MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME

CHAMPAIGN, IL

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...
Hanging onto Hayes Credit: Leo Blackwelder

The Military Aviation Hall of Fame in Champaign, Illinois is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of military aviation. Located in a former World War II aircraft hangar, the museum features a full-size replica of a P-51 Mustang fighter plane, a variety of artifacts from the history of military aviation, and interactive exhibits that explore the history of airpower.

The museum is home to an extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia, including military uniforms, aircraft parts, and photographs. Visitors can explore the history of military aviation with an interactive timeline, as well as an interactive map of the world's military bases. Visitors can also learn about the many heroes of military aviation with a Hall of Fame that honors those who served and sacrificed for our freedom.

The museum also features an aircraft restoration area, where visitors can view the progress of ongoing aircraft restoration projects. The museum also offers educational programs and outreach programs to local schools and organizations.

The Military Aviation Hall of Fame is open year-round, from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, although donations are appreciated. The museum is a great place for families, veterans, and anyone interested in the history of military aviation.

MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME is a Uncategorized or General Museum in CHAMPAIGN IL. US MID #8401701093

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).

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...
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.
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.
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!
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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.
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!

Contact MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME

MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME
3107 S DUNCAN RD
CHAMPAIGN
IL
61822-6717

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MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME Information

MID # 8401701093
Name MILITARY AVIATION HALL OF FAME
Alternate Name
Classification Uncategorized or General Museums, , Midwest
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) 371256282
NTEECC A50
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM) 201305
INCOME 0
REVENUE 0
LAT/LONG 40.073603, -88.295073
CODES FIPS State Code: 17
FIPS County Code: 019
US Census Tract: 001204
US Census Block: 1059