Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 52

Page 4E Sunday, July 1, 2007 i 1 ilFESME Northwest Herald nwherald.com tT 4 Matinee Pricing all shows before 6pm $5 ALL SHOWS BEFORE NOON FRI SUM sTklMWEE MiWT MACK fbrMon Dads' i TuemxrtUr mmtv cms HAM TRANSFORMERS fPG i3i Opens Tvtsw. Mr 3ao, Ari.j.a NOW i 1 v' 6 0 i J. ShowTmcs km June 29 July 1 RATATOUILLE 1 10 4 10 7 10 50. SjnMs'e 1C 10u LIVE FREE or DIE HARD tPG-13) 12 50 3 40 650 1000 Fio-SoN 16iXIa EVAN ALMIGHTY PG1 2 a5 4 5C 7 15 940: 45 4 30 7 30 A MIGHTY HEART IOC 3 6 45 9 10 FANTASTIC FOUR ftss Of Silver Sue iPGi 12 43 120 615 6 JO 1045. rVS: MfM; 10 20au NANCY DREW 13J 4 00 6 30 9 00 Fo-S--.

Mi" 11 OOav ctiDcc no iwi in 7 fir. jf, cB.c; mat ii Photos provided Chicago Aurora and Elgin trolley is housed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. ILLINOIS RAILWAY MUSEUM EVENTS OCEAN THIRTEEN iPG 131 1 20 4 20 7 20 10 30. )-' iurvtfcmiDiOi in nn fijr gip PIRATES Of The CARIBBEAN: A' Worlds End PG-131 12 no 4ii SHREK JiPGi 20C 500 7 50 10 10: 11 15 Dave Shields Special to the NotlhWes! News Group OXITTnTrTTT TO Bob Kuttala of Mount Prospect stands before the 1918 Sand Springs Railway No. 68.

The train car has been refurbished. Illinois Railway Museum celebrates rail history Anniversary, refurbished car headlining i'Hij''tiiM'i4'riiii'ri(i'j' streetcars to the various display areas. Interurbans and diesel coach trains will be running on the mainline. West End Jazz Band entertains. For information about displaying vintage vehicles, call (262) 697-7474.

Day Out With Thomas, Aug. 17-19 and 25-26: Gates open at 9 a.m. Tickets are $16 each. All Thomas the Tank Engine riders ages 2 or older must have a ticket for a scheduled 20-minute ride. Visit www.irm.orgthomas for tickets.

Unlimited rrdes on all other trains and streetcars. Also includes puppet shows, live music, magic shows and model railroad displays. Labor Day Weekend, Sept 1-3: Pack a picnic, ride the trains and listen Monday to the West End Jazz Band. Museum Showcase Weekend (incorporating MemTjel Weekend), Sept 15-16: Celebrate the museum collection and honor the members who make it work. Ride and see some of the less frequently run equipment at IRM.

Pumpkin Days, Oct 6-7: Join the crew at IRM to ride trains and get one free pumpkin per family. 50th anniversary Chicago, Aurora Elgin abandonment, today: On July 3, 1957, the abruptly abandoned its electric line, leaving 3,000 commuters stranded in downtown Chicago. Willing participants will be taken out to a distant stop on museum grounds and left to be rescued by the Chicago North Western Railroad. Trolley Pageant, Wednesday: Celebrate a unique Independence Day with the Illinois Railway Museum's annual parade of electrically powered streetcars, cars, interurban equipment and work cars. Ride the diesel and electric mainline trains, as well.

The West End Jazz Band will entertain before and after the pageant. Diesel Days, July 14-15: Vintage diesels will pass in review at the depot. -Take a ride on a coach train pulled by one of these powerful giants. 17th annual Vintage Transport Extravaganza, Aug 5: More than 500 vehicles including antique autos, trucks, fire engines, tractors, motorcycles and buses will be assembled on the museum campus. Ride HOW TO VOLUNTEER Skowlmes fiKtoy lire ibu IWoy, 5 If you Hours Weekends 9 a.m.

to 6 p.m. (operations: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.); weekdays -10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (operations: 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m.) RATATOUILLE llSMJ FRI: 1:00,3:45, 6:30,9:15 SAT: 11:00 AM, 1:15,4:00,6:45,9:30 SUN: 11:00 AM, 1:30,4:15, 7:00 MON, TUES, WEDS, THURS: 1:30, 4:15, 7:00 BFtBSEOFIKlVESlSliPGiM FRI: 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 SAT: 11:30 AM, 1:30, 3:45, 6:15, 8:45 SUN: 1 1:30 AM, 2:00, 4:30, MON: 2X1 ft 4:30 TkANSFORMEkS ipg-13 i mm Midnight Movie Fost Times ot Ridgemofit High' Admission: Weekends adults; $8.50, children; family maximum, $42. Starting Oct. 1 adults; $7.50, chil- dren; family maximum, $37. Weekdays adults; $4.50, chil FRIDAY, JULY 6th at Midnight! Children Mafinee Movie Wed, July 4th: ViciMicimnjt iv.wnni nwniHivii nvv iiniiiiiiiiiiii Aboard the 1948 "Green Hornet," Paul Spenger of Wauconda, dressed in an authentic motorman's uniform, listens as Al Juengling of Chicago recalls riding the Green Hornet to school every day as a youngster. ''8800 SO 00 CWIdrei liailiielF OO $900 Ckildrti 1 1 Uriel 6 Adulti Stiion 80) Features For Time iVAN ALMIGHTY 93 mn 9:00 MMfOURiUttwi 11:00 Time Features For 7)2 7)5 RANSFORMERS iw 9:00 dren; family maximum, $22.

Free admission: Sept. 4-28; Oct. 8. Trains do not operate on these days except by special charters. Call (815) 923-4000 or visit www.irm.org.

Membership Rates: $40, individual; $65, family; sustaining $95, individual; $140, family. Annual memberships run January through December. 'AN ALMIGHTY mm MH iiiiiiiiiiiii Preservation: Equipment inspection and maintenance, including cleaning, sanding and painting. Education: Guide tours, construct interpretive exhibits, speak to groups, write about and take photographs for museum publications, archive materials, help in the library. Restoration: Woodworking, upholstery, machine shop part fabrication, mechanical and electrical work, welding.

Operations: Car host, conductor, electric car operator, engineer, station agent, dispatcher; track, signal and line crews. Illinois Railway Museum president Barb Lanphier said just come out on one of the days the museum is open. Weekends are good during the operating season or Wednesdays are good for retirees or students. "You have to be there and get connected in the area you want. Steam is Saturday.

Diesel is Saturday and Sunday. The electric car shop comes out on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," Lanphier said. "A lot of people want to volunteer. What they want to do is run the trains. Of course, the trains don't run without the background work." By KURT BEGALKA ktegalkagTiwherald.com Those who can spare a few hours away from a grill or the beach on the Fourth of July, could see something that spent much of the last half century cooling its wheels: The Sand Springs Railway 68.

"It ran for the first time in 50 years three and ajialf years ago in the fall," Illinois Railway Museum president Barb Lanphier said. "Our goal is to have it ready for the trolley pageant." Built in 1918 by the Cincinnati Car Company, this electric interurban trolley once ran between Sand Springs and Tulsa, before it was moved to the Tulsa fairgrounds and sold to a tourist line in Arkansas. It was stripped in an ill-fated plan to use it as non-motorized coach pulled like a tram car. "When we got it, it was basically an empty body no motors, no controls; many of the key elements stripped off the car," said Bob Kutella, 63, of Mt. Prospect.

"And cosmetically I know there are 96 panes of glass in that car, and there weren't any that were not broken." "The trolley pageant brings out all kinds of electric equipment stuff from the Milwaukee electric, side dump cars, gravel-haulers and passenger cars. Between 30 and 36 pieces of electric equipment will be displayed for the public," Lanphier said. "In addition, it has been our tradition on the Fourth of July to celebrate the start of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in 1953." What began with a few electric cars in North Chicago has since grown to more than1 400 pieces of rolling stock, including steam and diesel engines. In 1962, the museum's founders shortened the title to the Illinois Railway Museum to more accurately reflect its diversity. Two years later, it moved everything to 26 acres on Olson Road in Union.

The main campus now is about 60 acres, of the 150 acres the museum had 5,000 streetcars at one time. Very few people drove," said volunteer Frank Sirinek of Huntley "There were no expressways. It was much easier to pay a dime and get there without any hype." Those cars, still run in places like San Francisco and Philadelphia, disappeared from Chicago streets nearly 50 years ago. But they should not be forgotten. "How can you ignore that part of your Kutella said.

"It has something to teach us, something to tell us." Diesels will be showcased during Diesel Days, July 14-15. The Diesel department, created in 1970, is responsible for a fleet of more than 40 locomotives, as well as the Nebraska Zephyr train, the Chicago North Western gallery cars, heavy electric locomotives and other units. As many as 15 pieces will parade past the depot with narration. There also will be streetcar service and trains running on the main line. "There should be something going on every where," Lanphier said.

Notably absent from operations will be steam engines sidelined by federal boiler regulations and the deco-style Electroliner. The latter, the Chicago North Shore Milwaukee 801-802, celebrated its 50th anniversary at the museum in 1991. Then its direct-current motors began to fail. "The last time we took it out for testing, we got as far as the east switch and a motor blew," Lanphier said. "Twenty thousand dollars took care of two motors.

There are eight motors on the train." Notably absent will be the stainless-steel KAIAIUlllLLC ic, Fri-Sun 1 1 00 12:00 1:30 2 30 4 00 5 00 6:30 7:30 9:00 10:00 Mon-Thu 12 00 1:30 2:30 4 00 5 00 6:30 7 30 9:00 10:00 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD ire Uaily l.uu I uu 6 20 7 20 9:00 10:00 EVAN ALMIGHTY uaily yiu I4U8 ipc in Fri-Mon 12 45 3 00 5 15 7:30 9:45 Tue-Thu-3 00 5 IS 7:30 9:45 FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER Daily 1:00 3:00 5 00 7:00 9:00 IWH.Y UKtWi-oi VISIT THE FOX RIVER TROLLEY MUSEUM l-n-bun 2:20 4 -JU Mon 12:10 2:20 4:30 6:40 OCEAN'S THIRTEEN fPG-lll Fri-Mon 115 3:50 6:25 9:00 SURF'S UP, pc, rn-un Mon 12:00 1:55 3:50 5:45 Tue-Thu 1:05 SHREK THE THIRD Fri-Sun 12:10 2:15 4:20 6:25 8:30 Mon 2: 0 2: 5 4:20 6:25 TRANSFORMERS Zephyr engines that pulled the museum's "Train of the Goddesses." Damaged during a switching accident in 2005, it left in January for Avalon Rail Inc. in West Allis, Wis. "It split a switch in essence trying to go two different directions at once," Lanphier said. "Two of the cars were damaged." The $350,000 in repairs is being covered by insurance. The museum also decided to repair the articulated "trucks," which mount beneath the car and contain the wheels.

With articulated trains like the Zephyr, these wheels support the ends of two cars, rather than one -thereby creating a streamlined effect. Lanphier said it will cost $50,000 per truck. "The train now is 71 years old and hadn't had major truck work," she said. Museum volunteers stumbled on the remains of the 40-foot-long Sand Springs 68 in a scrapyard while driving to Tulsa to buy some steam locomotive parts. "Someone looked over the railing and said 'There's a streetcar!" Kutella said.

"We hired two of the largest tow trucks we could find, pushed a flat car under it, and it came up piggyback to Union." Kutella became project manager of the restoration after it arrived at the museum in 1967, and he has continued to toil away "We have 30 years of labor and probably $10,000 invested," said Kutella, a retired chemical engineer. "With the resistors, we had to do research and find out what size and type they were and contract with a foundry to have them cast. It took a year of spare time for someone to machine those. But there's nothing wood we cannot make." Kutella, an exhibit curator, said medical problems have limited what he can do physically nowadays. But he is thriving in the role as mentor and tutor.

Over the years, he learned everything from pipe-fitting to wiring to making custom window frames. "The devil is in the details," he said. "We try to make everything original or authentic to original. We don't rewrite history We try and preserve it." Mon 8:00 9 00 10:00 11:001 Tue-Thu 12 00 12:50 1:40 2:55 3:45 4:35 5 50 6:40 7:30 8:45 9:35 10:25 LICENSE TO WED ifG-in Tue-Thu 12 45 2:50 4:55 7 00 What: Fox River Trolley Museum. Located on one of the oldest continuously operating interurban railway lines in the country, the museum began operation July 4, 1966, on tracks once belonging to the Aurora, Elgin Fox River Electric.

From 1935 until its purchase by the museum in 1972, the railroad concentrated on freight service linking the Illinois Central Railroad, with several industries in South Elgin and the Elgin State Hospital. Its collection includes 25 pieces of historic railroad, streetcar and interurban electric railway equipment. Where: 361 S. LaFox St. at Route 31 in South Elgin.

Riders may board at the museum's Castelemuir depot, three blocks south of the State Street stoplight on Route 31, or at the Blackhawk Forest Preserve, also off Route 31, in St. Charles Township, When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, through Aug. 25 and Oct.

13, 20 and 27; and Sundays through Nov. 4. Trollies also run July 4 and Sept. 3. Cost Fares are $3.50 for adults, $2 for senior citizens (65 and older) and children ages 3 to 11.

Children younger than 3 are free. All-day ticket, $7. Group rates available. For information, call (847) 697-4676. Times in bold shown on GRANDE SCREEN No passes or coupons RATATOUILLE ,01 Fri-Sun 11:00 12:00 1 :30 2 30 4 0M 5 00 6:30 7:30 9.00 10 00, Mon-Thu 12:00 1:30 2 30 4:001 5 00 6:30 7:30 9:00 10:00 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD', re, i Fri-Sun 11:05 1:45 4:25 7:05 9:45 Mon-Thu 1:45 4:25 7:05 9:45 EVAN ALMIGHTY Daily 12:20 2:30 4:40 6.50 9:00 11408 po.ii Daily 12:55 3:10 5:25 7:40 9:55 FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF FOX RIVER TROLLEY MUSEUM EVENTS THE SILVER SURFER (pc) Fri-Sun 1 1 00 1:00 3.00 5:00 7:00 9:00 Mon-Thu I 00 3 00 5:00 7:00 9:00 OCEAN'S THIRTEEN Fri-Sun 1 1.20 1:55 4.30 7:05 9:401 Mon I 55 4:30 7:05 9:40 SURF'S UP, pc, Fri-Sun 1 2:30 2:30 4:30 6:30 8:30 Mon 12:30 2:30 4:30 6:30 KNOCKED UP hi Fri-Sun 1 1:20 2:00 4:40 7:20 10:00 Mon 2:00 4:40 IKANSFORMERS Mon 8:00 9:00 11:00 Tue-Thu 12:15 1:15 3 10 4:10 6:05 7.05 9:00 10:00 LICENSE TO WED fPG-1 11 Tue-Thu 1 2:45 2:50 4:55 7:00 9:05 No passes or coupons 5 Walk through our gardens.

View logo's of Daylilies other ftreprialsirtfuB' bloom. i WEDNESDAY MORNING $1 MOVIE SERIES fit.ii oniaj No July hpws. Tho Series will, resume at all Classic Cinemas on -lultj Enjoy the Holiday Day, today: Marks the 50th anniversary of the abrupt end to Chicago, Aurora Elgin passenger service. interurbans will be featured, as will some memorabilia not normally on display, plus items from private collections, also will be on display (weather permitting). Red, White and Blue Dollar Day, Wednesday: All rides $1.

Made the four-mile, round trip through the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve for a of the usual fare. Riverfest Express Trolley Fest, Aug. 18-19: The village of South Elgin and the museum celebrate the long weekend along the Fox River with food, music, trolley rides, viewing historic rail cars and exhibits, carnival rides and fireworks. Village celebration starts Thursday afternoon.

The museum is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fall Caboose Days, Sept. 30 and Oct 7: Enjoy autumn colors along the Fox River and in the Jon Duerr (Blackhawk) Forest Preserve as seen from the big red caboose. Pumpkin Trolley, Oct 13 and 20: Pick up a pumpkin at the patch.

Haunted Trolley, Oct. 27 and 28: Take a spook-tacular ride on a haunted trolley along the Fox River. Kids in costume get a free treat. Halloween Hiawatha, Oct 20, 27 and 28: Reserved seating after hours trains for all children with an adult. A campfire along the shores of the Fox.

By reservation only, ri'tethelriuseumlit P.O. Box South Elgin, IL, 60177 or visit www.foxtrolley.orgevents. Polar Express, Dec 1, 2, 8, 15 and 16: Chris Van Allberg's best-selling book, "Polar Express" comes alive. Board the train at the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve for a ride north to meet Santa and experience the magic of the season.

By reservation only. Write the museum at P.O. Box 315, South Elgin, IL 60177 or visit www.foxtrolley.orgevents. Compiled by Kurt Begalka Adv. rx on Sate TRANSFORMERS (PG-13) EVENING (PG-13) (1 120 200 4351 725 1005 Pereniuals Including RATATOUILLE (G) (1 100 1135 1205 140 210 245 415 445 515) 650 720 755 925 955 1030 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (PG-13) (1 4 IS 11451215 205 240 315 500 530) 705 750 625 1015 1045 1t15 A MIGHTY HEART (R) ID REQ'D 655 920 1408(PG-13) (1155 225 505)730 1000 EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG) (1225 220 300 445 520) Cordially invites you to the BLOOMFEST Every Weekend in June through August BATATnimirf a kaje selection of Hostas Ornamental ffymm." I Daily 1 1:30 2 OS 4:40 7: 1 5 9:50 rntt UK Ult HARD (pc 645 715 745 915 1025 OC A DA: EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG) (1150)945 FANTASTIC FOUR: SILVER SURFER (PG) (1130 tr HLMItoniT (PC) rn-auni lue-1 hu 12:00 2 5 4.25 6.4U 145 400) 710 930 OCEAN'S 13 (PG-13) (1 120 205 450) 735 1020 SURF'S UP (PG) (1210 215 430 KNOCKED UP (R) ID REQ'D (1 1 05 1 55 5 1 0) 800 uitAn ft IHIKrEEN pc-nj Fri-Sun 7:20 10:00 CIIDC'C III! nr, i.tliL-w..

i MutctCardAarpted. 3420 N. Deep Cut Road Woodstock, IL 60098 815-337-7154 M- Kimily owned Si WHOLESALE with tin of oiher perennials. V- 1055 PC, Fri-Mon 12 35 2 4U jw Moneoonoo Tue-Thu I 00 4:00 7:00 10:00 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: WORLD'S END (PG-13) (1125 255)700 1050 SHREK THE THIRD (PG) 11140 150 425).