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Saturday, December 13. 2014Remembering the Rock Island Part 2 and a IdeaHere is the second installment of pictures taken by Robert Banke. They were taken in and around the Chicago area in the late seventies. Please notice the condition of the yards, facilities and the equipment.  Pictured is RI 2610. Just two numbered coaches away from our 2612. Please credit all these pictures to Robert Banke. This one taken May of 1978.  A six coach commuter train, its now June 2, 1978.  With #649 in the lead this commuter train rounds the curve. Its June 2, 1978  Up close picture of the consist. Taken, 11-1977  Unit 643 waiting for its assignment, November 1977.  Unit 642 rounding a curve June 1978. Anyone know where this picture was taken?  E unit 630 sitting on the ready track. July 1977  Engineer climbing into the cab of the 630. The unit next door is #4804. What RR is that from? July 1977  Rock Island 938 4-6-2 Pacific taken Nov 2012 at IRM
Wednesday, December 10. 2014The Railroad China Display is Getting More PolishedSaturday, December 6, 2014: Michael McCraren reports that he was the 'lone ranger' in the 1st Exhibit Car on Saturday, December 6th. He set the Milwaukee Road portion of the display this day.  Michael McCraren continued setup on the Milwaukee Road china - Photo by Michael McCraren  Another view of the Milwaukee Road display on Saturday - Photo by Michael McCraren Paul Cronin worked on the Galt House Diner buffer. Back in Winter 2008, Phil Stepek reported on the Louisville & Nashville 2726 Diner Galt House: "The diner returned from Horicon but suffered buffer damage in transit. Repairs will require the removal of the diaphragm and buffer plates to reshape the metal. This will probably be deferred until the 2008-2009 off-season. The car will be on display in Barn 3 during the 2008 season." The Coach Department is working to get this car back in service. Sunday, December 7, 2014: There was a light crew on Sunday with only Michael McCraren. Mark Gellman and Jim Windmeier working in the 1st Exhibit Car. More china was put up and some details were added. The Burlington Route section features the "Violet and Daisies" pattern. This pattern was on all major CBQ trains and the California Zephyr.  On Sunday the Milwaukee Road china display was even more polished - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jim Windmeier took pictures of the china for later use - Photo by Michael McCraren  NYC china - the menu in the middle is a dinner menu from the 20th Century Limited - Photo by Michael McCraren  This is the Pennsylvania Railroad china. We have every pattern from the 1900s to the close of operation - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jim Windmeier and guest Kevin Brown at lunch on Sunday - Photo by Michael McCraren Sunday, December 7. 2014Fall restoration activitiesIts been real cold in the weeks of November but the warmer months of late August, September, and October have produced a number of positives. Where as other coach dept projects have the luxury of a indoor heated area where you can work in your street clothes ours now is strictly in a often unheated environment. We have been busy focusing only on a small number of projects. First, our heavy weight sleeper, John McLouglin, has had its long interior hallway completely needle chipped, sanded, and prepped for priming. Some of this work has been preformed in the milder weather of September and October. I have also reinstalled the ceiling light fixture in the women's bathroom. It was removed in January of this year and brought home to my workshop where it was primed and painted to the finish ceiling color. Robert Olsen and Rick Serenda, two new members to our team have been scraping and priming areas on the steel roof. When the weather warms we will prime and paint these areas black..  Chipping in warmer weather. Mike is getting it done.  Chase Renwick chipping in the background.  Its almost complete. That is Matt Voss in he background  Bob Olsen ,yes, another Bob, prepping the surface of the roof.  Bob scraping some tar off the roof. Now, its a lot colder!  The light fixture almost painted. Now its fastened to the ceiling! Next, we have been working on the interior of the Lackawanna coach 556. Mark Hoffman, Loraine Bixler and Brian Patterson have been working on removing the old peeling paint from the ceiling, walls and on the baggage racks. We hope to have the interior painted by next year. Many volunteer hours will be needed to accomplish this task. We now have a limited heating supply to keep the car at least 50 degrees. Maybe that will bring out a few more volunteers to help with the project. Interested? Please see me or Paul Cronin on Saturdays or Wednesdays.  Working on the ceiling and wall of the 556 Jack Biesterfeld has again been working on his favorite project, B&M 1094. He along with Dan Boguse and myself have removed a protection wall behind the oil fired boiler. This boiler will be removed at a later date. In the meantime we have found the old coach wall behind it. The old wall is in a viable state and can be restored. Missing is the wooden window and it's frame. This will be made in our woodshop when monies become available. If you would like to contribute to this worthy project please send a donation to the B&M 1094 Fund. Lastly, Gerry Boguse along with his brother,Dan, have been busy winterizing the water system on the L&N 2726 Diner. They drained all the water out of the system and then filled it with an antifreeze solution used in RV motorhomes. Gerry also received from R and B Metal the last of the made to order stainless steel flooring. These six pieces will be installed next spring. As of yet there is not an interior winter heat source for the diner. Anticipation grows about operating the diner in limited service on our railroad next year!  Gerry showing off the operational water system. This picture was taken in 2011. Thursday, December 4. 2014Remembering the Rock Island in Chicago Part 1These pictures were sent to me courtesy of Robert Banke. They were taken in the late 70's at the Rock Island station. Today, you can not even get close to many passenger commuter yards to take pictures like this let alone just to view them. How times have changed! Please take note of the surroundings in the following pictures. You can see the lack of maintenance of both equipment and infrastructure. Notice there is more grass growing than ties Sad, how a once great railroad would end up like this! Here, then, is a snapshot of what it was like to ride the "ROCK" in the late 70's; the good old days!  A detailed look at coach 2610 taken in May 1978  A detailed look at the old train shed July 1977  Servicing a commuter train. A wider shot of the above picture. July 1977  Two coaches ready for the reverse commute. Notice the people in the cars. Does this look familiar? We are portraying this picture at Irm. May 1978  A detailed close up shot of the two coaches  A carman checking the steam line. Yes, we too might be doing the same thing someday inspecting the steam lines during winter operations. Taken Dec 1977  A rare picture, indeed, of the interior of one coach with the interior lights on. Oct 1976  A detailed look of the same photo. All the lights are on. No burned out bulbs here.  Tickets Please! The ticket agent would have been busy earlier in the day. Notice the 7UP Bottle dispenser and US mail box. You dont see those too often, anymore. March 1977 Monday, December 1. 2014The Last Weekend of November in the Coach DepartmentSaturday, November 29th: Michael McCraren worked in the morning on getting the Pacific Peak set up for winter work. Bedrooms E & F will continue to be restored back to the days when the car belonged to the Union Pacific. Mark Gellman painted the panels above the windows in the Birmingham dining room on the south side of the car. Both men spent the afternoon working on the railroad china display in the 1st Exhibit Car. The Santa Fe section is "done". Changes may still be made be Michael feels they are close to final placement.  Part of the Santa Fe railroad china section - Photo by Michael McCraren  The Santa Fe section is close to final placement - Photo by Michael McCraren  IRM has gone into holiday mode with lights along the fence by the main parking lot - the Holiday Train starts running next weekend - Photo by Michael McCraren Sunday, November 30th:Kevin Kriebs and Shelly Vanderschaegen hung curtains in the Ely in the morning. Michael Baksic and Ray Mormann worked in the Birmingham. Shelly cleaned the Birmingham dining area before lunch.  Very early Sunday morning at IRM - Photo by Mark Gellman  More plates were hung by Mark and Michael M. on Sunday - Photo by Mark Gellman  Jim Windmeier and Mark Gellman pondering the dining car china display in the 1st Exhibit Car - Photo by Jon Habegger A note of thanks to Buzz Morisette who recently stripped the Ely dining room celing light fixtures. They will be primed and painted later. Friday, November 28. 2014Railroad China Display Update from Sunday November 23rdOn Sunday, November 23, 2014, work continued on the railroad china display in the 1st Exhibit Car. Patrice Connelly again joined the crew to advise and help direct the set-up of the exhibit. Last week the team made paper plate "china" which could be taped to the glass of the display case. This week they got down to business placing that "china" on the glass. By the end of the day the first glass shelf and china was placed in the cabinet. This is just the start of the work to mount the china.  Jim Windmeier arranging the paper plate china - Photo by Patrice Connelly  What the Burlington Violets and Daisies display will look like - Photo by Patrice Connelly  Placement of the Santa Fe china - Photo by Mark Gellman Elsewhere in the 1st Exhibit Car, Jon Habegger and Mark Gellman were working on a display for LaSalle Street Station. Lunch was held in the Birmingham even as work has started on it. Mark Gellman has been scrapping the panels above the windows to get the last of the glue off. He has primed the south side of the car. Ray has started to re-wire the car. At lunch were Patrice Connelly, Jon Habegger, Mark Gellman, Kevin Kriebs, Jim Windmeier, Ray Mormann, Nick Kallas, Michael McCraren and Michael Baksic.  Kevin Kriebs and Jon Habegger at lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren  Ray Mormann and Patrice Connelly in the Birmingham diner - Photo by Michael McCraren  Michael Baksic and Mark Gellman at Sunday lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren  Ray, Patrice, Nick Kallas, and Michael B. - Photo by Michael McCraren Wednesday, November 19. 2014Sunday November 16th Coach Department UpdateMichael McCraren arrived before 9:00 AM and captured an image of the first snowfall at IRM.  First snowfall of the year covers IRM - Photo by Michael McCraren Michael Baksic and Shelly Vanderschaegne arrived about 9:30 AM. They spent the morning gathering display items to put into storage for the winter. A crew was at work in the 1st Exhibit Car including Michael McCraren, Mark Gellman, Jon Habegger, Jim Windmeier and guest Patrice Connelly. Patrice has a major in museum studies and design and was asked to come and lend a hand with design elements in the current railroad china display preparation. Mark Gellman and Jon Habegger worked on installing a shelf.  Mark Gellman installing a shelf - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jon Habegger measuring the gap - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jim Windmeier talks over the china exhibit with guest Patrice Connelly - Photo by Michael McCraren  The LaSalle Street Station display had to be moved for the china display - Photo by Michael McCraren  Patrice brought paper plates and cups to make a mock up of the china exhibit - Photo by Michael McCraren John McKelvey came out and Shelly took pictures with him in the Santa Fe Lounge Car. In the photo below, John sits on a completed seat juxtaposed with the obviously soiled appearance of the current seats. The new upholstery material is a close match to the fabric used in the last upholstery work done in the 1534, which was possibly in 1938 when the lounge cars were further remodeled by Santa Fe. At that time, all interior furnishings were removed. Seven Pullman sections complete with upper and lower berths with tables, berth curtains, hangers and etc., were installed. The Pullman berths were used for Dining Car overflow seating, passenger lounging, games, and etc. At night the upper and lower berths were made up and used by the Dining Car crew as a dormitory area to sleep.  John McKelvey sits on a seat he has recently reupholstered - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen Shelly cleaned up the kitchen and eating area in the Birmingham just before the crew came in for lunch. Visitors included Jim West, Buzz Morisette, and Patrice Connelly.  Jim West joined the crew in the Birmingham for lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jim Windmeier, Shelly Vanderschaegen, and Michael Baksic at lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren  Jon Habegger at lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren  Patrice Connelly was a lunch guest - Photo by Michael McCraren  Buzz Morisette and Mark Gellman at Sunday lunch - Photo by Michael McCraren After lunch, items to be used in upcoming displays in the 1st Exhibit Car were collected. And the creation of the paper plate "china" continued. A big Thank You to Patrice Connelly for lending her expertise to the display project underway! |
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Comments
Mon, 01-26-2015 12:08
The 2015 IRM annual meeetings; Rules,safety,election of board members, & any other business, etc. will be held on the 3rd. or 4th. saturday of [...]
Sun, 01-25-2015 20:52
multiple questions concerning this department: 1. Operating stance on RDC9933? 2. will SP 1518 (Eventually) be repainted into its black widow [...]
Sat, 01-24-2015 17:23
Since you have plenty of 645 part laying around, why hasn't anybody worked on the ATSF FP45? Also, when will you cosmetically restore SP 1518? I think [...]
Mon, 01-19-2015 20:52
Thanks Jamie; It's so good to hear some news from the diesel dept. I check here a couple times a week looking for updates. Any news on any of the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:37
I too would like to see the Electroliner fully restored - and in fact - I'd like to see every car/steam loco, diesel, etc on the back lot operable - [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:13
When you donate funds, you may specify what they are used for. In this case the funds were donated specifically for this acquisition. If you think the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 11:14
Buying another relic when the money should be spent on what you have; like electroliner
Sat, 01-17-2015 21:36
how is that gonna work?
Mon, 01-12-2015 16:48
Hello Ted. I am embarrassed to tell you but the "bag" is still not here. We have about 2/3 of the $15K needed to move it. Now w/a new curator things [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:12
Folks, speaking of new cars. What happened to that C,B & Q heavyweight baggage car that was waiting in Denver? Did it ever get to [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:08
Hello Brian L You are correct in all points. We need steam to test the cars. The 1630 will be able to provide that function. Testing may even [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:01
Hello Vince Thanks so much for the info. Its a beautiful scene, one that play every day on the Rock Island. Thanks Roger.