Illinois Railway Museum Adds Three Burlington Gallery Cars

Published: November 13, 2026

The Illinois Railway Museum has a second complete train of bi-level gallery cars. A release dated November 12, 2026, says three stainless-steel Chicago, Burlington & Quincy cars, two coaches and a cab car, arrived at the museum on November 11. The museum calls the set operational. Coaches 702 and 709 were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia in 1950. Cab car 791 was built in 1965.

CB and Q gallery cars acquired by the Illinois Railway Musuem

The Illinois Railway Museum's newly acquired ex-Chicago Burlington & Quincy gallery cars. These include cab car 791 and coaches 702 and 709. IRM photo.

Cars from the first Burlington orders

The release says 702 and 709 were among the very first gallery cars ever built. Cab car 791 was part of the Burlington order that let the railroad begin push-pull commuter service. The museum already keeps a set of 1950s smooth-sided bi-level cars from the Chicago & North Western. With the Burlington cars, it says it now has two complete trains of first-generation bi-level commuter cars from Chicago railroads.

The 1950 order was a break with what most Chicago commuters were riding. The release says those riders were still in wood and steel coaches decades old, in most cases behind steam. The Burlington 700-series cars were air conditioned, with sealed windows and comfortable seats. Two levels raised the seat count. The open gallery let a conductor collect fares on both levels at once. The museum says the layout worked so well that nearly every Chicago commuter car built since 1950 has used something like it, including cars on Metra Electric and the South Shore Line.

From locomotive-hauled trains to cab cars

The first Burlington gallery cars were not push-pull trains. Steam or diesel locomotives hauled them, and separate passenger cars with large generators supplied power. In 1965 the Burlington followed the Chicago & North Western and ordered its first bi-level cab cars. A train could then run either way without being turned and without a locomotive change. The release says cab cars such as 791 were the first of that type the CB&Q used in commuter service. In 1973 the railroad rebuilt all of its gallery cars with electric heat for locomotives that supplied head-end power.

Metra retired 702, 709, and 791 in the early 2000s and sold them to MiTrain, a planned commuter operation in eastern Michigan. The release says the cars received some overhaul then, including work to make them usable by riders in wheelchairs. The commuter service was canceled. The cars were offered for sale. The museum bought the three in 2026 as one train.

Visit the museum, or help keep the cars up

On November 13 the museum site carried a banner that the museum is closed until Happy Holiday Railway. The release does not give the dates for that event. Follow the Illinois Railway Museum for the reopening. The same release asks for help with equipment restoration and maintenance, and it links a museum donation page for that work. The collection is part of the larger Illinois Railway Museum story on this site.

Sources

Illinois Railway Museum, “IRM Acquires Train of CB&Q Gallery Cars,” irm.org/in-the-news/irm-acquires-cbq-gallery-cars/, dated November 12, 2026. Three stainless-steel cars arrived November 11, 2026. Coaches 702 and 709, Budd, 1950. Cab car 791, 1965. MiTrain, then a 2026 purchase of the three as one train. Donation link for equipment restoration and maintenance. The site banner on November 13 said the museum is closed until Happy Holiday Railway. No holiday dates are in the release.

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Illinois Railway Museum Adds Three Burlington Gallery Cars

Cars from the first Burlington orders

From locomotive-hauled trains to cab cars

Visit the museum, or help keep the cars up

Related reading on American-Rails.com

Sources