Monticello Railway Museum Home Page

The Monticello Railway Museum is incorporated as a not‑for‑profit organization in 1966, originally under the name SPUR, Inc. (Society for the Perpetuation of Unretired Railfans, Inc.), when its members moved locomotive #1, a 1925 Alco 0‑4‑0T, to a vacant lot near the Illinois Pioneer Heritage Center in Monticello. In 1970 the group renamed itself the Monticello & Sangamon Valley Railway Historical Society, Inc., and in 1982 shortened the title to the present‑day Monticello Railway Museum. A 7½‑mile segment of former Illinois Central Gulf Decatur District trackage was purchased in 1987, creating the museum’s Central Division and prompting a “Golden Spike” ceremony for the first run into downtown Monticello; the following year, 1988, the earlier Illinois Terminal interurban segment was designated the Terminal Division. The museum’s Nelson’s Crossing depot, originally built in 1919 and rebuilt in 1942, was donated in 1977, moved to the museum site in 1980, and later transferred to museum ownership in 1993 when the Monticello Depot Association was absorbed. The World Championship Old‑Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival began on museum grounds in 1975, providing a long‑running fundraiser.