The magic of the night

Burlington E5 No. 9911 idles in darkness at the Illinois Railway Museum. Jim Wrinn photo.

On Saturday, the final night of the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums conference, I spent a few minutes at a special event of the host Illinois Railway Museum. It was the organization’s big, grand finale for the year, an evening of night operations on the property at Union, Ill. Three signature trains were in operation, and there also was a nice covey of diesels parked outside the engine house that allowed for photos.

I’ve been to a lot of special events at preservation railways, and I’ve been to my share of night photo sessions, but this was just running trains for the sheer joy of trains at night. No bank of lights. No choreography. No photo line. Just show up, aim, and fire. Most people rode the trains, but I just stood around and took it in. The visuals were less but the sounds were magnified. That was especially true for Frisco 2-10-0 No. 1630, which rambled about the evening with a passenger consist.

I didn’t get much in the way of photos. But it was fun nevertheless just to experiment. The stainless steel jacketing of the Burlington E5 on the Nebraska Zephyr trainset glowed in the dark. The Decapod took on the greenish glow of the signal in front of it. And the Santa Fe FP45 looked as regal as ever.

Here’s to the magic of the night.

Santa Fe FP45 No. 92 rests with a Wisconsin Central SD45 and a Burlington Route SD24 at Union., Ill., on Sept. 19. Jim Wrinn photo.

Frisco No. 1630 takes on a greenish glow from the signal facing it. Jim Wrinn photo.