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Tuesday, December 13. 2011IRM Acquires New Railroad!At the November meeting, the Directors voted to acquire a new railroad, all assets and rolling stock and locomotives. Henry Vincent has volunteered to be the Project Manager for this large new project. Many members have long dreamed of adding a model railroad to our site, to provide an entertaining and new attraction for IRM. Many of our peer preservation organizations have such a feature, and they have proved worthwhile and popular with visitors. This a very large layout in HO scale in the Milwaukee area that was the life work of an exceptional modeler who recently passed away. The estate offered it to us as a donation and it has been accepted. This is the type of project many of us can only dream about, let alone have the resources and help to achieve that dream.  Industry I will offer a short photo tour of some of the areas, and these cannot begin to do justice to the scope and quality of the work.  Engine Facility  CNW Passenger Station  Industry  Skirting Removed  Building Flats  Grain Facility As I said, this is truly a wonder to behold whether you are a diehard modeler or not. But the real work lies ahead. We are making plans and examining options and funding sources to create a public display in a new building. Yes, it is a LARGE undertaking but we think achievable. The first and most immediate task is to dismantle and inventory, document the layout, and move it to Union. And the deadline is to do this before the end of 2011! So if you would like to help please contact the Project Manager asap. Help of any sort, many hands are needed. And of course if you see value in this effort as many of us do, donations to the public model railroad display would be appreciated and welcomed, Tuesday, December 13. 2011News and Views - December 10-11, 2011Lots of activity to be reported, so this will largely be images with only short captions.  Windows I bet you are getting tired of the WINDOWS caption, but it what we are doing right now in the shop. Victor Hunphreys is fitting the glass into the eight new windows for Norfolk & Western 2050  Windows Buzz Morisette is mortising parts for many new windows for the ATSF 1400 caboose.  Windows Ray Schmid is continuing to work on six window restorations for the Michigan Electric 28  Windows Tim Peters has almost completed many new upper sash windows for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797 and he is fitting glass, ready to begin the glazing process.  Door Tim also worked on restoration duties for the motorman's door for the 1797.  Springs On the TMS project, Fred Zimmerman helped cleaning and priming two sets of leaf springs for the truck rebuilding.  Motive Power On a perfectly clear winter day, here is a shot of the shop workhorse locomotive, Commonwealth Edison 4. We rarely get to consider that these creatures work in the background while all the glamor shots are focused on our restored service cars and projects to complete more of them.  Peeking Out The locomotive was used to switch several cars around, and to pull the Chicago and West Towns 141 over the pit area for truck work and side bearing adjustments.  Another View Here is the C&WT 141 a little more eastward with more of it enjoying the clear weather. |
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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 [...]