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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):
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
Comment (1) 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 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. |
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Comments
Tue, 01-19-2021 20:11
Dear, IRM The N and W 611 is coming to the IRM 2021 NHS. OK IRM.
Fri, 01-15-2021 10:20
Hello Jason. Your comments are very much appreciated. Yes, there is much hard work that goes into all our restorations and maintenance here at the [...]
Fri, 01-15-2021 10:13
Hello Jack Yes, It will be one of our most impressive cars that we have at IRM when its completed. Thanks for the pat on the back! Roger.
Thu, 01-14-2021 21:05
Those cars look great so far guys! Man I wish I had the time to volunteer and become a member at IRM that looks like so much fun especially with how [...]
Tue, 01-12-2021 16:30
the pawnee is looking great a pat on the back to all involved
Wed, 01-06-2021 10:14
Good job on coach updates January 5, 2021. Sincerely, Ethan A.
Mon, 01-04-2021 12:31
Hello Jack Happy New Year from IRM. To my knowledge there was no damage from the minor ice storm that we had in late December, 2020. Some [...]
Sun, 01-03-2021 20:12
the museum area had lots of ice storms in area did the museum get a lot of damage
Thu, 12-24-2020 13:27
roger, Thank you to all of the Passenger car department volunteers. The #109 is going to be a great car when all done! Ted miles, [...]
Sun, 12-06-2020 08:46
Hello Ted We havenot finished lettering the 975 but we are well on the way. Look for a few blogs from me now that the wearther is colder and the [...]
Sat, 12-05-2020 18:36
i watched crew replace switch by diesel shop on dec 5. its good to see museum have equipment to do job and save money
Fri, 12-04-2020 14:56
It has been a long time with no news; have you finished lettering the Southern Pacific locomotive? Please post a picture. Ted Miles, IRM Member