Illinois Railway Museum Blog

It was now one year ago when IRM got the opportunity to save a complete railroad.  In this case in HO scale.  We made arrangements and carefully dismantled the full basement sized empire and moved it to storage at IRM.  That in itself was not a trivial effort and many hours of volunteer work, and driving trips to Wisconsin were involved.

What has been done since then?  The good news is that we are about 45% of the way to our fundraising goal to construct and furnish a building along the Main Street alignment for the exclusive use of the models. THANK YOU to many donors who have supported this project!!  Many preservation sites have a model railroad for the enjoyment of the visitors, young and old, and this would be another step in IRM efforts to broaden and diversify railroad themed displays for the entertainment of our visitors.

We have a purpose designed building plan, with proposed interior use plan, and costs and estimates from builders and suppliers.  We have designed a period appropriate facade in keeping with the theme of Main Street.  We have completed and submitted two grant applications which are pending at this time.  Thank you to the many IRM volunteers who have done a lot of this legwork and planning.

We are privileged to be able to share the following images from Mrs. Lavonn Olander, taken as her late husband was constructing this magnificent and extensive railroad.

The Benchwork Takes Shape

You can see some idea of the extent of the project and that it was built to LAST.  Much of the ultimate development of the railroad followed a plan and the benchwork went in first.

Roadbed

Soon the surveyors were out in force and roadbed was being installed at a fast pace.

Tracklaying

Do not leave out the gandydancers who followed to lay track.  It is all well done and features many complex combinations of components and specialwork.

River Scene

Detailing of many areas included exquisite scenes, fully detailed such as the above view.

Union Station

A very impressive Union Station was included to serve the passenger traffic.  Any modeler would be proud to have constructed just one of the diorama like scenes, yet this railroad included one after another.  No idea where we should look first.

So what is next?  This is where you all may help with donations to restricted fund RMRD.  We can make this happen, sooner rather than later with your help.  We are about halfway to the fund goal of where we need to be to place orders and release contracts for construction.  Whether you are a modeler or not this will be an asset to increase the enjoyment and visitor experience at IRM.  I firmly believe IRM needs to be more 'entertaining' to the typical visitor we get today, and just as we completed a Childrens Playground area in 2012, this could be the next big thing!  Please help with donations to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL 60180