The Rock River Valley Division NMRA

06/23/2026

Tomorrow June 24, the Durand Library will host a presentation on the railroad in Illinois and its effect on the economy, society and culture. Mike Matejka presents a free program “What’s Coming Down the Line? The Railroad in the American Mind”

06/08/2026

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

Big Boy No. 4014 is coming to West Chicago!

From June 2–4, community members will have the opportunity to see Union Pacific’s legendary Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, as it makes a stop in West Chicago during its 2026 tour.

West Chicago Community High School will be offering event parking on campus, with proceeds benefiting the WCCHS Student Council. Food trucks will also be available on-site.

Please review the parking map and schedule in the flyer below!

For complete event details, schedules, and visitor information, visit: https://westchicago.org/big-boy/

06/03/2026

05/26/2026

The Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad & Museum, located in Freeport, Illinois, offers a nostalgic journey back to the golden age of steam railroading.

05/26/2026

The Silver Creek Museum & Stephenson Railroad in Freeport is open for a limited time over Memorial Day weekend, offering visitors a view of one of Illinois' few remaining operating steam engine trains. The museum site was once the Milwaukee Road right-of-way, which the Stephenson County Antique Engine Club acquired after it was abandoned. The club acquired the property and equipment, including the Heisler locomotive, in 1982. The museum operates on two miles of this abandoned track, showcasing its steam engine train as one of the rare operational units in Illinois.

05/18/2026

Pictured is a colorized postcard of the Chicago North Western Railroad Depot which was located on the SW corner of Main & Cedar Streets in Rockford, Illinois. Built in the 1880s and torn down in the 1950s, it was one of four depots that rose to prominence in Rockford; the Chicago & North Western, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (the Milwaukee Road) and the Illinois Central. Railroads were key to Rockford’s rise as a thriving manufacturing and commercial center.

The “Those Were the Days” presenter at the Oregon Depot on Saturday, May 30th at 10:00 am will be Rockford historian, Lynell Cannell. Canell is a Winnebago Boone County Genealogical Society board member, a speaker and docent at Rockford's Ethnic Heritage Museum and a presenter at Rock Valley College's Center for Learning in Retirement. Canell will speak about the Rockford Railroad Convention of 1846, the start of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, the first railroad in Chicago and the first to serve Rockford. She’ll talk about the the completion of the route from Chicago to Freeport in 1853 and the eventual merger with the Chicago & North Western in 1864-65. She’ll talk about its visionary first president, William B. Ogden, the 1st Mayor of Chicago, about the route across northern Illinois, local depots, the earliest locomotives (and where you can still visit the first one!). Canell will show recent photos that will help you recognize parts of its route that you may encounter as you visit the communities of Rockford, Winnebago, and Pecatonica. Canell thinks you’ll want to hear the story about the first railroad, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad.

For more information about this or other presentations or if you have a depot program topic you’d like to see or present, contact Roger Cain 815-757-9715, Chris Martin 815-742-8471 or Otto Dick 815-440-0639.

The Pioneer: The Little Locomotive That Could

https://www.chicagohistory.org/the-pioneer-the-little-locomotive-that-could/

http://oregondepot.com/

05/07/2026

UPDATED -- Lucy was a silly goose and there are over 300 TABLES sold, and from what headquarters has told us, a LOT of new businesses within the model train industry.