Metra has donated one of the last surviving F40C locomotives to the Illinois Railway Museum. The locomotive, which has been stored in Chicago for over a decade, was moved to the museum in Union, Ill., on Sunday. 

Metra 614 was built in May 1974 as Milwaukee Road 54. The F40C design was unique to the North Suburban and North West Suburban Mass Transit Districts, which supported commuter service over the Milwaukee Road lines north and west of Chicago to Fox Lake and Elgin. The F40C is a six-axle, six-motor locomotive with a “cowl” design intended purely for passenger service. The locomotive sides were sheathed largely in stainless steel to match the Milwaukee Road’s bi-level commuter coaches. They were also equipped with head-end power (HEP) as built. Only 15 F40C locomotives were built, all in 1974 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors at the EMD plant in McCook, Illinois.

Metra 614 was used in daily service on the Milwaukee Road North and West lines until 2004, when it was removed from active service. It and identical F40C 611 were returned to service in 2009. In 2012, Metra permanently retired both units and put them into storage at Western Avenue. In December 2024, Metra contacted IRM and offered 614 to the museum for historic preservation. The locomotive needs various missing components replaced, notably turbocharger, aftercoolers and ducts, radiators, diode banks, and some other small items. The museum plans to use the locomotive on its demonstration railroad. It is unclear what will happen to Metra 611, which is still stored in Chicago. —Railfan & Railroad Staff