Nobody objected when we learned that our Amtrak train would need a pair of Chicago & North Western E8 units to guide it through Illinois. The K-Line diesels are smack dab in the heartland of the Land of Lincoln, with a small town and cornfields in the distance along old Route 66. (photo by William Zuback)

Route 66 has been immortalized in popular music, literature and television. Who doesn’t remember the Joads making their way west on the Mother Road of the U.S. in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” or Tod and Buz  of the hit TV series “Route 66” tooling along in a gleaming Corvette?

Many folks who love American railroading also share a fascination with this famous byway, most of which has been lost to time and the Interstate Highway System. Vintage photos and Route 66 memorabilia help them keep its heritage alive.

Count John Ruh among the enthusiastic and dedicated students of the country’s best-known sliver of asphalt. Besides traveling as much of Route 66 as possible, he’s built a 22 x 30-foot model train display that captures many of the highlights of that road.

Over the past 20 or so years, John has assembled a veritable library on Route 66. Even better, he has traveled most of what’s left of Route 66, often with his wife Darlene beside him in their 1967 Ford Mustang.

Those excursions through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and the other five states that are traversed by the Main Street of America gave John first-hand looks at the topography of the Midwest and Southwest. He saw the old motels and gas stations, not to mention the signs that had beckoned tourists to examine giant statues, Indian relics and weird critters.