Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Hi folks a short note

First, please consider a donation to Olympus, to try and cover the cost of acquiring the car. We have not formally applied to the board yet, but I want to make sure we can pay the bills before we move forward. It truly is a unique one of a kind piece and fits very well with both streamliner sets on property.

Any help at all will be most appreciated. I think folks know that the department is more than willing to put the sweat equity into the car, but our funds are really depleted with the new barn.

http://www.irm.org/gallery/album237

ATSF 2544 is making interior progress second side of seating area is prepped and getting painted, seats are getting ready for installation soon

http://www.irm.org/gallery/ATSF2544

DLW 556 after 3 years is almost done with the steel work on the vestibule. I know Mike and Ray are really ready to be done with this car and move onto something different. Great work takes time, and this has been a really good repair job that most folks will never see, but will make the car safer for revenue service for years to come. Thanks to them.

http://www.irm.org/gallery/album133

With the new Barn open, we have spent a lot of time getting the Villa Falls set up and organized. We have storage space INDOORS for the first time! Yay!

This means we can light and hopefully dehumidify the interior and make it into a decent space for storage until we get a shop and storage area. Every little move forward is good.

March means April is just around the corner, and that means prep for public show.

Cars need to be tested and ready for service, Barn 3 needs to be set up and all the cars checked for lights and displays, Yard 5 needs to be set up for display, and along the way all the winter restoration work needs to be cleaned up and put away. Now, we will also be getting parts of Barn 11 ready for display. The barn may not be open for public right away, but its a project that will still take time. Everyone have a good spring and we hope to see you soon.