ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER

MONTICELLO, IL

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.
The Little Things Credit: Leo Blackwelder

Allerton Park and Retreat Center is located in Monticello, IL, and is part of the University of Illinois System. The park was once the home of Robert Allerton, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who dedicated much of his life to the preservation of nature and outdoor recreation. The park spans 1,500 acres and is home to a variety of habitats, including forests, meadows, and wetlands. There are also more than 100 sculptures and architectural features on the property, including the Japanese Garden, a replica of the Palace of Versailles, and the Robert Allerton Art Gallery.

The park is open year-round, and visitors can enjoy a variety of activities such as hiking, fishing, birding, and picnicking. There are also several miles of trails for biking and running, as well as a public swimming pool. Allerton Park also offers educational programs and workshops, including photography classes, nature walks, and art classes.

The Retreat Center at Allerton Park offers a place for visitors to relax and recharge. The Retreat Center includes a variety of lodging options, including cabins, cottages, and a lodge that can accommodate up to 200 people. There is also a conference center for meetings and special events.

Allerton Park and Retreat Center is a beautiful, tranquil place to visit and explore. The park offers something for everyone, from outdoor enthusiasts to those looking for a peaceful retreat.

ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER is a Uncategorized or General Museum in MONTICELLO IL. US MID #8401700262

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).

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.
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.
Entrapment After having sat on the switch blocking Springfield Avenue for a good 10-15 minutes, CN's Humko job gets a move on. The few-times-a-month shove back here lets the local drop off limestone loads at Prairie Material, and occasionally it works Plastipak as well. Today, they're just setting out some limestone cars. They'll pull forward and go back to grab their caboose, then they'll be off to go work the Kraft plant. Our pair of Grand Trunk units are out of place here, as these rails are former IC. These tracks were formerly the Havana District, although what remains of the tracks were taken out of service by CN about a decade ago. All tracks east of Seymour are gone, abandoned in the 80s - except for what MRYM got to keep!
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.
Local Power Every so often, seems like once or twice a month, the CN Humko job goes back to Prairie Materials to drop off limestone loads. Up until just a week ago, the Humko was staffed by a pair of GTW Geeps - a fine combo! The two units initially shoved back far enough to clear Springfield Avenue, but then later pulled up to the switch back onto the Seymour Spur, where they would sit for a good few minutes and block up the road for a while. Comparing GTW5846 and GTW4906 is fun - both GP38-2s, but with quite a few phase differences! 5846, a former Pittsburgh & Lake Erie unit, is a 1977-built ph2a1 unit, which was acquired by GTW about 1984. The 4906, meanwhile, is former Missouri Pacific, and one of the earliest GP38-2s manufactured with a build date of 1/1972. The differences between these units are generally minor, but a few notable things are easily seen - the easiest of which are the radiator intakes, note the early phase split-intakes on the 4906 and the late phase single-section on the 5846. Plenty more details are different between units - 81" vs 88" nose length, handrails, pilots, even numbers of rivets on panels and louvres on battery boxes cover differ. The rabbit hole of production phases differences is a deep one, but an interesting one for the modeler especially! Also, GP38-2s are cool, especially still painted in blue and red. Always nice to see these on the Humko.
Tangled Up Getting from Goembel to my car is a great way to remind me I really should work out. Not as quick on my feet as I used to be, suffice to say... Made catching back up to D36 a little more of a challenge, especially with juuust enough "traffic" to slow me just that much more. Not a huge margin for error with following D36, but that's the way it goes in many places. Conveniently, I arrived at Lodge just as D36 was coasting in. Speed restriction was still in place since the snowy day out a few weeks prior, so while I couldn't snap a photo with the dwarf like I had wanted to, I did sneak ahead just enough to snap a quick shot through the old codeline. The poles are in decent shape here considering their age and how most codeline has been treated, though cabling is strewn around pretty much everywhere. Have to watch your feet, don't want to get tangled up in it! NS3395, a former Conrail SD40-2, leads its SD60E partner south through the Lodge-Mills siding on train D36. It was nice to try a different angle at Lodge, and I think I'll have to give this spot another whirl at some point. Some fun to be had here!
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.
Intensity Racing a train in snowy and slippery conditions is a bad idea at the best of times. Luckily for me, plows had been out plowing and salting the roads as I was waiting for D36 back at Osman, and the farther south I chased the train, the less snowfall there was. Eventually, just north of Monticello, it all but stopped entirely. Unfortunately for me, D36 had gone from a speed restricted 20mph back north to clipping 50mph as it blasted through Mansfield and Galesville. I had already decided to skip Lodge and Mills, but I wasn't optimistic about my odds. Fortunately, on my way to the Monticello intermediate behind the Foster Inn, my scanner came to life. The crew on D36 called out that they had a speed restriction starting just north of Lodge and ending at CP Mills, taking them back down to 24mph. Talk about relief, now I had a fighting chance to actually get to the intermediate in time. I spent hardly a minute working my way down the snowy embankment - trying not to get my foot stuck in branches or in the drainage creek that runs alongside the tracks - when I looked back to see NS3362s lights pop up around the corner. Oh, boy. They were moving damn fast and had whipped up a storm of snow around their train as they raced towards Bement. What a feeling it was to get whacked by that snow being kicked up - it's a good thing I had no more shots planned for the day, because both me and my camera looked as if I'd fallen right into the snow on the ground! Hell of a day to say the least. A good one, at that.
Burned Out Mobile Home on C-Street, Champaign Champaign County, Illinois. Complete indexed photo collection at WorldHistoryPics.com.
Triple Greys NS255, led by the NS8025 Monongahela heritage unit, passes by the old wood grain elevator in Ivesdale, IL. Though this elevator is inactive today, a modern elevator still operates in the village today. The rare Triple Crown roadrailer train has had to slow on its way through town as some maintenance of way work is carried out by the bridge over the creek just behind the elevator.
Manning Mansfield There's been a recent string of daylight D32s on the Bloomington District - something not terribly common these days as any enthusiast of the line is all too aware of. Typically SD60Es or admiral cab 40s and 38-2s dominate, but recently, an elusive SD40E ran D32 solo. Talk about unexpected, I had just seen the signal lit at Lodge and decided to venture out that way to see what was happening. A very pleasant surprise indeed. At Mansfield, NS6343 starts its brief work at the towns operable elevator. It would set out the single grain hopper 4th in line in the consist, then recouple to the rest of its train and move on northwards.

Contact ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER

ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER
515 OLD TIMBER ROAD
MONTICELLO
IL
61856

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ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER Information

MID # 8401700262
Name ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER
Alternate Name ALLERTON PARK AND RETREAT CENTER
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 40.005339, -88.647953
CODES FIPS State Code: 17
FIPS County Code: 147
US Census Tract: 954800
US Census Block: 1096