Freight Car Department

There has not been much news about the new barn planned over Yard 14, and I have been waiting to post some firm news or commitment.  I am sure our financial team is busy with fund balances, dotting every i and crossing every t.  For my part I have gone back over 6 months of weekly cash reports and manually created my own ledger sheets.  I am convinced that what I see shows we are at or very close to the fundraising goal for the new barn.  That is based on the estimated cost of the project, so understand it may have to be tweaked somewhat.  I would be surprised if that was NOT the case.

To start out there has been remarkable support for the project and I would like to publicly thank all members, donors, and friends who have contributed to the project.  That goes for any donation, whether to those items in my department, for another favorite department or single car, or in a general way to the overall project.  THANK YOU.

So these are my words, not official word passed down from the mountain.  I have paid particular attention to those cars in my department - remember I am carrying the burden of Collection Curator for the Freight Car Collection.  (At least sometimes it can seem like a burden)  We REALLY, REALLY need some more donations and support for two of the cars we hope to subscribe to Barn 14.

MILWAUKEE ROAD 97054

MILW 97054

This car is in the unusual position of having restricted donations on hand to cover its move inside the next Barn.  But there remain some expenses associated with its acquisition that remain to be cleared.  In the overall context of things these are relatively small and my fervent hope is that these may be cleared off the books to assure it will go inside under roof.

The background stems to when we first voted to acquire the car.  The railroads moving it to our site had indicated to us that transportation would be donated.  Somewhere along the way that did not come to pass.  We also had pledges to cover all acquisition costs, and regrettably those were not honored and fell into a crack. 

The car is the only covered hopper in our collection and demonstrates the development of milestone technology in the transportation spectrum.  This has very shallow hopper bottoms thereby increasing the volume of the carbody.  But most commodities cannot be unloaded by gravity with that design.  Enter the application of the AIRSLIDE.  This consists of a porous membrane inside the car, lining the hopper troughs.  Upon delivery of the car, compressed air is applied to the membranes and it escapes into the cargo, 'fluidizing' it and making it flow like water.  Can we all get behind this one and push it over the goal?

CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN X 38

Men at Work

This project is one of the great success stories at IRM.  We thought we had lost this Russell snow plow five years ago and yet managed to rescue it last year from the scrapper's torch, literally at the last minute!  Many of our volunteers have devoted hundreds and hundreds of hours to the restoration tasks - a real team effort..  Last September we were able to open it up for tours and give visitors a chance to operate the plow wings during Member's Showcase Weekend.  Over half of the carbody has been cleaned to bare metal and repainted and partially lettered.  Many wood parts in the carbody needed replacing, including carbody framing, floor repairs, interior wood lining, window and door framing, and sills.  Over the past winter volunteers continued the work in our shops constructing eleven new windows from scratch along with two new carbody doors.  The window and door work was done on a wish and prayer at very little cost, yet represents over $10,000 worth of woodwork if it had to be purchased from a custom cabinet shop.

As the weather moderates we hope to install all that work and continue the carbody restoration, repairs and repainting.  Should all that effort be for naught?  The opportunity is clear!  With more funding this also can go inside and be protected under roof.  The work will be saved from rapid weathering and deterioration, we can confirm the historic value and recognize the volunteer efforts.  The car promises to be a showpiece and be unique in displaying the character of its design, and its use by an iconic midwestern railroad fighting winter storms.  We are about halfway to the goal for this one piece of equipment and the end is in sight.

Any or all of you reading this probably check our website BLOGS on a regular basis so know what is coming next.  If you wish to donate using our on line feature, you may elect to send a contribution to Chicago Great Western X 38 (listed as an option under FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT), or to INDOOR STORAGE (again please choose the FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT option).

If by mail please send the check to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL 60180

On your check please use the memo line to specify your intended donation use.  Fund R97054 for the covered hopper, fund RX38, for the snow plow, or fund RISWFC to help with the balance needed for indoor storage of freight cars.  I will pledge that any new unspecified donation to the department, such as to fund RFRTCR will go first toward housing our historic equipment.

This is your chance to make a REAL TANGIBLE contribution to preserving history and safeguarding the equipment and the work that goes into them, for decades to come.  Having just re-read this before posting, I will sign off now as I go to find MY checkbook.  Let's not miss the train on this one!