C&NW Railroad expert to speak at Oak Park River Forest Museum

Oak Park, IL – Oak Park River Forest Museum, 129 Lake St., Oak Park, will host Craig Pfannkuche, archivist at the Chicago and North Western Historical Society Archives, from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4. He will discuss the evolution of the Chicago and North Western, now the Union Pacific, railroad through the Oak Park and River Forest area.

Come learn how William Butler Ogden’s idea to link Chicago to Galena by train changed the future of Oak Park and River Forest when the first locomotive came to this sparsely populated prairie in 1848 Pfannkuche will also discuss why the main line is double-tracked and why the track bed was elevated. For information, visit oprfmuseum.org.

Pfannkuche is a retired history teacher who has served as the lead researcher/archivist for the Chicago and North Western Historical Society since 1980. He is also a member of the Chicago Genealogical Society and the McHenry County Historical Society.

At the presentation, Pfannkuche will bring a series of old maps which illustrate the railroad development of the area as well as depot information and photographs.