Illinois Railway Museum

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, McHenry County, Illinois is America's largest railway museum. The official website for IRM is at: http://www.irm.org/
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This is the official page for the Illinois Railway Museum.

Calling all photographers! Come and join the Electric Car Department for a special evening of nighttime pictures with al...
08/29/2026

Calling all photographers! Come and join the Electric Car Department for a special evening of nighttime pictures with all Illinois Terminal diesel and electric equipment! For this event, various vintage pieces of Illinois Terminal Railroad Company equipment will be staged for evening and after-dark photos at locations around the property with actors dressed in era-appropriate attire. The event will start at 5:00 PM after normal Museum daytime operations on Saturday, October 3rd. Coordination and lighting will be provided by David Zeman and Ralph Durham. Tickets are $125 per person and attendance is limited. Note: participants are required to bring their own tripod and have a camera on which they can manually control shutter speed, aperture, and ISO (or film). Tickets and more information can be found at: https://tickets.irm.org/webstore/shop/viewItems.aspx?cg=cws&c=ITPhoto

Have you ever wondered what it's like to operate a Shay? Well, now you can find out! The weekend of September 26-27, Sha...
08/24/2026

Have you ever wondered what it's like to operate a Shay? Well, now you can find out! The weekend of September 26-27, Shay 5 will be available for "Steam Engineer Experience" Tickets are available now; check out the link for more info.

*All participants must be 18 years of age or older and must bring a state issued Driver’s License with them. The museum will request Driver’s License at the Check-In Table. Participants must be physically able to climb up and down a ladder unassisted and must be able to understand and follow verbal instructions.

https://tickets.irm.org/webstore/shop/viewItems.aspx?cg=cws&c=steamexp

08/19/2026

Join Stephen Hull at IRM for our next Trains & Tunes concert on Saturday, September 5! The band takes the stage at 7:00 PM, while trains run all day and well into the evening. A free fireworks show follows the concert. For more info, see www.irm.org/trains-tunes

Morning showers bring evening happy hours! Hops Aboard 2026 is proceeding as scheduled this evening. Don’t have your tic...
08/15/2026

Morning showers bring evening happy hours! Hops Aboard 2026 is proceeding as scheduled this evening.

Don’t have your tickets yet? Grab them online now at www.irm.org or at the gate. See you tonight 🍻

Feeling thirsty after a long week? Join us tomorrow, Saturday the 15th, at our Hops Aboard beer festival! Sample brews f...
08/14/2026

Feeling thirsty after a long week? Join us tomorrow, Saturday the 15th, at our Hops Aboard beer festival! Sample brews from a variety of local breweries, enjoy live music, ride steam, diesel and electric trains into the night, and more. Info and tickets are at www.irm.org/event/hops-aboard

This Saturday, August 15th, at 5:00 PM, join us for a beer festival like no other! Ride the rails and sample beer from l...
08/12/2026

This Saturday, August 15th, at 5:00 PM, join us for a beer festival like no other! Ride the rails and sample beer from local breweries while you enjoy live music and unique food truck offerings into the at Hops Aboard. Open to attendees 21+ only; for tickets and info visit www.irm.org/event/hops-aboard

Thanks to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable 2026 Diesel Days! Don't miss out on our upcoming events - from Hop...
08/12/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable 2026 Diesel Days! Don't miss out on our upcoming events - from Hops Aboard this Saturday to night trains on Labor Day Weekend and rarely seen train operations on Showcase Weekend, we've got a lot in store the next few weeks. Check out our full event schedule at www.irm.org/hours-admission

Metra and Union Pacific will be returning IRM's Illinois Central MU cars today. After that delivery, two 15-20 minute ph...
08/09/2026

Metra and Union Pacific will be returning IRM's Illinois Central MU cars today. After that delivery, two 15-20 minute photo opportunities are planned with Metra 525. The first with Ingersoll Rand 91, IRM's 100 year old recently restored bicentennial box cab, and the second with BNSF 9400, the first SD70MAC. Photo by Rob Schreiner.

Today, August 8th, is the second day of Diesel Days at IRM! See tens of thousands of horsepower worth of historic locomo...
08/08/2026

Today, August 8th, is the second day of Diesel Days at IRM! See tens of thousands of horsepower worth of historic locomotives out on the rails. In addition, our Milwaukee Road dynamometer car is offering rides, giving you the chance to see the engines "notching up" for yourself using functional indicators on board the car. Seats on the "dyno" are no extra charge but are limited and are first come, first served. For a full train schedule, see www.irm.org/event/diesel-days

08/08/2026

Join us for Diesel Days, now in full swing! Observe and ride behind some of the rarest and lesser-seen diesel locomotives at IRM, including our unique E5 locomotive, the 'Silver Pilot.' Inspect recently restored and newly arrived locomotives. Bring your camera and make the most of the weekend! 📸 Image: August 7, 2025

Address

7000 Olson Road
Union, IL
60180

Telephone

+18159234000

Website

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