Illinois Railway Museum Blog

I will start this entry with a few views from around the property.  And I am very short of time so this will be a short entry overall.

New Arrival

YES, another new arrival was sitting on our interchange track.  As I drove by I used the telephoto setting to give you an idea of the new OHIO locomotive crane.  To me, a face only a mother could love - at least from this end of it.

Trolley Bus Expansion

You have probably read that we received the donation of steel poles from Dayton Ohio to facilitate an expansion of our electric trolley bus system.  Here is a view west down Central Avenue.  The new poles were painted, set in concrete, and received new span wire.  The old bracket arms supporting the wire have been removed and the old wood poles pulled out, laying on the ground.  I did not count but probably five or six sets of these steel poles from here west to the curve.

Out In the Sun

For the first time in years, Charles City Western 300 came out of Barn 4 for some air.  It has been moved but this time traveled to the east end of Barn 4 on Track 41.  Pete Galayda and Gerry Dettloff are on the loco to install the two trolley poles.

Washed Up

With the poles installed, Pete and John Nelligan got out the hose and washing supplies and cleaned the old girl up, real nice, ready for the big dance.

Our Plow

I spent most of the day up on the roof of the plow with Dave Rogan, pictured here.  Too bad much of what we accomplished will be all but invisible from the ground, but rest assured it is necessary and we made good progress.  Notice something different in this picture?  Both new cupola windows have been installed on this side!!

A Friendly Wave

Buzz Morisette installed the window we mention above, and he gives us a friendly wave as he continues to work inside the cupola.  The window to the right (rear of the plow) is fixed while the front one is a slider and may be opened.

Operator Seat

There are two operator positions up in the plow cab and they used recycled old passenger car seats.  John McKelvey has the first one in the shop right now and here it is upside down on a horse, as he disassembles the pieces.

Boxes

I mentioned I was out sunning myself on the roof of our snowplow so I got few pics of the shop work.  But I saw Rich Witt at our router rabbeting out pieces for the CA&E First Aid Boxes he is making.