Illinois Railway Museum Blog

The Anzio Express & The North Platte Canteen

Now boarding for a ride through history...

WWII Reenactment Days -- May 29th, 30th & 31st, 2010

It is near the end of WWII, and the Allies have captured Rome. Mussolini has disappeared and may be traveling by train. The Allies are chasing him. German and Italian troops are everywhere. You are on the train! Are your papers in order?

On May 29 through May 31, 2010, from 9am to 5pm, the Illinois Railway Museum in cooperation with over 200 local World War Two Reenactors will recreate how trains played their part in the events of the Second World War.  Over 100 military and civilian living historians will set up field camps and home front displays to bring to life the years of the Greatest Generation and how railroads helped win the war. There will be military and civilian camps, displays of artifacts, and vehicles of the period on site.  To assist in bringing the 1940’s to life, railway rolling stock including restored period passenger cars and street trolleys will be featured.  This event will be held on the grounds of the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.  All scenarios will utilize working trains, trolleys, and streetcars.

The highlight of the day will be a period troop train which will make a stop at the legendary North Platte Canteen, made famous in the book, “Once Upon a Town”, by Chicago Author Bob Greene.  The train will whisk you back to a time of railroad troop transports winding their way through the United States to ports of embarkation for our soldiers, and illustrate the hospitality shown to lonely service men and women for over five years.

Activities will also include the re-creation of an Italian Rail System train from Anzio, Italy to Rome to show what it was like to live and travel in Italy under German occupation.  Soldiers and civilians will mingle with the public on the train, to bring to life situations which may have been encountered during travel in 1943 Italy.  On the trolley routes, you will pass into occupied Italy and witness historical events as they unfold.

See realistic WWII environments created by established WWII Reenactment groups. Visit American, British, German & Italian camps; see the vehicles & talk to the soldiers and civilians. Ride along with soldiers, civilians, & partisans and experience the past up close and personal.

Hosted by 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, Official Midwest Chapter, 10th Mountain Division Living History Display Group, Inc & TSG.

PLANNED SCENARIOS AND BATTLES:

• Afternoon Battle in an Italian Rail Yard.
• Smaller Skirmishes along the Main Rail Line.
• Recreation of the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska.
• Several Small Unit battle actions in the MTO reenacted along the Museums Trolley line.
• Downed Airman Picked up by German Troop Train.
• Resistance Sabotage of Train Tracks and Bridges.
• Germans Capture of Resistance Fighters and related skirmishes.
• Allied Troops encounter German Patrol.
• German Troop Train and Patrol of Passengers.
• And much more!

Additional information can be viewed at the following external website: http://www.anzioexpress.org/