A Witness to History

On a recent road trip I and two of my faithful minion, Little Nick and Tom Anderson came across the historic old train depot in McLean, Illinois.  Built in 1853 it would already have a claim to fame as the oldest building in town and a rare wooden depot. But it has one other notable distinction. It's one of two depot's left standing that saw Abraham Lincolns funeral train go by.

The civil war ended in 1865 and like the rest of the country Lincoln felt like an enormous weight lift off his shoulders. There was still the weighty problem of reconstruction to be dealt with as well as hundreds of thousands of suddenly freed slaves but for the moment the country was celebrating.  Not everyone, however, was happy with the wars outcome and one man took it upon himself to express his anger in a very tangible way.

Everyone knows the story of what happened that night at Ford's theater and I won't go into it here.  On April 21st a funeral train left Washington D.C. for an arduous journey across the nation to deposit Lincoln back in his home state of Illinois.  On May 2nd the train passed through McLean on it's way to its final destination.  The Chicago and Alton railroad no longer exists but the McLean depot still does.

Most depots from this era are either torn down or sit abandoned sitting in the weeds forlorn and forgotten. But in this case the old McLean depot has been repurposed as, appropriately enough, a store for model trains.  The inside is almost the same as it was on that black day in 1865 and there even some old graffiti scrawled over the inside walls of the freight room. As an added bonus there's a couple of track inspection cars parked outside. So if you ever get a chance to visit, go on inside and visit a piece of genuine history.

The little Engine that Could

Not too long ago I took a drive with fellow photographer Stephen Beatty and we went to a farm show. In the fall many such events take place with lots of antique and vintage equipment brought out for the public's enjoyment as well as their fellow farm show enthusiasts.  One whole section was devoted to the ubiquitous Hit and Miss engines.  These were the little workhorses that ran everything from sump pumps, windmills, grinders, and everything in between.

There were engines so large they had their own trailers and were as long as the truck pulling them. Then there were some so Small that they sat on a table top. One even looked like it would fit in the palm of your hand! A lot were restored and repainted, looking like the day they were sitting on the show room floor. Others looked worn,battered, and showed their age.  It was a thrill to hear them sputtering away, with their distinctive putt-putt of the engine as it whizzed merrily along.

We are So Lucky to live in a state with such a Rich cultural heritage to fall back on and explore.  Even if farm machinery doesn't thrill you as it does this old farm boy, consider attending a fall festival someday. I guarantee you'll get something out of it. And if you listen Realllly closely, you might hear that little engine puffing "I Think I can! I Think I can!"

The war was cancelled due to rain

Every October my hometown has a Civil war reenactment that is a joy to visit. The sights, sounds, and revelry takes us back to a time when brother fought against brother and men stood and died for a cause they believed in.  Normally this is a well attended event and I look forward to shooting new and exciting photo's.

But Mother Nature dealt us a cruel blow this year. The first day of the reenactment we had storms all day long. And I mean ALL day. It stormed off and on past midnight. The second day the aftermath of the storms were still in the area. The skies were Dark and Ominous most of the day, the winds were gusting to 30 & 40 mph and the temperature never got above 60. Needless to say, the whole weekend was shot. 

So this week I am offering photo's from last years event re-edited and I'm including a few I don't believe I published the first time around.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!