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Friday, July 3. 2009
Website stats for June 2009 Posted by James Kolanowski
in Info Tech Department at
03:02
Comments (0) Website stats for June 2009Below are some general stats for the IRM website:
Thursday, July 2. 2009
Milwaukee Streetcar 972 Update ... Posted by Robert Kutella
in TMER&L 972 Streetcar at
05:00
Comments (0) Milwaukee Streetcar 972 Update July1, 2009Time for an update on progress on this popular car. Here Pete Galayda continues the painting of the south side. It is almost complete, west doors restored and re-hung. About time to think about re-applying the lettering, and move on to one of the ends of the car. As an anecdote, yesterday we had a weekday visitor wander into the area after he saw West Allis in one of the sign boxes. Turns out he lives in West Allis and was very excited and amazed at the car. He was still there and taking pics almost an hour later when I passed through! Wednesday, July 1. 2009
URTX 26640 Update June 28, 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in URTX 26640 Insulated Boxcar at
04:50
Comments (0) URTX 26640 Update June 28, 2009John Baletto continues his valiant efforts helping the Freight Department on this car restoration. Here he is painting one of the truck sideframes after a substantial amount of work cleaning off years of 'dreck' and needlechipping old paint and corruption. The work continues - now on the east half of the south side. This is the last quadrant of the car to be re-sided, so hurry out if want pictures of how freight cars weather, or even a sample of the old siding to take home as a souveneir! Other recent work includes trying to reconstruct three blocks of lettering on the car ends, and there really was little to go on. But we think we have enough to re-draw the data and use it for when those ends are repainted. Monday, June 29. 2009Trolley Pageant - July 4thThe Illinois Railway Museum is presenting a new and improved trolley pageant for 2009. The pageant has moved from the slow and congested street car line to the open and photogenic mainline area. This year the pageant allows the Interurban to pose along side a traditional mid-western landscape. Equipment that cannot negotiate tight curvatures of the street car line, have a chance to participate in this years pageant. Electric Locomotives will be leading realistic freight trains of their time along with rolling stock sensitive to each background. The rare appearance of pantograph equipment such as the Illinois Central Electric MU "wicker baskets" and South Shore Line Interurban representing the south side of Chicago and Northwestern Indiana. Street cars line up as they did in down town Chicago and the Rapid transit fleet performs with quick de-acceleration and fast acceleration. The past pageant offered each piece of equipment to review while standing still, this year a number of pieces are selected to review during a run by. Certain trains that have been selected to run by will set the scene of the electric era that many have never had the chance to experience. This year on the 4th of July at IRM the videos come to life, the pictures come to life and memories along with stories are seen. Please support the Trolley Pageant and join us at the Illinois Railway Museum for a step back in time. Other attractions - Trolley Buses operate, Street Car Service and Mainline Electric and Diesel Trains operate, also enjoy the West End Jazz Band playing live. Additional information can be found on the IRM website at www.irm.org. Equipment scheduled to operate (subject to mechanical condition):
Sunday, June 28. 2009
Trolley Bus Department 06/28-29 Posted by Ray Piesciuk
in Trolley Bus Department at
23:56
Comment (1) Trolley Bus Department 06/28-29This weekend was another very productive one for us. Jerry and I spent Saturday doing more cleaning and organizing. Dave Diamond was able to get us a good deal on a couple fireproof cabinets for storing paint, etc. One for the Hoffman Garage and one for the Andersen Garage. Thanks Dave! We also got the majority of the motor bus collection outside for a couple days and Jerry pressure washed the floor of the Hoffman Garage. Thanks again to Dave for lending us the power washer.
Max Tyms makes repairs on the Trolley Bus overhead Sunday morning. On Sunday Max Tyms was able to repair the lightning damaged section for trolley bus overhead – a BIG thanks to Max for taking care of this right away!! We wasted no time after his repairs were completed and brought out our oldest coach (CSL Brill-American 84) for a little exercise and our newest (Seattle MAN 4020) to provide some unscheduled service for our visitors. At 4:15 we received a call from our White Bros. trucker Mel, who was transporting the first of the coaches that we are getting from the OERM collection – Seattle Twin 633. We went to the back gate, let him in, and directed him to the Andersen Garage. There we proceeded to unload the coach. As always, Mel delivered the goods undamaged – thanks Mel!
Seattle 633 arrives at its new home, the Andersen Garage. As with any new arrival, it immediately saw attention. Having lived out in the California desert for 25 years, you can imagine the spider webs, dust, dirt, dust, grime, and did I mention dust? Jerry and Richard went to work inspecting, adjusting, cleaning – basically giving the coach a good going over. By 9:15pm, a short 5 hours after its arrival, we were able to run the coach into the Andersen Garage under its own power!!! There are still some issues that will keep it out of the operating fleet for a little while, bad trolley bases, some low-voltage issues, and it DEFINITELY needs a thorough cleaning, but we will be doing our best to get our newest acquisition out onto Central Avenue for everyone to enjoy.
Seattle Twin 633 joins Seattle MAN 4020. Although they missed being in service together in Seattle by just a couple years, they will have a chance to serve together here at IRM shortly. Coming up Saturday, we plan on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 as supplemental service while the trolley pageant is taking place on the main line. We are looking forward to a good show from the Car Department and love the “can do” attitude that we see over there lately. Keep it up guys!!!! Thursday, June 25. 2009
URTX 26640 Update June 21, 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in URTX 26640 Insulated Boxcar at
05:14
Comments (0) URTX 26640 Update June 21, 2009On Saturday Victor Humphreys painted the final color coat on much of the north side of the car, and we began the research and tracing of what remained of the car end lettering. In the shop, new siding which had been milled, received a coat of prime paint. And by Sunday night, the re-siding of the south side had made it nearly to the door. Wow! If anyone is interested in helping, now that summer weather is here, we are ready to climb on top of the roof and start cleaning to ready it for priming and painting. Yesterday it was about 95 F in the shade, and there was NO shade! Monday, June 22. 2009
Weekend Track Report - June 20/ 21 Posted by Adam Robillard
in Track Department at
00:01
Comments (0) Weekend Track Report - June 20/ 21
The heat this weekend reminded me just how much I like early spring and
late fall... anything over 65 degrees is just too hot. But the high
humidity Saturday didn't stop us from working. The gang this weekend
was Tom H, Steph J, Steve L, myself and special guests JD Marzec, Greg
Frech both from the steam shop and John from the carshop who was
attending for regular membership. As advertised, most of us arrived on
time and prepped for a trip to Four Mile Siding to replace the
switchpoint on the turnout side of the new power switch. We split into
two groups to start out. Steve, Steph and John got the J580 A8
Motorcar, Welding cart and hydraulic cart switched out of Barn 2 while
Tom, JD and Greg got the Model 50 Burro, CNW flat and EJ&E 529
caboose together in Yard 11. I ran around gathering fuel, water and
ice and got the forklift out to load the new switch point onto the
flatcar.
We made it out to Four Mile and were joined by Julie J and Bob O from the signal dept to replace the point. We made quick work out of the job and had the new rods on, including the 'new' #2 rod within an hour. It seems this point is indeed correct and will work fine. We made the slow trek back to the property a bit after 1PM and had everything put away around 2PM. I'm glad to report that all of our machines worked very well and the only thing that required a jump start was the forklift...sigh The rest of the day we spent mostly in Yard 11 cleaning off the C&NW flatcar and continuing to load our scrap gondola. The old switchpoint was set up near B&G for Volkmann. JD was able to cut frog bolts with our oxy/ acetelyne torch making quick work out of that. Everyone did a very good job and I appreciate all of the help. I think everyone had an enjoyable day but I've been known to be wrong.. Sunday was only slightly lower key. Tom, Steph and I made up the Track Dept while Steve L spent the day helping the Electric car shop in Barn 4. The goal was to cut brush near Karsten's crossing with the Amtrak brushcutter before operations got underway. Tom and Steph arrived on time and got the machine out and on the rail early. After the Electric car shop finished testing of the overhead on the main it was our turn to get on the line. I showed up just as they were finishing up the first section of cutting and just as the machine developed an air leak... An old air line under the machine came loose from its fitting which put us out of service on the main until we could come up with a fix. An hour or so later, after numerous trips to the property and failed attempts at a repair we ended up changing the entire hose. We got ourselves back in service and cleared the mainline for revenue service shortly after. There is still a little bit of cutting left to do near Karsten's but the worst area has been taken care of. It was a warm weekend and proved how important it is to carry water with us on the line. We have a cooler in Barn 2, lets remember to keep it full. In the next few weeks we will need to take care of some housekeeping chores. The fire inspector will be coming soon and we have a list of things to clean up ASAP. All of the plastic hanging from the ceiling in Tk24 will need to come down and the aisles need to be clear. Until next time... Adam Robillard Roadmaster lzeje657@msn.com Sunday, June 21. 2009Trolley Bus Dept 06/20/2009Ah the best laid plans...We were planning on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 for Chicago Day and were right on track until Friday morning. That's when nature decided to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Lightning struck the trolley bus overhead right in front of the Diner. It burned up a hanger and a support wire. Max Tyms was right there to get the wire temporarily back into place, and of course, put the trolley bus line out of service. He and Jerry Saunders worked on the permanent fix Friday, getting it partially done. We still needed another part to finish the job. Knowing Glen Andersen probably had the foresight to squirrel some away for future use, Jerry, Max, Charlie Strong and I searched all our storage locations, finally coming up with the necessary part around lunch time (thank God for Glen!). Max then cleaned, re-tapped and painted it, making it look like new. Later in the afternoon Max positioned the new bucket truck and got all the necessary tools and span wire in place to make the fix. As he started to raise the boom, the truck burst a hydraulic hose. That put an end to our hope of getting in a few runs late in the day for all the CTA guys that were there for Chicago Day. Hopefully Dave Diamond and his crew will be able to fix the truck and Max will be able to make the repair so we can provide service on our next scheduled day, July 4th. Thanks to everyone who jumped into this project on a moment's notice. We really appreciate the support. Thursday, June 18. 2009
URTX 26640 Update June 17, 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in URTX 26640 Insulated Boxcar at
05:36
Comments (0) URTX 26640 Update June 17, 2009Wednesday, June 17. 2009IRM acquires an EMD SD40-2Volunteers of the Illinois Railway Museum's Internal Combustion Department have been working for a number of years to acquire an EMD SD40-2 Diesel-Electric locomotive. Just recently the Union Pacific Railroad has generously donated the UP 3028, originally Chicago and North Western 6847. 3028 is still in C&NW green and yellow paint and was patched to UP 3028 in February 2003. 3028 was retired in December 2008. There were almost 4,000 SD40-2 locomotives built. The 3028 was built in March 1974, EMD builders number 74609-32, and was part of a 50 unit order. The C&NW owned a total of 135 SD40-2 locomotives. The SD40-2 is 68ft-10in long and weighs 368,000lbs, and rides on EMD HT-C trucks. IRM is soliciting donations to pay for track space for the 3028. At 68'-10", the cost will be $5,162. Track space is a one time charge that every piece of equipment incurs, it is designed to pay for the track that the unit is stored upon. Donations can be made via the IRM online store at this link. Monday, June 15. 2009
URTX 26640 Update - June 14, 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in URTX 26640 Insulated Boxcar at
05:40
Comments (0) URTX 26640 Update - June 14, 2009Work on this outdoor project was slowed a bit this last week due to several days of rain and drizzle. But Sunday dawned clear and Kirk Warner was assisted by John and Kim Baletto in installing the first of the new boards on the south side of this car. Monday, June 15. 2009Wood Shop Update - June 13-14, 2009Bob Milhaupt and Jerry Lynn are assembling ductwork to upgrade the dust pickup for our Berlin Sander. This has been 'in the works' for almost a year and is now taking shape. Here you can the see the new wye connector already installed in the main trunk and more pieces being added to the run. Thanks to Bob Milhaupt and Jerry Lynn for making this look easy. Repairs to the east end of the CRT 1268 continue in Barn 4. Compare the left hand side halfway through the process with the nearly completed right hand side in the background. Monday, June 15. 2009
Union Pacific 18 - June 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in Internal Combustion Department at
05:25
Comments (0) Union Pacific 18 - June 2009Saturday, June 13. 2009
Trolley Bus Department 06/13/2009 Posted by Ray Piesciuk
in Trolley Bus Department at
22:43
Comments (0) Trolley Bus Department 06/13/2009This week we did more cleaning in the Andersen Garage. We were able to get all of the big parts still left in the garage palletized for easy mobility. We also worked some more on the CSL 84. Jerry Saunders installed all new wheel studs on the curbside rear wheel. He then reinstalled the tires. After an inspection of the systems, he pronounced the coach ready for testing (much to the delight of the camera-toting public). After not operating in about 4 years, the coach suffered from a short bout of sit-itis. But after 3 trips, it started to perform much better. We have some minor adjustments and additional cleaning to do, but we are now able to move the coach at will. CSL 84 (built by Brill-American in 1930) makes it first appearance in about 4 years today.
Coming up: We plan on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 for Chicago Day next Saturday. ETS legal is drawing up the transfer documents for our Edmonton coach. We are looking forward to, and are preparing for its arrival.
As we wrapped up for the day (or so we thought), we were intrigued by an unusual headlight shining out the back of barn 6. We investigated and ran into a group of Car Department guys working on getting the IC cars going. Jerry jumped in to help and I did what I do best – watched! After about an hour or so, sure enough out came the 2 IC cars into yard 6. It was GREAT seeing those cars out in the daylight. Yet another example of the kind of new and exciting stuff we are now coming to expect from the Car Department. Can’t wait until the trolley pageant on the 4th! Keep up the good work guys!!!! The IC cars poke their nose out near the end of the day today.
Friday, June 12. 2009
UP 25086 Update June 10, 2009 Posted by Robert Kutella
in Union Pacific 25086 Steel Caboose at
05:05
Comments (0) UP 25086 Update June 10, 2009Bill Leiter is continuing this important task of adding lettering to the painted carbody. Slow and careful work, but it really pays off. Does Lee Regione look guilty about something? Have we caught him in the act? But he is doing a fine job on the caboose interior which has progressed to the point of finish painting. |
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Comments
Mon, 06-29-2009 17:51
KOOL! It is always to see new acquisitions come to the IRM, knowing that they will get the best of restoration and upkeep, by experienced and [...]
Tue, 06-23-2009 01:15
Thank you so much for the great work that is going on at IRM--having grown up around North Shore line at Harmswoods Skokie, My brother Ken and I are [...]
Thu, 06-18-2009 13:17
I was fortunate to attend and participate. I enjoyed the ride and opportunity to make the pouch exchange. Thanks to all for your efforts Chuck [...]
Wed, 06-17-2009 14:11
Neither is likely to operate this year. The 'Liner needs a significant infusion of funds in order to rebuild its traction motors, funds which are not [...]
Sun, 06-14-2009 20:40
Congratulations to the Passenger Car Department on RPO Weekend! I was not able to get to the museum this weekend because of work, but everything [...]
Sun, 06-14-2009 10:02
Hi! I am new to this web comment section of the IRM. If this is the wrong place for a question, I am sorry! Two Electric Cars I have always wanted [...]
Fri, 06-12-2009 08:39
Excellent job on this car. Please add me to list to receive NSL 749 info. Thanks
Mon, 06-08-2009 19:31
Hello, I would like to know what is going on with the steam Department. I am a huge fan and grew up with steam at the Mid Continent in North Freedom, [...]
Sat, 06-06-2009 19:08
I would really like to see some updates from the Steam Department on this web site. I know they ar working hard to get 1630 and 428 out on the line. A [...]
Fri, 05-29-2009 14:28
Are there any plans to operate CSL 144 or CSL 1374 for Chicago Day? Thanks!