It is with great pleasure that I announce the donation of C&NW 7600 to our organization! Built in 1941, 7600 spent 23 years in passenger rail service before retirement. Today we have an opportunity to restore and preserve this historic car, but we can’t do it alone. We need your support for this project, a Like, or share can do amazing things, while you may not be able to financially contribute to this effort, one of your friends, or family may be able to! Please take the time to share this and we can support this historic project together!
I know many of you out there may be wondering why you should support our project, and frankly, that is the question of the hour. To answer that question, we need to take a step back in time, into the forgotten past of our country, our forgotten heritage.
Step back with me to 1941, a pivotal year in our country’s history. Do you remember? What happened in 1941, well, The North Western, a premier railroad at the time, operating first class passenger trains out of Chicago built a new group of cars, including ours, 7600. But, that isn’t the news the world remembers, the world remembers December, specifically December 7th, 1941. You see, this was the day that changed the world as it was known; this is the day that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This day, the world changed, due to this one event the United States of America entered the Second World War! Had this one day not happened, where would we be today?
One aspect commonly forgotten by so many, is what were our lives like in that era? How did people travel, Live, Work, Eat, or communicate? That is what is so unique about C&NW 7600; it answers so many of those questions! As an RPO, it carried mail, mail from a loved one to a soldier on the front, letters from soldiers back home, carrying the tales of love and war, some that may never have been delivered. As a Baggage Car, it carried Luggage, a Soldiers pack, a lady’s bag, the casket of a fallen hero? As a Tavern, it served spirits, maybe even lifted a few as well! As a lunch counter, it did one of the most basic tasks, it fed hungry men and women, soldiers, doctors, nurses, any one of these could have eaten at this counter, or read the paper in the attached lounge.
Many if not most of our ancestors traveled by train, some on this very car, eating at the counter, drinking at the bar, going through their day much like we do now. By preserving, restoring C&NW 7600, we bring that history back to life! Back from the brink of destruction, back for us to experience today and for years to come.
I love history, and I am passionate about preserving it in artifacts such as 7600 as we don’t know many of the day to day stories that happened at the time, they weren’t on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, no one took a selfie on this car as they ordered their drinks or played cards. This car is the link to the past, the connection that will allow you, me, and countless others to take a step back and see what life was like on that day, December 7, 1941.
I ask for your support for this project, a Like, and share can do amazing things, while you may not be able to financially contribute to this effort, one of your friends, or family may be able to! Please take the time to share this and we can support this historic project together!
Thank You!
David Kmecik
President of the Board of Directors
ALHSociety.org
