Find Your Perfect Train Ride in Illinois Today

Miniature steam train rides in Illinois can be found on the Little Toot Railroad. You will find 1950’s streamlined diesel locomotive train rides as well as locomotive cab rides and a large roster of railway equipment at the Monticello Railway Museum.
There are 58 steam locomotives listed in Illinois. The operating Illinois Railway Museum prides itself on running more diesel locomotives than other comparable museum. The museum also operates the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad (Frisco) #1630 steam locomotive on special occasions. Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has an extensive collection of vintage locomotives on display. CB&Q 2-8-2 No. 4978 is on display at the Union Depot Railroad Museum. And you’ll find the coal fired steam Heisler No. 2 operating over on the Silver Creek & Stevenson Railroad.

Did you know?

The first railroad in Illinois began in 1848, the Galena & Chicago Union, which later became the Chicago & North Western Railway. Seven Class I railroads now serve Illinois with over 7200 route miles today. The state has more classification yards than any other state, with seven automated hump yards, including four Chicago area yards. Chicago was once the home of ten Class I railroad headquarters, however none are located there anymore. The historic Pullman Company car building plant was located in South Chicago and the Electo-Motive Division’s La Grange plant opened in 1936 and rolled out it’s last locomotive in 1993.
Passenger and commuter rail lines include Amtrak service originating out of the Chicago Union Station hub, along with the Metra, the South Shore line, the MetroLink light rail and the CTA.

Amboy

Amboy Depot Museum

Housed in the restored former 1876 Illinois Central headquarters, the Amboy Depot Museum features displays on the history of Amboy and its relationship to the Chicago and the Illinois Central Railroad. Displays include a retired 0-8-0 steam engine originally built in 1929 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works as switcher #8376 for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad and a caboose.

Chicago

Historic Pullman Foundation

The Historic Pullman Foundation is a collection of artifacts preserving the historical town of Pullman and the Pullman shops. Directions

Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has many interactive displays. Take a 20-minute guided tour, of the baggage, smoking, passenger and observation compartments of The Pioneer Zephyr: America’s First Diesel-Electric Stainless Steel Streamliner. You can also view the engineer’s cab, supplemented by a computer interactive that allows you to “drive” the Pioneer Zephyr. The exhibit also features newsreel footage that will take you back to the 1934 for the record-setting run of traveling from Denver to Chicago at an unheard of average speed of 77.5 mph. HO train layout featuring 3500 feet of track, 30 trains creating a cross country layout from Chicago to Seattle.

Elizabeth

Chicago Great Western Railway Depot Museum

Depot museum displays artifacts from the Chicago Great Western Railway along with other railroads from the area. Railroad museum features a Milwaukee Road caboose and operating model railroads. Open weekend May through October.

Floria

The Little Toot Railroad Company

The Little Toot Railroad Company features a miniature steam locomotive that travels through a scenic Charlie Brown Park. Nostalgic train ride is a thrill for adults as well as a fun educational experience for the young. Children under 12 ride free. Groups and parties welcomed.

Freeport

Silver Creek and Stephenson Railroad

Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad offers a 2 mile train ride from Memorial Day until the end of October featuring a 1912 geared Heisler steam engine. Depot contains museum with railroad displays.

Galesburg

Galesburg Railroad Museum

The Galesburg Railroad Museum is home to the 1930 Baldwin Locomotive Works CB&Q #3006, a Hudson class S-4, 4-6-4 locomotive. It is one of only 12 built by Baldwin for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Rolling stock on display. Model train display. Open weekends only from mid-April to May, mid-October to mid-November. Closed Mondays.

Greenup

Historic Greenup Depot

The Historic Greenup Depot is an 1870’s Victorian style railway depot used to house local area railway artifacts. HO scale model railroad shows vignettes from the major periods of American Railroading (1840s through the 1950s).

Kankakee

Kankakee Railroad Museum

The Kankakee Railroad Museum is a restored train depot displaying railroad memorabilia and a model train layout of Kankakee during the 1950’s. Outside display is a 1947 Pullman coach. Open weekends.

Mendota

Union Railroad Depot Museum

Built in 1923, CB&Q steam engine # 4978 is on display at the Union Depot Railroad Museum. Museum also includes a working HO model of Mendota in the 1930’s.

Monticello

Monticello Railway Museum

Monticello Railway Museum showcases one of the Midwests’ best collections of rolling stock as well as weekend and holiday train rides from May through October. Scenic trains travel over former Illinois Central Railroad and Illinois Terminal right-of-ways. Museum also includes one of the Midwest’s premier diesel locomotive collections. Steam engines on display include recently restored 1907 Baldwin Works, Southern Railway 2-8-0, No. 401, that also pulls occasional weekend train excursions, and a 1916 Mississippi Eastern 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler, No. 303. The last F7A ever built, the vintage Wabash 1189 often pulls scenic train rides at the Monticello Railway Museum. MRM Throttle Time sessions are conducted each Summer and Fall. For a $30.00 donation to the museum, participants have the opportunity to spend 30 minutes observing and learning the operation of one of the museum’s diesel locomotives and spend the following 30 minutes running the locomotive under the supervision of one of the museum’s engineers. Directions.

Peoria

Wheels O’ Time Museum

The Wheels O’ Time Museum contains historical items representing transportation, industry, farm and home life, as well as entertainment from earlier times.

Rochelle

Rochelle Railroad Park

The story of railroads in Rochelle begins in 1854 when the Air Line Railroad was completed between Chicago and the town of Lane (Lane was the first name of Rochelle). The railroad later became the Chicago & North Western Railway System and today is owned by the Union Pacific (UP). Rochelle is a “hot spot” for train watching, drawing visitors from every state in the nation and world wide. Because of the number of visitors, Rochelle acquired the land in 1995 and constructed a park just for train watching. Directions.

Rockford

Trolley Car 36

Forty-five minute trolley ride along Rockford’s historic riverfront during the summer. Trolley Car 36 rides have been cancelled until further notice due to maintenance.

Rossville

Rossville Depot Railroad Museum

The Rossville Depot Railroad Museum features a collection of railroad material from various railroads in the Illinois area. Featured railroad artifacts include the C&EI, Wabash, Illinois Terminal and NYC.

South Elgin

Fox River Trolley Museum

The Fox River Trolley Museum is a monument to the Fox Valley’s history that goes back over a 100 years. Originally it was a 40-mile railroad that was built over a seven-year period by three different companies, linking Carpentersville with Yorkville, along with a direct link between Elgin and Aurora. It opened the Fox Valley to public transportation. The first service began between Elgin and Geneva, including the stretch preserved today, on June 30, 1896. The museum operates a variety of antique trolleys, many from lines that have long vanished, over trackage that once connected the towns of Carpentersville, Elgin, Aurora, and Yorkville. Directions.

Union

Illinois Railway Museum