BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC

BELLFLOWER, IL

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.
Tucked Away Credit: Leo Blackwelder

Bellflower Genealogical and Historical Society Inc is a non-profit organization based in Bellflower, Illinois. The society is dedicated to preserving and promoting the local history and genealogy of Bellflower and the surrounding areas. The society was established in 1976 and has since been a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history and genealogy of the area.

The society holds regular meetings and events where members can share their research, learn about the history of the area, and connect with others who share their interests. The society also maintains a library and archives with a collection of books, documents, and artifacts related to the history and genealogy of the area. The library is open to the public and provides a wealth of information for researchers and historians.

In addition to its regular meetings and library, the society also hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including historical tours, genealogy workshops, and community outreach programs. These events provide opportunities for members to engage with the community and share their knowledge and passion for local history and genealogy.

Overall, the Bellflower Genealogical and Historical Society Inc is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history and genealogy of the Bellflower area. The society's dedication to preserving and promoting local history ensures that the rich heritage of the area will be passed down to future generations.

BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC is a Historical Societies, Historic Preservation in BELLFLOWER IL. US MID #8401701003

The museum is classed as HSC (Historical Societies, Historic Preservation). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Midwest (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin).

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.
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!
Unusual Suspects Most traffic on the Bloomington District is either one of the daily pair of locals or random grain shuttles. This was no exception, except for the exception. This train was not the usual D09 or D12 or 17 or 21 or what have you - today, NS 50G greeted us on the District, with grain loads coming from Gibson City itself. Not a symbol I'd heard before, but you always learn something new. Thanks to a friend having been following them since Gibson City, I was able to join the fun a little late after taking care of errands back home. This pair of GEs had actually shoved their train from Gibby down to Osman and ran around it there - not the usual way things tend to go here! Evidently, this train spent the better part of a solid hour to get from Gibby to Goembel after spending a couple hours pulling cars out of Gibson City. I rolled up as the power was approaching Osman to run around the train, and then the chase was on. Scanner traffic and my friend having run into a manager here and having a chat gave us the info that this would head to Bement, power would wye in Decatur, and then it would go east. Though power wasn't unique, this train certainly was a little different than normal, even when it isn't. At Osman, NS4290 and NS4702 haul 50G south towards Bement. Where it goes after this... I don't know. Georgia, apparently?
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.
Misty Eyed IC1026 and IC1004 have A407 moving out of Leverett. There's little at Leverett to begin with, but some farm equipment and even the occasional MOW equipment does find its way there and hangs out a while. Earlier stormclouds have turned to a misting rain, making chasing for any other shots not quite as enticing of a plan. Good to know when to pack it in sometimes.
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!
Working With It When the news hit me that the IC1000 was leading A407 out of Champaign, I knew I had to go for it - even though the lighting conditions were stacked against me. We all know the struggle of having light against you in a shot - a northbound in the sun in the afternoon, in my case - and how it is often times not worth bothering to shoot anyway. In the majority of cases, this holds true and its not worth fighting the inevitable backlit mess. Well, except this time. For me, anyway, I would take anything with the newly white silled SD70, even if the light was a struggle to deal with. So, at Leverett Junction, I just worked with what I had, going for a variation of the tire photo. Simple, nothing fancy, but it featured the IC1000, so that's all I needed. It looks so good in the white. Just can't get enough. It's been several years and this tire is still just hung on the fence here. I don't get it. Still makes a good framing device, anyway.
A Cold Day at Osman I don't often check the weather as much I know I should. As a result, I woke up to a total surprise - a fresh blanket of snow. It was still coming down, too. I figured I wouldn't be leaving the house any time soon. Naturally, as things go, I did end up leaving the house. Armed with the knowledge that there was opposing traffic on the Bloomington District, I was hopeful that I would get there in time to shoot both trains. Of course, slow moving traffic from the snowfall made that impossible. However, D36 was as usual taking its very sweet time up in Gibson City. D17 had parked up on the main at Goembel, and I had parked down at Osman. After seemingly ages, D36 got on the move. Typically most people shooting these signals would park on the service road to them, however given conditions and my FWD sedan I go shooting in - no chance. Meant I had a little hike, which is always fun in cold, breezy and snowy conditions. A good jacket really makes a difference. NS3362, followed by 6406 and 5823, led the daily Bloomington-Decatur local out of the Osman siding after creeping through it slow as could be. The PTC antenna is a stark reminder that despite the old signals and old codeline that dots the old Wabash main, modernization is the future of this line one way or another.
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In The Air Tonight After an already interesting day of shooting a surprise heritage unit back on the old IC mainline, the notification of a southbound green signal at Gibson City alerted my buddy and I to a train on the Bloomington District. Armed with the knowledge that a high hood Geep had been sent to Good Yard the day prior, and the newfound news of the death of the 6173 (more on that another time), we quickly decided to jump on the opportunity for what could potentially been a particularly wild lashup. Though D36 did indeed have an SD40E/SD40-2/GP38-2 high hood as its lashup, the switching in Gibson City took a while, and we were faced with shooting in darkness and had to throw out our prior shooting plans. When they did finally take off, we decided to shoot it at Goembel, a little going away shot with the signals, and be on our way - maybe hit up Lodge afterwards for a similar thing. However, the crackling of the scanner alerted us to the fact D36 was actually meeting D09 at the Osman-Goembel siding. D09s GE leader shone a dim light in the distance as we set up tripods, but neither of us were prepared for the sudden blaze of light once D36 had cleared the CP and D09 got its green light north. A light fog rolling in made the headlights pop that much more, and even brought in some nice beams of light from the old Wabash-installed H5 searchlights. It became very obvious very quickly that we would be fools to leave and chase after D36 - that grainer was well worth waiting for. Quite a way to cap off the day, to say the least.
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 BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC

BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
201 N LATCHA STREET
BELLFLOWER
IL
61724

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BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC Information

MID # 8401701003
Name BELLFLOWER GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
Alternate Name
Classification Historical Societies, Historic Preservation, , Midwest
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) 371044826
NTEECC
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM) 201212
INCOME 0
REVENUE 0
LAT/LONG 40.341386, -88.525629
CODES FIPS State Code: 17
FIPS County Code: 113
US Census Tract: 005502
US Census Block: 2058