With Damen Ave traffic stopped, freshly painted CIRY 1209 continues toward the IHB and BNSF Western Ave yard for interchange. The track looks like it could use some work! Next photo in series is ... (more)

Freshly painted 1209 picks up some gons full of scrap metal before heading to the IHB and BNSF Western Ave yard for interchange. Kevin,is that you?! Next photo in series is Railroad: Central Illinois Railroad Co.
Locomotive: EMD SW1200
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Locomotive #: CIRY 1209
Train ID: Unknown
Photo Date: May 25, 2010

Freshly painted 1209 waits for Damen Ave to clear before shoving some gons full of scrap metal to the IHB and BNSF Western Ave yard for interchange. Western Ave is next to the blue YMCA building ... (more)

Fresh paint on the 1209 as she crawls into the crossing. Two units on this line is rare, and in this case, is an honor for a crew member moving up in the ranks.

Special paint and special horns, looks and sounds great!

For my money, the best-looking switcher in America ... truly a "heritage" locomotive. CIRY 1206, inspired by CB&Q's working man's paint scheme (for the record, I liked the Chinese Red equally), s... (more)

An extra locomotive for parts ... I'm unsure if this locomotive is serviceable on its own, but from the looks of things, its role will be to provide parts to CIRY 1206 & 1209, which sit fenced in ... (more)

Central Illinois 1209 backs westward, pushing a single boxcar. That horn is as loud as it is bright, by the way.

"The parts store." To make room for the still operable, but currently unassigned 1209 and CBQ inspired 1206, the 1208 was moved recently to south of Cermak. The cab is boarded and chained. The ... (more)

After losing the last costumer on their former ATSF trackage, the SW1200 formerly assigned to that district has been moved to the Central Illinois Railway's Lumbar street yard. The damage of years... (more)

The two Central Illinois Railroad SW1200's sit at home in Chicago on a cold March morning. One locomotive looking very sharp while the other has been heavily tagged.

A classy locomotive pushes its train into Western Avenue Yard to interchange with the BNSF.

After dropping a car for Kramer, the Central Illinois switcher snakes through some industries and crosses Cermak Rd.

The Central Illinois Railroad shoves a cut of cars across Ashland Ave. This operation works Mon-Fri and is usually out working between 0700hrs & 1000hrs.

The conductor gives the engineer the sign to back the 1202 up so they can couple onto the 1207 and the eight tank cars that they made the trip down the Kellar Branch for to bring back to the north... (more)