I lived in Bloomington, Illinois, during my high school and college years, 1954-1960. Although I was a steam fan, steam was virtually gone from central Illinois by the end of 1957 and I was reduced to photographing diesels and other railroad subjects. Bloomington's major railroad was the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio's former Alton Route, featuring the shops and yard, the junction with the line to Kansas City via Jacksonville, and the fast Chicago-St. Louis passenger trains such as the Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln and Alton Limited. I never thought these scenes would be of much interest almost five decades later, but here they are for the enjoyment of "fallen flag" GM&O fans! A few of them were shot in the 1960s or 1970s by my brother David, and are so identified. And, as a special feature, I have added a recently-discovered set of photos taken by my father on a 1960s cab ride from Bloomington to Chicago.

Below are images from the main line with brief descriptions. Click on the thumbnail image for the full-sized version with more commentary, or page through the through from photo to photo. And explore the links in the navigation bar at left.