Illinois Railway Museum Blog

There was a lot of activity at IRM yesterday and work around the campus stole the show.

Leviathan Arrives

The Leviathan arrived in the morning and here it rests on its specially constructed trailer, ready to be unloaded.

Tender

The tender is transported on its own special truck trailer which includes a 'box' for accessories and special tools.

On the Rails

The locomotive has been carefully unloaded using a cable winch to play out wire rope letting it move forward, and with a truck providing the pull from the front end.  This can be tricky but was accomplished safely and without incident.

Playground

The new Children's Playground area is rapidly taking form and shape.  Dave Diamond is leading this project with a lot of volunteer help on all fronts.  Here is the first structure assembled and set in place.

Another Jig

The shop area was not idle either.  Rich Witt is working to construct a special jig to cut parts for the TMS truck rebuilding.  There was a crew of three working on Chicago Rapid Transit 1797 and some of the usual suspects toiled on for the Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.

Painting

Frank Kehoe snuck up behind me and captured lettering work on our Great Northern 70104 hopper car.  If only I had a steady hand and could paint a straight line!