DG 'Rusty' Alderson,
TOAST President
Mostly 1830 -1930
Rusty's
All American
Stories
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Not an official Metra Site
Gilded Age & Train Historian
Train Railfan
Historical Characters, Lincoln Family,
Frontier Arizona, Early Railroads
TOAST email: GAstorybook@gmail.com
Sara & Dewey Page
Thanks for taking time to chat. I really enjoyed talking with you.
If you wish to receive stories, I send out by email 8 stories (podcast and text).​
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I had frequent contact with several Northern Illinois Gas employees as the Ex. Director of the Big Brother/Sister program in Joliet,
These Joliet area employees were very community minded supporting United Way and serving as Big Brothers (matched to a fatherless boy).
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Those I remember include: Bob Smith, Ron Carter, Kerry Gister, and John Flagda. All great guys!
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This is my most enjoyable short trips
on an Amtrak Train:
Denver through the Rocky Mountains
and Red Rocks into Salt Lake City
For a short history of the California Zephyr,
Next time you are in the Phoenix area
visit Frank Lloyd Wrights
Gammage Auditorium.
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I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
You are only a 2 hour drive to Tucson - a city founded by an Irishmen Hugo O'Connor, a Spanish solider from Dublin Ireland.
The city has retained much of its frontier Arizona look and worth the trip.
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Down the former railroad tracks from Amboy, you'll reach Mendota.
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This town had 3 railroads. Currently, the Southwest Chief stops at Mendota, but the California Zephyr does not stop.
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You can visit several old passengers cars and a small train museum at the station.
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This is what the station looked like.
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Hungry? ... stop at this Diner in Sandwich
In West Chicago stands the last Tower on the former (now CN) EJ & E line. The CN controls trains but allow the Union Pacific right of way.
Winfield claims to have the oldest train station in Illinois
The oldest building in Winfield, IL was built in 1849 by Jim Hodges. From 1849 to1854, it was used as a rail passenger depot along a strap-rail track segment laid when the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad came through the area. It served as a train depot up until 1854, when Galena and Chicago Union Railroad built another depot on the south side of the tracks going through town. It is the oldest remaining train depot in the State of Illinois.