IRM Strahorn Library

IRM Strahorn Library Open to the public on Wednesday's 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Please check back prior to your visit for any weather-related announcements or holiday closures.

Sand Springs Railway's Number 102, an E.M.D.SW-900, is viewed while switching local industry at Sand Springs, Oklahoma.P...
09/02/2026

Sand Springs Railway's Number 102, an E.M.D.
SW-900, is viewed while switching local industry at Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

Photo Courtesy: Mary Jayne Rowe

William Henry Jr Postcard Collection - Illinois Railway Museum Strahorn Library.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

September 2, 1850: The first passenger train on the Aurora Branch Railroad—the earliest corporate predecessor of the Chi...
09/02/2026

September 2, 1850: The first passenger train on the Aurora Branch Railroad—the earliest corporate predecessor of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad—departed Batavia, Illinois, for West Chicago (then Turner Junction). The train operated using the 4-2-0 locomotive Pioneer and a single coach, both temporarily leased from the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad.

Citation: Aurora Branch Railroad Company First Annual Report (1851); detailed in Burlington Route: A History of the Burlington Lines by Richard C. Overton (1965).

Former Boston & Maine Railroad's F-7 Diesel Locomotive Number 4266, built in 1949 and now owned by the 470 Rallroad Club...
09/01/2026

Former Boston & Maine Railroad's F-7 Diesel Locomotive Number 4266, built in 1949 and now owned by the 470 Rallroad Club of Portland, Maine, pauses at the 1874 Railroad Station of Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.

Photo Courtesy: Mary Jayne Rowe

William Henry Jr Postcard Collection - Illinois Railway Museum Strahorn Library.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

September 1, 1859: Pullman Sleeper No. 9, the first sleeping car designed by George M. Pullman, made its inaugural overn...
09/01/2026

September 1, 1859: Pullman Sleeper No. 9, the first sleeping car designed by George M. Pullman, made its inaugural overnight run from Bloomington, Illinois, to Chicago, operating on the Chicago, Alton and St. Louis Railroad.

Citation: The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), September 1859, and corroborated by Pullman Company corporate records archived in The Story of the Pullman Car by Joseph Husband (1917).

ERIE - LACKAWANNA RAILROAD'S "Units Number 3301, 3302 and 3303"Three of the Erie - Lackawanna's U-33-Cs being used in Po...
08/31/2026

ERIE - LACKAWANNA RAILROAD'S "Units Number 3301, 3302 and 3303"
Three of the Erie - Lackawanna's U-33-Cs being used in Pool Service in April of 1971 on the Delaware & Hudson as they crest Richmondville Hill near East Worchester, New York.

Photo Credit: Jim Shaughnessy

Photo Courtesy: Mary Jayne Rowe

William Henry Jr Postcard Collection - Illinois Railway Museum Strahorn Library.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

Westbound freight on the Nickel Plate Road crosses the Rocky River Viaduct / Nickel Plate trestle. ALCO RS-11 locomotive...
08/30/2026

Westbound freight on the Nickel Plate Road crosses the Rocky River Viaduct / Nickel Plate trestle. ALCO RS-11 locomotives #569, 570 and 568, part of the 20 unit 500-Series built February-March, 1956 make up the head end of this consist.

Richard L. Weiss Collection.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

Grand Trunk Western No. 6405 is a class U-4-b 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1...
08/29/2026

Grand Trunk Western No. 6405 is a class U-4-b 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1938 photographed at Durand, Michigan June 12, 1959

Richard L. Weiss Collection.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

Grand Trunk Western #9018 EMD F3A diesel road locomotive built in 1948.Richard L. Weiss Collection.The Strahorn Librar...
08/28/2026

Grand Trunk Western #9018 EMD F3A diesel road locomotive built in 1948.

Richard L. Weiss Collection.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

Norfolk & Western No. 126 was a Class K-2a 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works ...
08/27/2026

Norfolk & Western No. 126 was a Class K-2a 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1923 as seen in Norfolk, VA on February 26, 1950

Richard L. Weiss Collection.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States.

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes, and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

Two Chicago North Western cabooses ride at the end of the Circus Train in the summer of 1982, probably somewhere in the ...
08/25/2026

Two Chicago North Western cabooses ride at the end of the Circus Train in the summer of 1982, probably somewhere in the greater Chicago area. The man in the business suit on the platform is indicative of how special movements like the circus train were handled. The picture is part of the Kroeger Collection at the Illinois Railways Museum’s Strahorn Library.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of North America. It is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois, is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail ([email protected]), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).\

All materials are provided only for non-commercial purposes according to the “fair use” provision of U.S. Copyright Law which permits use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.

[Source: Kroeger 025-121, Strahorn Library, Illinois Railway Museum.]

Address

118 E Washington Street
Marengo, IL
60152

Opening Hours

10am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+18155681060

Website

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