FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC

URBANA, 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

Frasca Air Museum Inc. is a non-profit aviation museum located in Urbana, Illinois, dedicated to preserving and displaying aircraft from the early days of flight. Established in 2006, the museum showcases a wide variety of historic aircraft ranging from the Wright Brothers’ first airplane to modern military jets. The museum also houses a large collection of aircraft engines and other memorabilia, as well as a library full of books and videos about aviation.

The museum’s main attraction is its large collection of beautifully restored vintage aircraft, including the Fokker Triplane, Curtiss Jenny, and the Spirit of St. Louis. Visitors can also view a variety of aircraft engines, such as the Wright Whirlwind, the Curtiss V-1570, and the Pratt & Whitney R-1340. The museum also features a flight simulator, which can be used to experience a realistic flight simulation.

In addition to the aircraft on display, the museum also hosts a variety of educational programs and events throughout the year. These include lectures, workshops, and demonstrations focusing on aviation history, aircraft maintenance and restoration, and aeronautical engineering. The museum also hosts special events such as fly-ins, air shows, and family days.

Frasca Air Museum Inc. is a great place to experience the history and romance of aviation. Whether you are an aviation enthusiast or just curious about the history of flight, the museum offers a unique and educational experience.

FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC is a Uncategorized or General Museum in URBANA IL. US MID #8401701037

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).

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.

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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?

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.

Blown A southbound movement on the Bloomington District paired with incoming tornado-watched storms made for an interesting combination. I haven't gotten the classic Goembel signal-codeline shot in a long, long time, so with clouds incoming I decided to give it a whirl. Little did I know that as D36 sped past, some of the storms to my southwest were going tornado warned - I wound up going after those rather than the SD60E duo, though that didn't amount to much. One day, though! Even though the storms that were up on the Bloomington District here weren't nearly as strong as those to the south, the formations in the clouds were fairly dramatic at times, a fun sight.

Although our power was just a pair of SD60Es, what was pointed out to me after the fact was that I had inadvertently shot the two former OCS units. NS 7034 and 7035 were re-geared for 79mph operation in 2021 to replace the then-recently sold F-units and handle the office car train, but fairly recently the two units were re-re-geared and put back into freight service. Takes a pair of uninteresting motors and makes them slightly more interesting to see, anyway.

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 &amp; 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&quot; vs 88&quot; 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 &quot;traffic&quot; 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!

Contact FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC

FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC
906 AIRPORT ROAD
URBANA
IL
61802

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FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC Information

MID #	8401701037
Name	FRASCA AIR MUSEUM INC
Alternate Name
Classification	Uncategorized or General Museums, , Midwest
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)	371141651
NTEECC	A59
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM)	201209
INCOME	0
REVENUE	0
LAT/LONG	40.142022, -88.186102
CODES	FIPS State Code: 17 FIPS County Code: 019 US Census Tract: 010604 US Census Block: 1243