T.O.A.S.T. found these interesting slices of history along RR 66.    Just south of Joliet, the little town of Braidwood boasted at one time of having the most bizarre station.  Apparently there was a disagreement with the railroad and the town.  The town retaliated by creating a most unconventional color scheme for the town owned railroad station.   In Normal, IL, a T.O.A.S.T members wife remember waitressing at the first Steak & Shake (now rebuilt).  Abraham Lincoln and Springfield welcomed the first Illinois in 1843. A reason St. Louis lagged behind Chicago as a railroad hub was due to unable to build a bridge over the Mississippi River until 1872.  When the bridge was built, the owners reassured the citizens it was safe by coaxing several elephants to walk over the bridge. The Frisco Railroad got its start in  Springfield, MO. One of the few Indian victories over railroads occurred when the railroad request to lay tracks through Indian Territory spanning from Oklahoma City and Amarillo.  For years, there were no tracks between those two towns.  Fred Harvey established numerous diners and a few hotels in the West. However, after the Panic of 1893, the President of the Santa Fe RR told Fred Harvey he needed to step down to let his son, Ford, to take over the country, and the Fred Harvey Company.  Ford opened the Southwest to tourism.