, but yet we got it when the 255 rolled to a stop literally right there in front of us. For just about 5 minutes, 255 and 256 were just sat there occupying all of Unity-Sidney's main and siding, unmoving. It may not sound like much, or even a bit silly, but man that is not one you get every day! Truly, all the pieces to a great afternoon on the Lafy came together at the perfect time. Timing. All about timing, I tell ya.
Hanging onto Hayes When M396 had the IC heritage unit 3008 leading it earlier this year, my buddy and I had originally only planned to start our day at Hayes, but we decided to go find it, hence our viewing at Tuscola previously. It was a pretty easy race to Hayes thanks to the speed restrictions in and around Tuscola at the time. Hayes has been my go-to spot on the IC this year it seems like, I think I'm subconsciously making up for missing the old Lodge elevator. At any rate, the classic Hayes elevator makes a wonderful framing device for CN3008 and CN3219 as they lead M396 north towards Champaign. They'll stop there for yard work, though we didn't follow beyond there. Something else caught our attention to the west after we saw them into town...
Tucked Away The Humko Job has been going daily for many, many years, though isn't one that's often photographed. Typically a pair of Geeps, it can always be found serving Kraft and neighbouring warehouse Monday to Friday, though when it heads back to serve Plastipak and/or Prairie Materials is less rigid. As a result, not many snap shots of Humko outside of the yard, diamond, or by Kraft. Hidden between the eastbound and westbound bridges of the beginning of I-72, this small wooden trestle carries the Humko across it when it does come back to access Plastipak/Prairie. It's a location that is by no means difficult to get to, but not convenient, so it is oft-forgotten by railfans seeking photos of the usual pair of Geeps. It's a spot I've been meaning to shoot for ages, but just never had the chance. This time, however, I did have a chance as the train was taking some extra time to grab their caboose before heading back to Kraft after having set out limestone loads at Prairie Materials. A bit of a jog down the path later and I was there. The path does go right under the bridge, and there isn't much clearance! I'm not super tall, about average height, and my the top of my head only just clears it. I imagine a few people have probably hit their head on it by now! GTW5846 & GTW4906 pull the R902 "Humko Job" today, though they have since been split up.
The Little Things NS 50G hauls its Gibson City grain loads south past the old Wabash H5 dwarf at Lodge, IL. These dwarf signals were installed originally as just the single H5 head on the ground, but later on were retrofitted with the HC-33 lamp atop it. This allowed the signal to display a lunar, making some very interesting indications you can still see today - though not commonly. Today, it's dark as nothing is on the siding, but it's a wonderful piece of Wabash history on this old line.
Resurgence NS 256, the Detroit-bound roadrailer, surprised us with a nice fakebonnet-styled treat not long ago. We were also treated to CN dispatch taking over the Tolono diamond for a few trains, forcing the 256 to stop on the west side of said diamond. Enough time for me to head east and find a spot for a photo, and enough time for a buddy to come down and join me for it. At CP Unity on the Lafayette District, BNSF751 leads our ever-elusive roadrailer through empty fields and the shattered remains of codeline. The henbit that cover some of the fields make for an interesting contrast with the very out of place fakebonnet unit to say the least!
Lost Connection CN A407 is still very consistently handled by the former IC SD70s, and that was no exception when I happened upon them in Tolono. I was on the search for roadrailers that day, in actual fact, but I couldn't resist another opportunity to snatch some more Illinois Central power. IC1038 and IC1036 have the honours today. Our sightline here is from the now cut CN-NS connector at Tolono. NS still stuffs cars on these tracks sometimes, but no longer can either company transfer cars or power using this connection. It's been like this for a while now, but it's always a shame to see infrastructure get torn up. Even though traffic doesn't necessitate the connector now, maybe one day in the future it will. Who knows.
Second Choice Hayes old grain elevator makes for an interesting sight beside the CN 8952, the Grand Trunk heritage unit. This elevator hasn't been used in many decades, but still manages to stand proudly in the fields. It's a treat to still be able to shoot it. Originally, our plan with 8952 and E271 was to shoot it at Pesotum, however thanks to its work in Champaign, long shadows were eclipsing our shot. Not ideal, so we bailed on that and decided to go for Hayes. I toyed with various angles at the elevator, but finding something I was happy with was a struggle, though I've got ideas for future shots here for sure. The tight frame may not be the best for this spot, but I decided to give it a go anyway. Good learning experience here anyways.
Real or Fake? In the span of one week, two fakebonnets lead the elusive roadrailers through central Illinois. I was on the other side of the world when the first one happened, but the day after landing back in America after a very nice week abroad with the wife and some great live music, I got the heads up we had a very special 256 headed our way. Suffice to say, even though I was severely jetlagged still, I was interested. Just west of Sadorus, NS256 comes flying by, led by BNSF751. Though a little grimy and a bit faded, this fakebonnet still looks pretty sharp - not as sharp as a real warbonnet, but still pretty slick. I've also never shot either a fake nor warbonnet so this was a nice first - and to get it on roadrailers? A very handy thing. While I was overseas, the rumour of the imminent end of roadrailers once again sprouted, though this one suggested they would end literally days later, on Easter. Turns out it was a traffic lull for the holiday. Now others say it'll be the end in a few weeks from now, or a few months, or... Who the hell knows. Fakebonnet leader is still cool though!
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IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
103 HORTICULTURE FIELD LAB
URBANA
IL
61801

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IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH Information

MID # 8401700123
Name IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Alternate Name IL TRANSPORTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Classification Uncategorized or General Museums, , Midwest
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)
NTEECC
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM)
INCOME 0
REVENUE 0
LAT/LONG 40.107553, -88.212441
CODES FIPS State Code: 17
FIPS County Code: 019
US Census Tract: 005800
US Census Block: 3009