DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM

TUSCOLA, IL

Twilight of the District The sun sets on another NS D36 and former Wabash H5 searchlights just north of Bement, IL. NS3395 and NS7000 command todays Bloomington-Decatur local with its myriad of freight, from plain old junk scrap iron to brand new Rivian trucks. Catching 3395 on the head here was one of the last times I've seen a mostly unmolested EMD lead. SD60Es have completely taken over the entire district at present, making it hard to muster up interest to go and shoot. Things change on the regular of course, but it feels a bit bleak looking at the district anymore. The antennae, lost elevators, loss of the 6173, and just generally bad timing for these trains to get moving does quite a number on ones desire to go out and view it. I know I'm late to the party, most places got this treatment and even worse - at least we have the old searchlights - but its no fun to watch a real gem of a rail line become cloudy and scuffed. It's truly just the way it goes with modern day railroading. I wonder what the future holds here.
Twilight of the District Credit: Leo Blackwelder

The Douglas County Museum is a historical museum located in Tuscola, Illinois. The museum is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Douglas County, Illinois. The museum features an extensive collection of artifacts and exhibits that showcase the rich history of the county.

The museum's collection includes a wide variety of items, including photographs, documents, clothing, tools, and other artifacts. Visitors can explore the exhibits and learn about the early settlers of Douglas County, the county's agriculture and industry, and the social and cultural life of the region.

One of the museum's most popular exhibits is the Pioneer Room, which features a recreation of a typical pioneer home. Visitors can see what life was like for early settlers in the area, including the tools and equipment they used, and the types of food they ate.

The museum also offers educational programs and special events throughout the year, including workshops, lectures, and hands-on activities for children. The Douglas County Museum is a must-see attraction for anyone interested in the history and culture of Illinois and the Midwest.

DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM is a Uncategorized or General Museum in TUSCOLA IL. US MID #8401700190

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).

Twilight of the District The sun sets on another NS D36 and former Wabash H5 searchlights just north of Bement, IL. NS3395 and NS7000 command todays Bloomington-Decatur local with its myriad of freight, from plain old junk scrap iron to brand new Rivian trucks. Catching 3395 on the head here was one of the last times I've seen a mostly unmolested EMD lead. SD60Es have completely taken over the entire district at present, making it hard to muster up interest to go and shoot. Things change on the regular of course, but it feels a bit bleak looking at the district anymore. The antennae, lost elevators, loss of the 6173, and just generally bad timing for these trains to get moving does quite a number on ones desire to go out and view it. I know I'm late to the party, most places got this treatment and even worse - at least we have the old searchlights - but its no fun to watch a real gem of a rail line become cloudy and scuffed. It's truly just the way it goes with modern day railroading. I wonder what the future holds here.
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...
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.
End in Sight Just north of Bement, the final and southernmost searchlight on the Bloomington District can be found right beside a crossing. Based on some older track charts, this signal used to be located about a quarter mile to the south and had previously been two masts, one on each side of the track. These, installed back in 1959, were moved and apparently combined into the single-mast intermediate we know here today as the Bement Intermediate during the signal updates in the early 2000s, around 2003-04 for signals south of Mills including this. All of the intermediates remaining on this line saw similar changes around the same period. Snapping a shot of this signal can be a tough one for southbounds thanks to how close it is to the crossing. But, careful timing and a little crop can work wonders to make sure no remnants of the crossing signals remains in-frame. NS D36, led by 3395 and 6936, comes flying down the last miles of the Bloomington District. They'll rejoin the Lafayette District in Bement itself and head on to Decatur, where they will be done for the day.
Always On The Move CN E271 came through the area recently with a surprise - CN 8952, the Grand Trunk heritage unit leading. Probably the nicest of the CN heritage units in all honesty. I got word of its imminent arrival, picked up a friend, and headed up to Rantoul to meet the thing just in the nick of time. Naturally, we wound up chasing the thing for a while, though it did spend a good while in Champaign. We had some shots lined up, but a fast moving train and lighting changing quick, our plans were changing a fair bit too. Looking back, we had some other opportunities we could have taken, but you work with what you've got in the moment. Although we'd expected E271 to head straight through Mattoon, RTC had a different plan and wound up sticking him in the hole at Humboldt. We learned of this when we got to Humboldt and checked the signals out. Amtrak was coming north, so they were sticking him in the siding prematurely. We didn't have enough time to get back to Arcola for a shot, but midway along the Humboldt siding we just nabbed something quick. Golden hour was nearing, but so were long, low shadows that made us have to change plans yet again afterwards. You win some, you lose some, you learn some. Something neat worth noting is the 5-pack of 48ft intermodal well-cars that headed up the train. 48 footers are becoming rarer and rarer, making this just a little more neat than it already was.
Dusk at Dawn Sometimes things line up nicely. After coming off yet another venture to the Bloomington District, I found myself wandering over to Tolono just to see what was going on. D91 was working industry near CP Dawn, and some stuff was moving around on CN and NS alike, so I had a little look around. I initially thought to just sort of watch and wait, put down the camera and just see some things move. We, as photographers, end up watching trains move primarily through our camera viewfinders, or rearview mirrors as we speed away to the next spot for a photo. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and watch. Yet, when I turned up at CP Dawn, there was no way I could put down my camera. The sunset was blossoming into a brilliant orange fireball, and with NS sending a westbound train my direction, it was shaping up to be a wonderful view. Timing really is the crux of it all. NS 181, chock full of classic big 86ft autoparts boxcars and led by one of the new UP repaints, heads off into the sunset at CP Dawn on the NS Lafayette District. Many of these boxcars are reaching their 50 service life date, so many may not last all that much longer in operation. But then who knows? Either way, they're a cool sight for now, as is a classic sunset. A very nice way to end a very nice day out.
Terminating the Terminal NS 1072 leads the 256 Roadrailer through Sadorus. To my surprise, the thing had slowed right on down. I had been expecting to have to really put my foot down to stay ahead for another shot or two, but then it wasn't really necessary. Turns out 32N was stopped just ahead of it, and CN had revoked NS control of the Tolono diamond just minutes after giving it to them. They just kept lining CN trains through the diamond for ages and got 256 and 32N stuck for quite some time. Got a chance for some long distance glamour shots though, so that was fun. Wacky day out!
The Boy Who Cried Roadrailer Well, I naturally had to join the frenzy with the Illinois Terminal heritage-led NS 256. Geez, that whole thing about my quota the other day suddenly feels moderately outdated. I guess if I start doing this regularly this means roadrailers will disappear within the next year or something. There is a rumour of that sort out again, funnily enough, but you know... rumours. This comes after the big one last year, and probably about a decades worth of "this is the end!" rumours on these things at this point. Makes it hard to believe them anymore... Oh well. Anyway, at Ivesdale, NS 1072 was really moving as it blasted past the old and new elevators alike. The old wood box elevator is a treat, and one I've been shooting a few times recently. Thanks to the heads up the night prior, I was up reasonably early enough to head on down to Ivesdale and wait for our roadrailer. Not a long wait either, 40 minutes or so. Not too bad! I would learn I really should have been at Sloan to see it meet the 255, but you win some you lose some. Anyway, heritage roadrailer at old elevator. I dig it.
Marginal Improvements You know how they say 'if you got nothing nice to say, don't say it at all?' Well, yeah, that's pretty reasonable for pretty much any context. Anyway, I have a lot of negative things to say about CNs take on the Illinois Central heritage unit. But then don't we all? However, I will say one nice thing this time. I completely missed it until my buddy pointed it out the other day, but CN evidently removed the IPO25 sticker on the sides of the nose like a year ago. It certainly makes the unit look a little better than it did previously. Promise I won't complain about the... issues this time around. We started our chase of the CN 3008 down in Tuscola. Starting at about South Tuscola, something is putting on a speed restriction of just 35mph between that end of the siding and CP Champaign. It's been like this for over a week, I dunno what's up with that. Anyway, it made chasing this fella down that much easier. Can't complain about that, hey? CN3008 (IC Heritage) / CN3219 (CN100), CN M396 @ Tuscola, IL

Contact DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM

DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM
700 SOUTH MAIN STREET
TUSCOLA
IL
61953-1822

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DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM Information

MID # 8401700190
Name DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM
Alternate Name DOUGLAS COUNTY MUSEUM
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 39.792761, -88.287765
CODES FIPS State Code: 17
FIPS County Code: 041
US Census Tract: 952200
US Census Block: 4022