Report on Galesburg Railroad Days

[dknelson]

The Galesburg newspaper website has had some coverage recently about the future of Railroad Days that I thought I would relate here.
Galesburg is in west central Illinois and is a major location on the old CB&Q while also on the mainline of the old Santa Fe -- so the BNSF and Amtrak trainwatching is first rate. For years the city celebration has been called Railroad Days and historically the BN, then BNSF did quite a bit at the depot -- train rides, yard tours, displays of equipment such as locomotives and cars, MOW equipment, demonstrations of MOW. The unions would also join in, and often Amtrak, GE and EMD as well some some railroad museums would also send equipment for display. There is also a nice museum right at the depot in Galesburg with a steam locomotive, RPO car and caboose.
It was a big deal. Each year a fine artist, Ron Hatch, would do a new painting just for the celebration that would be available as a poster. An excellent swap meet, train show at Carl Sandburg College also developed -- one of the best in the midwest.
This last summer the BNSF, citing liability insurance concerns, did nothing for Railroad Days (the unions had a small tent) and as a consequence a lot of tourists were very disappointed. Actually the word had gotten out to many railfans and I understand hotel usage in June was much lower this year than last. The train watching was still great of course and the swap meet was very very good but I heard a lot of angry voices at the swap meet who felt they had been tricked into coming to a railroad display that did not exist. One guy was from England!
This coming year, 2004, will celebrate 150 years of railroading in Galesburg. There is little evidence that the BNSF will participate. So the proposal was to discontinue the name Railroad Days and call it Prarie Days or whatever. This was vigorously opposed by the fellow who runs the swap meet and he organized a letter writing phone calling campaign. The idea has been tabled for now but the guy who proposed the name change makes a good point -- doesn't the use of Railroad Days as a name suggest to people that there will be trains on display? Other towns that have Railroad Days, such as Mendota IL or Franklin Park IL have trains involved. And at one time Galesburg Railroad Days really meant something: steam locomotives and rides, yard tours on Metra trains, passenger cars and modern engines to tour, souvenirs from EMD and GE and Amtrak, lots of give away stuff. (I got a Santa Fe waterbottle one year, and a friend won an HO BN SD40-2 from the union raffle).

So here is the situation. Galesburg is worth going to at any time of year for the train watching. Is that fact plus a model train show enough to justify calling it "Railroad Days" when it is nothing like it once was? That is the question. Sure wi***hey could convince the BNSF to do SOMETHING even if rides and yard tours are no longer affordable for them.
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

The Galesburg newspaper website has had some coverage recently about the future of Railroad Days that I thought I would relate here.
Galesburg is in west central Illinois and is a major location on the old CB&Q while also on the mainline of the old Santa Fe -- so the BNSF and Amtrak trainwatching is first rate. For years the city celebration has been called Railroad Days and historically the BN, then BNSF did quite a bit at the depot -- train rides, yard tours, displays of equipment such as locomotives and cars, MOW equipment, demonstrations of MOW. The unions would also join in, and often Amtrak, GE and EMD as well some some railroad museums would also send equipment for display. There is also a nice museum right at the depot in Galesburg with a steam locomotive, RPO car and caboose.
It was a big deal. Each year a fine artist, Ron Hatch, would do a new painting just for the celebration that would be available as a poster. An excellent swap meet, train show at Carl Sandburg College also developed -- one of the best in the midwest.
This last summer the BNSF, citing liability insurance concerns, did nothing for Railroad Days (the unions had a small tent) and as a consequence a lot of tourists were very disappointed. Actually the word had gotten out to many railfans and I understand hotel usage in June was much lower this year than last. The train watching was still great of course and the swap meet was very very good but I heard a lot of angry voices at the swap meet who felt they had been tricked into coming to a railroad display that did not exist. One guy was from England!
This coming year, 2004, will celebrate 150 years of railroading in Galesburg. There is little evidence that the BNSF will participate. So the proposal was to discontinue the name Railroad Days and call it Prarie Days or whatever. This was vigorously opposed by the fellow who runs the swap meet and he organized a letter writing phone calling campaign. The idea has been tabled for now but the guy who proposed the name change makes a good point -- doesn't the use of Railroad Days as a name suggest to people that there will be trains on display? Other towns that have Railroad Days, such as Mendota IL or Franklin Park IL have trains involved. And at one time Galesburg Railroad Days really meant something: steam locomotives and rides, yard tours on Metra trains, passenger cars and modern engines to tour, souvenirs from EMD and GE and Amtrak, lots of give away stuff. (I got a Santa Fe waterbottle one year, and a friend won an HO BN SD40-2 from the union raffle).

So here is the situation. Galesburg is worth going to at any time of year for the train watching. Is that fact plus a model train show enough to justify calling it "Railroad Days" when it is nothing like it once was? That is the question. Sure wi***hey could convince the BNSF to do SOMETHING even if rides and yard tours are no longer affordable for them.
Dave Nelson

[JoeKoh]

In Deshler they call it Deshler days but the people that have the historical society(bartlow Twp) go out of there way to make it pleasent for everyone. OF course deshler is the crossroads of th B&O and a very busy CSX juction.I didn't see anything from Csx itself(besides the train action) but I did see a lot of everyday people putting on a great show . We have people from everywhere come even when Deshler Days aren't going on.Pictures are getting developed as I type this.
stay safe
Joe

[JoeKoh]

In Deshler they call it Deshler days but the people that have the historical society(bartlow Twp) go out of there way to make it pleasent for everyone. OF course deshler is the crossroads of th B&O and a very busy CSX juction.I didn't see anything from Csx itself(besides the train action) but I did see a lot of everyday people putting on a great show . We have people from everywhere come even when Deshler Days aren't going on.Pictures are getting developed as I type this.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

Well don't count Galesburg Railroad Days out just yet. We have a committee that is working very hard to bring another great year to our railfans. Yes BNSF is out of the picture but we are working on our own so as not to disappoint railfans this year. We are celebrating 150 years of railroads in Galesburg this year. Ron Hatch has once again painted a wonderful picture showing the first train into Galesburg titled the Reindeer. Harry has another great show and we'll show railfans another great day at Railroad Days 2004.We have invited the Hobo's to join in our celebration so bring along a chair and enjoy their very unique stories. The Railroad Museum will be present again this year to show everyone the history of railroads in Galesburg. So bring your cameras cause you know there's always lots of action in Galesburg for railfans.
Rita Hatch

[Anonymous]

Well don't count Galesburg Railroad Days out just yet. We have a committee that is working very hard to bring another great year to our railfans. Yes BNSF is out of the picture but we are working on our own so as not to disappoint railfans this year. We are celebrating 150 years of railroads in Galesburg this year. Ron Hatch has once again painted a wonderful picture showing the first train into Galesburg titled the Reindeer. Harry has another great show and we'll show railfans another great day at Railroad Days 2004.We have invited the Hobo's to join in our celebration so bring along a chair and enjoy their very unique stories. The Railroad Museum will be present again this year to show everyone the history of railroads in Galesburg. So bring your cameras cause you know there's always lots of action in Galesburg for railfans.
Rita Hatch

[CShaveRR]

Hi, Rita (and Ron)!

You'll like this forum. Welcome!

Carl

[CShaveRR]

Hi, Rita (and Ron)!

You'll like this forum. Welcome!

Carl

[Anonymous]

FRANKLIN PARK DOES HAVE RR DAYS DOES ANY ONE KNOW WHEN THEY ARE

[Anonymous]

FRANKLIN PARK DOES HAVE RR DAYS DOES ANY ONE KNOW WHEN THEY ARE

[Anonymous]

Regarding Franklin Park:

The past few years it was the second weekend in May. I imagine it will be the same this year.Usually have a nice variety of equipment. By the way for others, Franklin Park is in Illinois east of the Bensonville freight yard on CPRR.

[Anonymous]

Regarding Franklin Park:

The past few years it was the second weekend in May. I imagine it will be the same this year.Usually have a nice variety of equipment. By the way for others, Franklin Park is in Illinois east of the Bensonville freight yard on CPRR.

[dknelson]

I already posted this in the model rr part of the forum ......
The Galesburg Register-Mail website has some good news about RR Days.
June 25-27. There will be bus tours of the yard -- you will not be permitted off the bus unfortunately but if we are lucky (?????!!!) they will be school buses where you can lower a window for photography rather than nice tour buses like we had to tour Rochelle Global III where pictures were shot through tinted windows
Also tentative plans are to have locomotives on display -- the former BNSF Executive F units owned by the Illinois RR Museum in Union. They have been to RR Days many times before. And Ron Hatch's poster painting this year will honor the Reindeer -- first locomotive in Galesburg 150 yrs ago. Combined with 4-8-4 261's visit on Friday (and nearby running on that Sunday) and RR Days looks a bit revived for the year.
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

I already posted this in the model rr part of the forum ......
The Galesburg Register-Mail website has some good news about RR Days.
June 25-27. There will be bus tours of the yard -- you will not be permitted off the bus unfortunately but if we are lucky (?????!!!) they will be school buses where you can lower a window for photography rather than nice tour buses like we had to tour Rochelle Global III where pictures were shot through tinted windows
Also tentative plans are to have locomotives on display -- the former BNSF Executive F units owned by the Illinois RR Museum in Union. They have been to RR Days many times before. And Ron Hatch's poster painting this year will honor the Reindeer -- first locomotive in Galesburg 150 yrs ago. Combined with 4-8-4 261's visit on Friday (and nearby running on that Sunday) and RR Days looks a bit revived for the year.
Dave Nelson

[traingeek087]

Why is BNSF completely out of the picture? Does the city have to pay them to get some of their eqipment to show?

[traingeek087]

Why is BNSF completely out of the picture? Does the city have to pay them to get some of their eqipment to show?

[dknelson]

I suspect the BNSF management is under pressure to cut costs for one thing, and anytime you have the public climbing up on display equipment or riding on excursion trains or for that matter just being invited on the property, up go the liability insurance rates. Plus the costs of having crews move equipment around etc. More to the point, some years ago the railroad removed some tracks near the depot that allowed display of equipment without reducing the railroad to a single track through the depot. Now an equipment display can involve a bottleneck of that kind.
I think it is also worth pointing out that Galesburg is a "CB&Q" town and with every merger -- be it the original BN, the acquisition of the Frisco, the creation of the BNSF -- there tends to be a "real" surviving railroad, and the CB&Q was not it, right from the start.
But make no mistake about it -- even if Railroad Days was ended (and at least for now that is not in the picture), Galesburg is still a great railfanning town.
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

I suspect the BNSF management is under pressure to cut costs for one thing, and anytime you have the public climbing up on display equipment or riding on excursion trains or for that matter just being invited on the property, up go the liability insurance rates. Plus the costs of having crews move equipment around etc. More to the point, some years ago the railroad removed some tracks near the depot that allowed display of equipment without reducing the railroad to a single track through the depot. Now an equipment display can involve a bottleneck of that kind.
I think it is also worth pointing out that Galesburg is a "CB&Q" town and with every merger -- be it the original BN, the acquisition of the Frisco, the creation of the BNSF -- there tends to be a "real" surviving railroad, and the CB&Q was not it, right from the start.
But make no mistake about it -- even if Railroad Days was ended (and at least for now that is not in the picture), Galesburg is still a great railfanning town.
Dave Nelson

[traingeek087]

Yeh, but it's still not the same.

[traingeek087]

Yeh, but it's still not the same.

[dknelson]

I know geekster I know
But what IS the same? Anything?
sigh
Dave

[dknelson]

I know geekster I know
But what IS the same? Anything?
sigh
Dave

[XG01X]

Homewood is having something this year for the IC. sounds pretty cool; IC-CN, model rr, etc will all be there.

[XG01X]

Homewood is having something this year for the IC. sounds pretty cool; IC-CN, model rr, etc will all be there.

[traingeek087]

Where's that located at? and when is that? Need some more infromation, keep me posted.

[traingeek087]

Where's that located at? and when is that? Need some more infromation, keep me posted.

[traingeek087]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dknelson

I know geekster I know
But what IS the same? Anything?
sigh
Dave

HEY WHO YOU CALLING A GEEK?!!!!

[traingeek087]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dknelson

I know geekster I know
But what IS the same? Anything?
sigh
Dave

HEY WHO YOU CALLING A GEEK?!!!!