Tom and myself were out today and knocked out another section of brush cutting on the mainline. My original plan to volunteer in the Library fell apart so Tom and I ran out to Book Creek Bridge and finished cutting the entire length of the curve including the area at and around the bridge which was, to say the least, an interesting experience. With a few hours of light left we ran to the far west end and began cutting eastbound. In this area only one side needing cutting so while Tom ran the south side I kept the machine stable by counterbalancing the north side. We cut the entire main from Jefferson St to west switch Schmidt, the UP interchange, Schmidt Siding and one pass East switch Schmidt to the West Station Switch. One more good day with some trimming on the mainline at Schmidt and between East and West Station switches, everything west of the big tree will be done. (~MP 1.6) I'd say we're about 1/3 of the way finished with the line.
In amazement, nothing failed or went wrong today... A few sprits of ether and she fired up, no hydraulic failures and no harm to hidden objects in the grass... This really is a terrific machine to have on hand.
We will continue to mow the line as much as possible. It's fair to say we'll have the entire line mowed before revenue trains begin in April. That's the goal anyway.
Adam Robillard
Comments
Fri, 03-29-2024 21:26
We're slackers and spend more time working on the equipment in the shop than keeping all you readers updated. We'll work on it, but I'm sure updates [...]
Thu, 03-14-2024 08:02
What happened to the Department Blog? It's been over 2 years and I still regularly check for updates, but nothing comes...
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]