page_title: Monticello Railway Museum
section_title: Notable rolling stock
hierarchical_section_title: Monticello Railway Museum / Equipment / Notable rolling stock
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo: Brad Sherman
context_page_description: The Monticello Railway Museum is a non-profit railroad museum located in Monticello, Illinois, about 18 miles west of Champaign, IL. It is home to over 100 pieces of railroad equipment, including several restored diesel locomotives and cars.
context_section_description: Illinois Central #892 is a combine passenger/baggage car built in 1918 by the Pullman Company for the IC.  American Steel Foundries converted it to brake testing car #1948 and equipped it with instrumentation for various tests on railroad hardware manufactured by ACF.  The floor section over both trucks had glass inserted to allow for viewing during the tests.  The baggage portion of the car retained its glass floor during restoration at the museum. This car was donated by ACF in 1976.
  Rock Island #2541 was built by the Pullman Company in 1925 for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.  It was used in Chicago commuter service until the mid-1970s.
  Illinois Central #7 was built in 1917 by the Pullman Company as an office-observation car for the Illinois Central Railroad.
  Illinois Central #3531 was built in 1950 for the Nickel Plate Road which named it the "City of Findlay" and numbered it #210.  It is a 10-roomette/6-bedroom sleeping car.  It was purchased by the Illinois Central in 1965, rebuilt with smooth sides, was renumbered #3531 and named "Council Bluffs".  This car was painted in 2007 and is on display.
  Nautilus II aquarium car was rebuilt in 1957 from the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad lunch-counter car, "Turkey Run"  The car was used by the John G. Shedd Aquarium of Chicago to transport marine specimens until 1972.  The 16 portable 190 gallon Cyprus holding tanks, combined with 20 welded-steel tanks, could hold up to 3,000 specimens.  The tanks were loaded onto a barge and the collections were made from the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean.  The car was donated in 1974.
  Delaware & Hudson baggage car #405 was built for that railroad and sold to the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad when it became #457.  It was acquired by the museum in 1995 from the Illinois Central Railroad.
  Pleasant Valley sleeper was built in 1942 by the Pullman Company for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.  It was to be used for a joint venture between the New York Central and the Santa Fe Railroads.  As it was built during World War II, it has Masonite interior walls rather than steel.  This car is a 6-6-4 sleeper meaning it has six open sections, six roomettes and four bedrooms.
  Illinois Central #3312 "Gulfport" was built in 1942 as part of the first light-weight Panama Limited train set.  The "Gulfport" is a sleeper, observation, and lounge car.  It was one of only two built from Pullman Lot 6672, plan 4201. Its sister car, the Memphis, was destroyed by a derailment in 1965. The Gulfport was sold by the Illinois Central in 1968 to Bobbie Thompson Farms near Thornton, MS.  It saw service as a hunting cabin until 2005, when the car was donated to the Museum.  When sold by the Illinois Central, the trucks were retained by the IC. New trucks have been acquired and several members made a trip to Mississippi in August 2005 to prepare the car for over-the-road travel.  Initial inspection of the car shows that there is a lot of work ahead to see this car back in service.  Although largely intact, time has not been kind.  Mechanical systems will have to be replaced, the roof repaired, and the vestibule and side sills rebuilt.  The car was trucked to Monticello in July 2006, placed on its new trucks, and delivered to the museum.
  Illinois Central coach #2612 "Carondelet" was built by the Pullman Company in 1947.  It was purchased in 1995 and restoration was completed in 2000.
  Illinois Central coach #2920 was built in 1925 by the Pullman Company.
  Illinois Central Diner #4112 Restoration completed in 2015. Unique L-Shaped booths at the end of this car. Kitchen is fully operational including presto-log burning stove.
caption: Several types of cabooses can be seen at MRM.
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