Freight Car Department

I thought I would take advantage of the blog format to pose a question to the "Court of Public Opinion".  In many cases members and friends do not understand the acquisition process or how decisions are made.  First, the car or locomotive must be 'available'.  Then, funding must be secured; REMEMBER even a free car is not free of expenses.  With those elements in place, a proposal is submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration.  So, here we are at the beginning.

The following images are by Andrew Cornillie taken in 2005.

The Car!

Here is the car.  It has been on our Museum 'watch list' for maybe 10 years and word has filtered down that it is now available.  An all steel Pullman Standard iconic boxcar from the Chicago & North Western.

Traces of the Lettering

The car carried the classy 'Route of the Streamliners' billboard legend on its right side, here still faintly visible.

The Site

Here is an overview of the site, in the Chicago area.  You will see two additional CNW boxcars at this location but they are not available at this time - and the Streamliner car is the one we previously selected for our want list.  It is the far car in this view so is also the most accessable for loading on a truck to transport it to Union.

THE PITCH - Neither the Freight Department, nor the Museum General Fund, have the money to make this happen.  Yet it would appear to be a fan favorite fallen flag and a good fit into our Museum roster of freight cars.  We do not know how imminent the disposition of this jewel might be, but we have lost many possible acquisitions over the years waiting for funding or other pieces to fall into place.

So some response and feedback is needed fairly quickly if we are to pursue this.  Of course that means donations from members and friends.  But perhaps the CNW Historical Society might want to help.  Fellow Historical Societies have made donations or grants to help preserve IRM equipment - most notably the Milwaukee Road and the Great Northern.  We would not want the CNW left out!!

So, it is estimated we would need about $5000 to load and ship the car and have it safe on IRM track.  That does not include the beginning of any work to stabilize it, restore it, use it in freight trains, or place it under protection in a Barn.  First we have to acquire it, but that implies a longer term commitment to its preservation.

What say you all?

Bob Kutella

Many of you have commented that they enjoy my efforts to post current news and photos of IRM on this series of blogs.  I rely heavily on images submitted to me, especially by Kirk Warner.  Kirk becomes a snowbird every winter and flees to warmer weather, so in a week he will be gone.  And I am faced with some committments which will prevent my attendance at IRM for a month or more.

So these twice a week (or more) updates will disappear for a while, unless some brave soul wants to send the images to me via e mail.  I will plan on checking the home computer regularly and will not be totally out of touch.

Thanks, everyone, for your help and support.

Bob Kutella

B End

We are still making progress on applying complete lettering to the car.  Here, on the B End you see the reporting marks in 4 inch letters.

Car Numbers

Several different techniques are used depending on the historical accuracy we need to portray and the size and location of the lettering.  Here you see the numbers being applied to the B End painting entirely free hand with a very small brush.  Talk about time consuming!

Done with the Number

The end results are worth it!  And on this car the Chrome Yellow color of the letters makes them really jump out from the black background.  Two more lines of lettering will complete this end.

Right Side

Meanwhile, on the right side, the class and test data are being applied using a sort of pad printing technique.  When completing a line elsewhere on the car, it must be left to dry; so if time is left in the day, we move to a different spot for the the next block of text or numbers.