North Shore Line - Past & Present

The legendary Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad vanished 50 years ago, but not before rail historians thoroughly documented the line. Owing to the generosity of donors and the time and effort of volunteers, several rail cars were preserved at railway museums. On July 7, 2013, the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL hosted a special event to commemorate the half-century mark, showcasing several North Shore cars that are either restored or undergoing restoration. The museum also launched the Campaign for the Electroliner, a major fundraising effort to restore CNS&M 801-802 to operation in time for its 75th Birthday in 2016. This video celebrates the scope and quality of IRM's preservation and restoration projects. It is not a rail enthusiast video so much as an art film merging latter-day digital photos and videos taken at the museum with brilliant Kodachromes dating from 50-60 years ago. The images segue back and forth seamlessly between past and present, using special effects to further cloud the passage of time. Some scenes that appear to be pre-1963 were actually photographed in 2013, and vice versa.