Adams5 - Home

Jim Adams was an employee in the shops of the Illinois Central Railroad at Centralia, Illinois. He used his unparalleled access as a railroad insider to document the last days of the steam locomotives he loved, taking his reel-to-reel tape recorder trackside and into the cabs of locomotives. In this volume, we present recordings made in the cabs of two Illinois Central steam locomotives: 0-8-0 #3511 and 2-8-2 #1536. The switcher was recorded while switching in Centralia, Illinois, while the Mikado was taking a local freight down the now-abandoned branch line from Carbondale to Thebes, Illinois.

It’s railroading as it was, just before complete dieselization.

Track 1 – Introduction

Track 2 – In the cab of 0-8-0 3511 switching the candy factory at Centralia, Illinois. - 11:50

Track 3 – In the cab of 0-8-0 3511 switching the candy factory at Centralia, Illinois. - 6:43

Track 4-5 – In the cab of 2-8-2 1536 in the yard at Carbondale, Illinois. - 1:18

Track 6 – In the yard at Carbondale. - 4:50

Track 7-8 – Departing Carbondale. - 11:15

Track 9-10 – Switching near Murphysboro. - 2:55

Track 11-12 – Departing Texas Junction. - 5:24

Track 13-14 – Clanking down the Mud Line. - 5:50

Track 15-16 – Coming to a stop near Ware. - 9:23

Track 17-18 – Headed south down the Mud Line. - 3:50

Track 19 – Southbound on the Mud Line. - 0:59

Track 20-21 – Coming to a stop near Gale. - 1:16

68 Minutes (66 minutes of recordings with 2 minutes of descriptive narration between recordings)