Illinois Railway Museum Blog

The Passenger Car Department crew under the direction of Curator Mike Baksic had been working on the streamliner cars from late September on to get ready for Terror on the Railroad. They had to put air on then they went through each car individually to do a brake test. The Birmingham had leaks and another car had a brake cylinder that needed to be rebuilt. The work was completed two weeks before Terror on the Railroad. 

Sunday, October 6th, department head Mike Baksic and crew member Mark Gellman emptied the dining room of the Ely in preparation for upcoming ceiling repair and Kevin Brown took pictures. Shelly Vanderschaegen and Wayne Baksic installed a door holder in the combine car and Wayne worked on seats.

Wayne Baksic working on a seat in the ATSF 2544

Later on 10/6, Kevin Kriebs, Shelly and Wayne continued peeling decals from the second Exhibit Car. In the afternoon Mike and Mark replaced a seat in the RDC. John McKelvey and Wayne took measurements in the Lake City for men's and women's lounge seats to see how high to make them and where to position the legs.

Wednesday, October 9th, Kevin Kriebs came down and peeled decals again on the second Exhibit Car and did a great job. Thanks Kevin!

Kevin Kriebs smiles as he peels decals

Sunday, October 13th, Ray Mormann, Mark, and Mike put rubber around and in between the two Exhibit Cars to act as a temporary vestibule diaphragm. While Jon Habegger and Shelly continued peeling decals.

Mark Gellman and Ray Mormann outside the Exhibit Car

The gap between the Exhibit Cars

Temporary rubber diaphragm between Exhibit Cars

Wednesday, October 16th, Buzz Morisette taped up most of the clerestory from the ceiling down and secured cardboard over the cabinets in the Ely dining room until he ran out of cardboard.

Ely dining room preparation started by Buzz

Saturday, October 19th, Shelly and Buzz finished covering the clerestory and then put thick plastic all around the Ely dining room prior to taking down the ceiling. The ceiling was down by noon. Buzz applied epoxy to exposed damage wood.

Buzz Morissette covering the Ely dining room floor with plastic

Plastic was hung to protect the dining room walls in the Ely

Ceiling down in Ely shows worst deterioration spot in the dining room

Buzz applying epoxy to areas of damaged wood

Meanwhile, Ray, Mark and Mike cut a hole on the first Exhibit Car near the closed end vestibule exterior wall to remove rust rot and then they patched the hole. This job took most of the day. Later Mike heated up the nozzle on a caulking tube to bend it into position for sealing the temporary vestibule diaphragm between the Exhibit cars to help prevent leaks.

Rust rot removed from first Exhibit Car

Patch in place on repair of Exhibit Car exterior

Mike Baksic working on the temporary diaphragm between Exhibit Cars

Saturday, October 26th, on the front vestibule of the first Exhibit Car Mike and Ray cut and patched another rust rot area. Then on the other side of the first Exhibit Car toward the aisle they marked another rust rot area to be repaired. Kevin Kosen and Shelly worked in the Ely pulling nails from the old ceiling where Buzz will be rebuilding.

A look at the second rust rot patch from inside the vestibule

The next rust rot areas to tackle are marked

During the Terror on the Railroad event, Passenger Car Department members were responsible for getting the streamliner cars ready for use and to act as safety monitors during each night's activities. Mike McCraren and Mark Gellman took most of the shifts. Mike Baksic, Shelly Vanderschaegen, and Andy Townsend were monitoring the streamliner cars on the last Saturday of the event.