1940s MODEL RAILROAD DISPLAY AT THE CHICAGO MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY TRAIN FILM XD86905c

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Santa Fe presents this film "The Museum and the Santa Fe Railroad" covering the impressive Santa Fe railway miniature model built by the avid model builder Minton Cronkite and exhibited in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. This layout was 50-by-60-foot and in O scale. The Santa Fe Railroad (today merged into BNSF) was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport and was the only railroad to run trains from Chicago to California on its own tracks. The railroad wanted to inspire children and adults with its modern, efficient operation, and company brass thought a large model would be a great idea. They hired Minton Cronkhite, an avid model builder who, by the time he was 40 in 1928, had sold a successful business and made enough profit that he could pretty well become a full-time model railroader. He was hired in 1939, and built a model that displayed extreme detail, with functionalities nearly identical to the actual railway including a fully operational "hump yard". It opened to the public in January, 1941 and became a much beloved exhibit. Unfortunately, time wasn't kind to Chronkhite's artful construction. After being on display for decades, the layout became viewed as passe and out-of-date by museum management. Attempts to modernize it after Cronkhite's death were complicated, costly and generally unsuccessful. After a time in storage (so that a new transportation exhibit could be built complete with a jumbo jet) the layout was badly damaged and not fully operational when put back together. It was eventually decommissioned and components sold off in 2002 as a fundraiser for the museum.
“The Museum and Santa Fe Railroad” title banner (00:06). The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois founded by Julius Rosenwald (00:16). An overview of the exhibition inside the museum (00:35). The exhibit is a miniature construction of a complete operating railroad system presented by the Santa Fe railroad constructed by Minton Cronkite (00:41). Views of the control board operating the miniature railway (01:01). A museum worker mimicking a courier-nurse sits on the miniature railway system (01:24). Views of the miniature trains riding on the tracks (01:35). The miniature construction includes functioning changing signal lights (02:10), nine steam type locomotives, three diesel type locomotives, 14 passenger cars, and 60 freight cars (02:55), a reconstruction of the railway passing through the Grand Canyon national park (03:07). The miniature locomotives also pass through farmers’ and ranchers’ landscapes with fencings for cattle and other livestock (03:36). It passes citrus fruit tree fields (03:57), cotton fields (04:26), coal, copper, lead, and silver mines in the Southwest (04:38), lumber industrial sights (04:54), and oil industrial sights (05:10). The exhibition also contains miniature models of grain-raising lands (05:38), steel mines (05:35), metal furnaces (06:22), mammoth rolling mills shaping boiler sheets for repairing locomotives (06:46), an excavator digging (07:02), and a pile driver (07:11). Locomotives driving on the miniature tracks (07:24). The model build of shops and roundhouses for railroad maintenance (07:52). A museum worker mimicking a conductor is hooking train cars together (08:29). An overview of the exhibition inside the museum (08:49). “The End” text overlay (08:56).
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[@alcosteam]

Got to see this layout back in the early 70's a couple times. Something the video does not mention is that the Santa Fe railroad paid to have this layout built and maintained for a lot of years. What a shame it was not kept up and saved to still be in use as it truly was a museum piece in and of itself.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

On the positive, we have a new layout now. Should have still been preserved.

[@matthewmoran5297]

I remember seeing this layout as well. I think I was either two or three years old.

[@maverick1956hk]

Yes, my brother in laws father worked for Santa Fe. This railroad was donated to the museum.

[@brianwilson6403]

I've seen it twice as well, '65 and '71. Very cool display. Actually the Museum of Science and Industry is well worth the the trip anyway. The train display, the coal mine, Breedlove's "Spirt of America", the U-505!!!

[@eatonjask]

Actually, the film does credit the Santa Fe, at 0:50

[@calbob750]

Back in the day the average kids train layout consisted of a 4x8 sheet of plywood with painted highways and grass. Plasticville buildings were an addition for realism. Lionel O gauge and American Flyer S gauge were the brands of choice.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

And Varney the choice brand for HO scale.

[@jimtrack3786]

I grew up in Chicago in the 1960's. There were telephones along the layout that you could pick up and listen as the layout was described to you. Jackson Park was once beautiful, and Chicago was once a safe city. I don't advise going there anymore.

[@kentfrederick8929]

But, the Museum's parking lot is now in an underground garage. I went for Christmas Around the World recently and felt perfectly safe.

[@MisterPersuasion]

Very impressive for 1940's technology. There are many model railroad layouts today that don't have such precise detail.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

Thanks for resurrecting this film - it is fascinating to see. Milton Kronkite was a superb master craftsman from the 1930s through late 60s, who I know through the pages of the old Model Railroader magazines I own. Considering the limited and basic materials available back then, this is fantastic. If he were here today, working with modern materials - what would he achieve? RIP, Milt, you continue to inspire us with your legacy.

[@pauljensen5699]

Loved this model railroad back in the 1970's and 1980's. Thank you Periscope Film for this Christmas gift!

[@alwillcoxen1515]

Went to Chicago on 8th grade class trip in the Spring of '66 with Science & Industry on the list of places to visit in the Windy City that day! Spent most of my time there watching Minton Cronkhite's amazing layout! The scenery was certainly recognizable, having already ridden Hi-level El Capitan to Southern CA and back 6 times by 1966!

[@bradslepicka3981]

I remember seeing this layout in the 50's! It was amazing!

[@futureaceone3971]

Wow, this brings back memories. I grew up in Chicago. As a child I went to the Museum of Science and Industry many times in the 1950's. To me this train layout was always the highlight of each visit. You could walk all around it and peer through the glass partitions and you could get a birds eye view of it from the balcony above the layout. Like many kids, I had a small model train layout (American Flyer) on a sheet of plywood resting on sawhorses in a corner of the basement of our house. I loved my train setup but every time I went to the museum and saw this ultra detailed massive train layout I was just mesmerized. I'd go home and have dreams about it and wished I could have some of the detail and realism of that museum layout on my own home layout. Thanks for posting this film.

[@cliffkiehl2070]

I visited this layout as well in the 50's. When I visited not all the buildings and machines were active and not all the switches were fully functional. Many of the short sidings did not have working switches, some of the rails in the switch were missing. But it was a 'don't miss' for me.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

The layout was built that way for continuous running. It was never meant to be a full operating session model railroad with switching.

[@jeffreycollier1059]

I saw this amazing layout in 1960 at 6 years old. I think it was Q scale (close to O scale). Truely a lifetime memory.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

2 Rail O Scale. The craftsman's choice at the time.

[@edwardburek1717]

That model railway was immense! Naturally, it was fitting that it was housed inside the Chicago Science Museum - that building looks huge!

[@J3scribe]

I visited the museum at least once annually, often more, while growing up in Chicago during the 1960s and '70s. The layout was always a favorite, and it expanded and evolved quite bit from what you see here in the film. It was a masterpiece of model railroad engineering, in O scale, to boot.

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

I'm not so sure it is O gauge.....O gauge has 3 rails....from what I"m seeing here there are only 2 rails....having said that, I believe it to be S gauge (American Flyer).

[@J3scribe]

@@user-tl7mj2bm4m Lionel O gauge has three rails. Standard O gauge is 2 rails. However, you could be right about it being S. I'm looking well over 40 years into the past, so there's plenty of room for error. I'm certain the answer can be found online somewhere.

[@bobr511]

The layout was technically in Q scale, due to the width of the track that was all hand laid being slightly wider than O scale 2 rail. The engines and rolling stock were indeed O scale examples that were available back in the 1940s. EDIT. My apologies on the engine and rolling stock comments. They were custom built and slightly larger than O scale., but very close to the 1/48 scale.

[@J3scribe]

@@bobr511 Thanks for clearing that up, bob.

[@charlespiper9291]

Probably saw it the first time in 58 or 59. My parents and older sister would deposit me at the train. Collect me after visiting the museum all day, it seemed they were only gone a few minutes

[@davidchapman1519]

I really miss this layout....

[@starguard4122]

I remember seeing this layout back in the mid 70s and I could have sworn that there were a mixed multitude of trains running on this layout. (Not just Sante Fe)

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Mostly or almost all Santa Fe. Not even mixed railroads on the freight cars. In the 80s the engines had the red and yellow merger paint scheme and those lasted in to the late 90s when they were replaced with blue and yellow. I did see a Burlington Pioneer Zephyr running on the layout. I think there was a case with all the older trains displayed.

[@markdanielczyk944]

Seen this several times. Impressive is an under statement. Museum of Science and Industry is the best. Built by the then head of Sears.

[@hifijohn]

Was big model RR fan when I was a kid I remember going to the museum in the early '70s and seeing this amazing layout.

[@robertphillips6296]

"The Worst Day Railroading is better than the Best Day at Work."

[@tedlawrence4189]

Loved seeing it during the '50s. I was impressed with the airplanes that hung from the ceiling.

[@sturmovik1274]

Those are still there... and now there's a 727 mounted directly over the layout. The layout's tallest buildings had to be planned around the 727's landing gear.

[@617MrX]

I love a H.O train set would always get one in the 80's as a young kid most Christmas 🎄 I was lucky 😊

[@rrbone]

I always enjoyed seeing this layout. I'm an HO guy but would prefer this layout still been there.

[@jamesf791]

Thank you for sharing this video. While this is not the original layout, the original layout was Q scale.

[@TimMonbrod]

Great Museum and Exhibit! Rosenwald Hall at U of Chicago housed The Department of Geography.

[@trainnerd3029]

I saw this a bunch of times when I was a kid! Great memories!

[@ericlindenmuth7517]

Video portraits the American history of one aspect of transportation, which is really cool! Next trucking took over and now we are on the verge of new transportation in 2024, air travel!!

[@timothyflyte9443]

Thank you for sharing.

[@steelman86]

This is the same museum where Silent film actress Colleen Moores famous fairytale doll house castle is located. Colleen, as well as King Vidor lived in north san luis obispo county in California. It's a treat for the eyes and extremely famous!!

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

I am a lifelong model railroad fan. I saw this layout in its 90s iteration with modern at the time trains, scenery, and industries. Aesthetically it was very focused on the trains, straightforward cargo and car types, and structures directly associated with the trains. The natural scenery also made the trains the focus in simplicity, color, and consistency over the whole layout. It had a very clean but melancholy look that formed what I want in a model railroad. I haven't built one yet. The new HO layout is more little bit of everything and whimsy. A little cluttered. Some things were forced in like the South Shore train and the representation of a steam tourist train.

[@VinnieMorrison]

We just saw that at MSI this summer!

[@millcity9711]

Not this layout, as it's been replaced. This is O gauge, the new layout is rendered in HO. I miss this classic layout, but the new one is equally outstanding.

[@crabbymilton390]

I’ve been visiting that wonderful museum every year since 1989. Never fails to impress.

[@ameyring]

The current model railroad reflects some of the old one by having the train traversing hills and the Santa Fe is now part of the modern BNSF.

[@richardbrown3061]

This was taken down and replaced with a more detailed HO layout modeled after the city of Chicago.

[@pullmanjunction5854]

Glad to be able to see this old film. I wish the time counter wasn't there though. It is distracting.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous KZbin users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@pullmanjunction5854]

@@PeriscopeFilm - thank you for the explanation to my uninformed comment. I appreciate the work your company is performing!

[@metalgypsy4]

🙌

[@J_Calvin_Hobbes]

👍

[@robbob5318]

I like 👍 👌

[@YouSimon1000]

Wonder where that beautiful E3 #11 and the passenger cars are today?

[@MygrandpasTrain]

Collectors have some of them. So at least they didnt get thrown out

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Everything was Ebayed. I wish there was a photo catalog of everything sold. If I remember, the older trains were in a display case.

[@sleepyheadsleeps]

Does the train setup still operate .

[@pauljensen5699]

No, it was replaced in the mid 1990's. The current Museum of Science and Industry updated with a HO model railroad.

[@michaeldickson9876]

I am sure it is somewhere in comments, but what specific scale is this rail road?

[@smokeystover5682]

Appears to be O Gauge. One quarter inch to the foot.

[@SmallGardenRailroad]

See 8:36 for size of model, clearly O scale indeed

[@jamesf791]

​@@SmallGardenRailroadit's actually Q gauge. O gauge is slightly smaller. Even the Museum of Science and Industry admits it's Q gauge.it's actually Q gauge. O gauge is slightly smaller. Even the Museum of Science and Industry admits it's Q gauge.

[@SmallGardenRailroad]

​@@jamesf791 thanks for pointing that out! I had never heard of Q scale before but now I found some info on Wikepedia and O scale forum. Very interesting.

[@boldcounsel9406]

Trains operate best on tracks that are level. So much so that hills are flattened, bridges are built, and mountains are tunneled-through to adhere to a strict horizontal datum. Some railines like The TransSiberian Railroad stretch 1000s of miles over several continents. If we weren't taught the ground beneath us was curving and spinning, we'd never come to that conclusion ourselves.

[@boldcounsel9406]

True science may produce some questions you can't answer. It should never produce answers that you can't question.

[@newdefsys]

The Durango-Silverton line rises almost 2800ft in elevation over the rail's 45 mile route. The incline in elevation is so small that it is imperceptible to passengers, yet as the train climbs ever so subtly from the Animas Valley below, it is soon thousands of feet high in the mountains with towering views of the Animas River, a thousand feet below. But, if you were to stand at any one segment of that rail, you would _conclude_ that it is as flat as a pancake. The human brain has not evolved to perceive vast inclines or curvatures on a global scale, no more than you could see ultraviolet light, or hear a dog whistle. The world around you greatly exceeds the limits of your perception.

[@boldcounsel9406]

@@newdefsys Which do you think best fits _The Rule_ here; and which is _The Exception:_ *A.* - Trans-Siberian RR: Several trillion tons (coal, lumber, gas...) Europe--> China *B.* Durango-Silverton - Tourist attraction train in Colorado (that maybe worth the visit).

[@mamarussellthepie3995]

Lol, what conclusion? That railroads adhere to an apparent *"strict horizontal datum"* ?

[@boldcounsel9406]

@@mamarussellthepie3995 *Answer:* The conclusion I clearly stated in the same sentence.

[@positivelynegative9149]

Train!

[@smokeystover5682]

Two-rail O Gauge. Most O Gauge I see is three-rail. Interesting.

[@STEELE9999]

This is really "O" Scale where Lionel trains are "O" Gauge. Scale models are more accurately rendered

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Proper O gauge is 1/48 scale but a lot of Lionel trains running on that track are undersized, closer to 1/64 S scale.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Anybody know what's become of the Museum of Science and Industry's, O gauge trains and buildings as seen here? Nobody seems to know!

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Ebay.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@MilwaukeeF40C NOOOO!

[@robbob5318]

Chew Chew Charlie was a Engineer

[@wooderdsaunders7429]

O or ho scale?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

O

[@EuroScot2023]

It's actually Q Scale which is slightly larger than O. Things weren't as accurately standardised at that time.

[@hillbillyscholar8126]

Video won’t play…

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Get a new internet service provider?

[@hillbillyscholar8126]

Every other video on the platform I view works. It is not a problem by me. 💁

[@PeriscopeFilm]

You need to complain to Google / KZbin not to us silly!

[@franktuckwell196]

I'll bet there isn't a single driver in any of the badly filmed cabs. Retired train driver. Most displays do not bother to put crews or passengers into their trains, yet put them on platforms and only do half the job.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I have an O scale, New York Central, 4-6-4, J3 Hudson by Lionel along with the accompanying "20th Century Limited" passenger cars. The steam locomotive and the passenger cars have scale people inside them (by the way, I'm a retired train driver (engineer) too).

[@kentfrederick8929]

Now, the train set has been updated and reflects the Santa Fe's merger with the Burlington Northern. So, the locomotives are in BNSF colors. Also, instead of the Southwest, the train set shows the traffic between Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Seattle.