The Illinois Railway Museum will be conducting a reenactment of the abandonment of the Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban line tomorrow, July 3rd, on the 52nd anniversary of the end of passenger service on that line. On Friday, July 3rd, 1957 shortly after noon the CA&E received court permission to suspend passenger service and immediately sent out word for all trains to return to the shops - permanently. Thousands of commuters who had ridden the CA&E into Chicago in the morning were stranded and had to find other ways to get home. IRM will conduct a reenactment of this event using the museum's restored CA&E cars, with visitors being "stranded" at the east end of the museum's line and having to take a different train back to the museum. Photos of the 2007 reenactment taken by the late Dave Mewhinney are here.

Since some of those commuters may have gone home on the Chicago & North Western to Elgin, you may have both trains they rode that day in your collection!