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Information About

Chicago Railroad Fair




The Chicago Railroad Fair was an event organized to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago, Illinois . It was held in Chicago in 1948 and 1949 along the shore of Lake Michigan , and is often referred to as "the last great railroad fair" with 39 railroad companies participating. The board of directors for the show was a veritable "Who's Who" of railroad company executives.


BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The officers and board of directors for the fair were mostly prominent railroad executives. The fair's officers were:


The fair's directors included (in alphabetical order by surname):



PARTICIPATING RAILROADS

38 railroads and one railroad equipment manufacturer participated in the Chicago Railroad Fair exhibiting equipment and interpretive displays around the fair's theme of 100 years of railroad history. The majority of the participating railroads maintained a direct rail connection to Chicago. The companies that participated included:



ROLLING STOCK DISPLAYS

The highlight of the Chicago Railroad Fair was the "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant. This was a dramatic and musical presentation intended to showcase the development of transportation and the railroads across the country beginning with trails and waterways. The pageant included a recreation of the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory, Utah , and various historic Rolling Stock and replicas of equipment in operation.

Railroad equipment used in the pageant included:

'' was used in the pageant, and is now preserved at the Chicago Historical Society .]]
No. 201, built in 1880 by the Rogers Locomotive And Machine Works , was used in the pageant. This locomotive is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum , where this photo was taken.]]


Original equipment



Replicas



LEGACY

In addition to being the last great assembly of railroad equipment and technology by participating railroad companies, the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair holds a lesser known honor and connection to 2006 . Both men also went on to build their own backyard railroads, Disney building the Carolwood Pacific Railroad , and Kimball the Grizzly Flats Railroad .


REFERENCES

  • Chicago Railroad Fair Official Guide Book (1949).



Notes



EXTERNAL LINKS