Entries by James Kolanowski

The Illinois Railway Museum will offer dinners aboard the Nebraska Zephyr at the Train Festival 2011 event in Rock Island, Illinois on July 21, 22, and 23, 2011 as a fundraiser for the continued restoration of the Nebraska Zephyr. Seating will be extremely limited on each night. The train will be stationary for these dinners. Ticket prices are $75 per guest. Click here to purchase tickets or view additional information.

Your four course dinner will include:

Dill Cucumber Tomato Tea Sandwiches

Fresh Garden Salad

Pork Medallion in Creamy White Wine Sauce
Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Carrots

Caramel Apple Crisp a la Mode

The annual Diesel Days Parade of Power won't be quite as large as previous years, but will still be a show that you should not miss. We'll kick off the day at 10:00am with normal operations, the heavyweight coach train pulled by BN1, 2, 3; the Nebraska Zephyr pulled by CBQ 9911A; and a four car caboose train pulled by BN 5383. Later in the day we'll have a few freight train run-bys with different power each time.

The Parade of Power will begin close to 1:00pm and will include the equipment listed below, but not necessarily in this order.  A few special items in the parade will include the BN 5383 under load from CNW 6847 heading East, and the CNW 6847 under load from BN 5383 heading West. The same drill for the CBQ 504 under load from SP 1518 heading East, and SP 1518 under load from CBQ 504 heading West. They will not stop in front of the depot as the other trains normally do.

- Burlington Northern 1 (EMD F9A), 2 (EMD F9B), 3 (EMD E9A)
- Burlington Northern 5383 (GE U30C)
- Chicago & North Western 6847 (EMD SD40-2)
- Milwaukee Road 760 (FM H10-44)
- Southern Pacific 1518 (EMD SD7)
- Chicago Burlington & Quincy 504 (EMD SD24)
- Chicago & North Western 411 (EMD F7A) Bilevels
- Chicago Burlington & Quincy 9911A (EMC E5A) Nebraska Zephyr
- Chicago Burlington & Quincy 9255 (EMD SW7)
- Commonwealth Edison 15 (EMD SW1)
- Nekoosa Paper 14 (ALCO S1)
- United States Army 8537 (GE 45Ton)
- Wisconsin Central 7525 (EMD SD45MQ-3), Santa Fe 92 (EMD FP45)
- Green Bay & Western 2407 (ALCO RSD15)
- Illinois Terminal 1605 (EMD GP7)
- Chicago & North Western 4160 (EMD GP7R)

The line up will be similar on Sunday, except the ATSF 92 will lead the WC 7525 and this consist may pull the coach train in place of BN1, 2 and 3.

We'll keep the usual disclaimer of All equipment and schedules subject to change without notice.

A night photo session is not scheduled this year.

About three weeks ago we brought the Nebraska Zephyr into the Diesel Shop to begin a very long process of cleaning, buffing and polishing her stainless steel siding.  Many, many years of road grime, a lot of cast iron brake shoe dust, and dust from sitting idle in Barn 9 have really collected and just won't come off with a simple washing with a pressure washer. The first few days were spent finding the right materials, wheels, rouge and the best methods for cutting and polishing the current sandpaper feel of the stainless.

We did find a pretty good method that will hopefully fit our timeframe, which is basically 5 weeks for 5 cars and a locomotive, a total of about 415 feet of train. On the fluted areas, we start with a scotch bright pad, gray or red as others were too harsh, and go a couple passes to break into the dirt pretty good, but not get into the stainless. Then on to the stainless wool, to take off pretty much all of the remaining dirt and debris. The first two steps here are all by hand. Then on to the power tools, a few Milwaukee variable speed buffers with a couple 8 inch, 60 ply cotton muslin sewn wheels and some rouge specifically for stainless from a company called Zephyr Products, that was quite ironic. This stuff does a great job of cutting and polishing. The final step is using a similar type of wheel, but smaller diameter, with no rouge and just going over the same area quicker to clean up any residue and it gives a nice smooth, almost mirror like finish to the fluted sides.

The flat panels are a bit different. There is no way we'll have time to get the finish we would like with the machines, so we start with stainless wool, clean the surface with side to side movements only, and then finish off with P21S polishing soap. Again, all of it is by hand.

The curves from the letter board up the roof were a little more difficult at first as the corrugation is pretty narrow. On top of that, there is a lot more dirt caked in them from there being a lot more horizontal surface area. The quickest way through the dirt was folded up scotch bright pads and more stainless wool. The same method is being used on the area curving down to the belly pans.

So far the Venus, Vesta, and most of Minerva are completed, Juno has been started. Sometime in the next day or two the train will be wyed since it doesn't fit in the shop, let alone the building, and the last two cars will hopefully be completed by the middle to end of next week. Riley, Chris, Pete, Colton, Charlie, Eric, Kevin, the other Kevin, and Jeron have all been pretty busy moving this along quickly. Thank you all for the hard work.

We'll post another update in a week or so, along with progress  updates of other projects in the shop.

For release June 20, 2011

Historic Train to Attend America’s Railroad Celebration in Rock Island, IL

Update July 19: Nebraska Zephyr to offer dinner train service at Train Festival 2011

Update July 19: Track the Nebraska Zephyr via GPS to Rock Island, Illinois

Train Festival 2011 in partnership with the Illinois Railway Museum announces the addition of IRM’s historic train set, the Nebraska Zephyr, to the Train Festival lineup.  The silver Zephyr, a full matching train, will take passengers to Bureau Illinois and return on July 24. This will be the first time the general public will be allowed to ride this train outside Museum grounds since the Zephyr was taken out of regular service in the 1960’s.

Accompanying the Zephyr to Train Festival 2011 will be ex-Chicago & NorthWestern F7 streamlined diesel locomotive and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy SW7 diesel switch locomotive. All locomotives and passenger cars will be on display during the 4 day event.

The Nebraska Zephyr will be on display for visitors to tour during the day. On Sunday July 24, the Zephyr, pulled by the 9911A, will do something it has not done in over 40 years, offer a public excursion for up to 150 people to Bureau, Il and return. The train has run at the Illinois Railway Museum for years and has left the museum rarely for a private charter or movie shoot. This will be the first opportunity for the general public to ride this historic train outside the museum in decades. The train is scheduled to depart Rock Island at 10am and return around 3:30pm. Lunch will be served on the train in the dinning car. Two classes of service will be offered, coach class and premium class. Premium passengers will be treated to a meal prepared on the train by IRM chefs over the original charcoal grill. Coach passengers will receive a gourmet boxed lunch and beverages. Tickets are limited to 120 coach seats at $219 each and 32 premium parlor seats at $329 each. Tickets include the round trip excursion, lunch, a photo run-by, admission to the event and a ride on history. This will be the only excursion offered on the Nebraska Zephyr. Tickets are available at http://trainfestival2011.com/tickets/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10.

The Nebraska Zephyr, CB&Q E5, CB&Q SW7 and C&NW F7 locomotives will be on display at Train Festival 2011, July 21-24 in Rock Island, IL. The locomotives will join 7 steam locomotives from around the country, Amtrak locomotives, locomotives from the Iowa Interstate Railroad and others on display for public viewing. Excursions are offered each day behind different locomotives pulling historic passenger cars. Excursions run to different locations in Illinois and Iowa. Also offered at Train Festival 2011 are miniature train rides, children’s area, model trains, riverboat excursions, railroad vendors, children’s concerts, and various railroad displays. More information and tickets are available at www.trainfestival2011.com or by calling the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-747-7800.  

For Information on the Illinois Railway Museum visit www.irm.org
For information on Train Festival 2011 visit www.trainfestival2011.com

Release Contact Info:
Jason Johnson
Chairman – Train Festival 2011
jason@prestigecreative.com
330-339-5100



Information About Trains:

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Nebraska Zephyr
Built in 1936 by Budd

Following the introduction of the highly successful "Pioneer Zephyr" in 1934, the first diesel powered streamlined train, the CB&Q took delivery of this train and an identical sister train in 1936 for use in the then highly lucrative and fiercely competitive Chicago-Minneapolis passenger market. They became known as the "Trains of the Gods and Goddesses", because the cars were named for Greek and Roman deities.

Like the "Pioneer Zephyr" and other early streamlined trains, this train and its sister were complete articulated units which could not be uncoupled except by the repair shops. Unlike the earlier streamliners, however, the locomotives of the 1936 Zephyrs were not integral parts of the trains. This prevented an engine breakdown from requiring an entire train to be removed from service. Articulated trains such as this one fell into disfavor soon after the 1936 Zephyrs were built because of the impossibility of varying train lengths.

The 1936 Zephyrs were replaced on the Twin Cities route by newer streamlined equipment in 1947. This train and its sister both then received the name "Nebraska Zephyr" and were used between Chicago, Omaha and Lincoln. Originally seven cars in length, both trains were reduced to five cars in later years. They were retired in 1968.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 9255 (EMD SW7)
This operational SW7 switcher was built in 1950. It is a phase II variation that included a redesigned cab window eliminating the curves on the front. It was acquired from the Burlington Northern in 1995 as Davenport, Rock Island and North Western 121, a shortline jointly owned by BN and CP Rail that operated on the site of Train Festival 2011. It was restored at IRM to CB&Q 9255 in 2006 and operates regularly switching the museums yards.

Chicago & North Western 411 (EMD F7A)
This operational F7A was built in 1949 as CNW 4082C. It was acquired in 1999 from Metra as 305 along with Metra 308. It was used in CNW's Chicago commuter service as well as freight service, later being used for work train service on Metra.  It was restored to CNW 411 in 2006, and regularly operates at IRM with restored CNW commuter cars.

The Illinois Railway Museum is pleased to announce that Union Pacific 2010, the Boy Scouts of America Locomotive, will be on display at the Illinois Railway Museum on Saturday, May 14th during Scout Day.

The Boy Scouts-themed locomotive is decorated with a series of four distinct graphics:

• The national Boy Scouts of America logo;
• The BSA's 100th Anniversary logo;
• The words "100 Years of Scouting," and,
• Ten emblems representing stages of Scouting and an 11th emblem for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

On Scout Day, boy and girl scout troops participate in a day long event, including a flag ceremony, awarding of badges and touring the museum.