Chicago Railroad Fair

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The cover for the Chicago Railroad Fair's 1949 official program
The cover for the Chicago Railroad Fair's 1949 official program

The Chicago Railroad Fair was an event organized to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago, Illinois. It was held in Chicago in 1948 and 1949 along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is often referred to as "the last great railroad fair" with 39 railroad companies participating. The board of directors for the show was a veritable "Who's Who" of railroad company executives.

Contents

[edit] History of the fair

The fair was rapidly planned during the winter and spring of 1948, and originally scheduled to run between July and August of that summer. Erected on fifty acres of Burnham Park in Chicago between 21st and 31st Streets,[1] the fair opened after only six months of planning. A grand opening for the fair commenced on July 20 with a parade that featured such spectacles as a military marching band and a replica of a troop train, a contingent of cowboys and Native Americans, a replica of the Tom Thumb, the first American locomotive, and the spry, octegenarian widow of Casey Jones, who served as honorary Grand Master of the parade. One dollar was the price of admission, and, except food, all the attractions, displays, exhibits and shows were free. Besides the thirty-nine railroads who participated in the fair, there were more than twenty equipment manufacturers, including General Motors.[2]

[edit] Board of directors

The officers and board of directors for the fair were mostly prominent railroad executives. The fair's officers were:

The fair's directors included (in alphabetical order by surname):

[edit] Participating railroads

38 railroads and one railroad equipment manufacturer participated in the Chicago Railroad Fair exhibiting equipment and interpretive displays around the fair's theme of 100 years of railroad history. The majority of the participating railroads maintained a direct rail connection to Chicago. The companies that participated included:

[edit] Rolling stock displays

The Pioneer was used in the pageant, and is now preserved at the Chicago History Museum.
The Pioneer was used in the pageant, and is now preserved at the Chicago History Museum.
Illinois Central Railroad No. 201, built in 1880 by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, was used in the pageant. This locomotive is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, where this photo was taken.
Illinois Central Railroad No. 201, built in 1880 by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, was used in the pageant. This locomotive is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, where this photo was taken.

The highlight of the Chicago Railroad Fair was the "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant. This was a dramatic and musical presentation intended to showcase the development of transportation and the railroads across the country beginning with trails and waterways. The pageant included a recreation of the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory, Utah, and various historic rolling stock and replicas of equipment in operation.

Railroad equipment used in the pageant included:

[edit] Original equipment

Empire State Express locomotive 999 on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Empire State Express locomotive 999 on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

[edit] Replicas

[edit] Legacy

In addition to being the last great assembly of railroad equipment and technology by participating railroad companies, the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair holds a lesser known honor and connection to Disneyland. In 1948 Walt Disney and animator Ward Kimball attended the fair. To their enjoyment they not only got to see all of the equipment, but they were also allowed to operate some of the steam locomotives that were at the Fair. Upon their return to Los Angeles, Disney used the Fair and Greenfield Village, which the two had also visited on the trip, as inspiration for a "Mickey Mouse Park" that eventually became Disneyland.[4] Both men also went on to build their own backyard railroads, Disney building the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, and Kimball the Grizzly Flats Railroad.

[edit] References

  • Chicago Railroad Fair Official Guide Book (1949).

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Chicago Daily Tribune, February 21, 1948.
  2. ^ Chicago Daily Tribune, Jule 20, 1948.
  3. ^ The General: Custody Battles Begin. Retrieved February 9, 2006.
  4. ^ MousePlanet, Magic Kingdom Chronicles: Pre-History. Retrieved February 9, 2006.

[edit] External links

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