Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Summer is here... Yay!!

Jon Habegger started the day on Sunday by improving the appearance of his arrival departure display. The October 1955 departure and arrival times of intercity trains from six Chicago stations have been reformatted on sturdy display boards which are tacked to the wall with adhesive strips. It really looks great and gives us a sense of the prevalence of rail travel in the 1950's.

1st Exhibit Car arrivals and departures - Photo by Jon Habegger

Kevin Kriebs continued removing adhesive from the 1st Exhibit Car. He had completed the entire lower portion of the car by lunchtime and then moved a scaffold in place to start on the top half of the car after lunch. It's a huge job but he is getting it done!

By midmorning, Michael Baksic was talking with with John McKelvey about the need for reupholstering coach seats. Shelly Vanderschaegen joined them and the topic changed to rubber flooring for the Birmingham diner, the Santa Fe lounge car, and the Dover Strait.

Chuck and Pauline Trabert made their first appearance at IRM for 2014. Chuck spent his time searching the Milwaukee Road Dynamometer roof to find and stop new leaks which had cropped up since last year's effort to plug all the holes. He pulled off some old patches and replaced them and found one new hole not previously discovered. Late in the day Curator Michael Baksic asked Chuck to remove a triangular metal frame which jutted out on the back of the car before it caused any damage to other cars while hooking up. Shelly climbed up to help remove the fasteners and they got it down in just a few minutes time.

Chuck Trabert patching the X-5000 roof - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Supervisors on the Dynamometer work Michael Baksic and Pauline Trabert - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Shelly climbed up to remove fasteners - Photo by Pauline Trabert

Chuck moved the detached metal frame inside the X-5 - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

While she was in the area, Shelly took a couple of pictures of two cars outside Barn 3.

Shelly captured a shot of the Dynamometer car

Shelly also captured the RPO 1923 which is usually in Barn 3

Mark Hoffmann continued work in the Pullman Car John McGloughlin, needle chipping and priming more surfaces in the Ladies Lounge. Then he showed Shelly his work in progress in the Delaware Lackawanna & Western 556 coach. He has needle chipped and primed portions of that car too.

John McLoughlin ladies lounge ceiling after needle chipping - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

John McLoughlin ladies room ceiling primed - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Lackawana coach 556 needle chipping update - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Larger view of coach 556 - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Mark Hoffmann points out areas to be primed in 556 - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Michael McCraren crafted replica magazines from the 1940's which he put in the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad 1534 lounge car magazine rack. He also replicated a Santa Fe menu which is behind the bar in the lounge car. On the back of it is a list of the times alcohol can be served in the states and even certain counties the train passed through.

Replicas of popular 1940s magazines and brochures - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

Pauline Trabert worked with Shelly finishing the cleaning in the Northern Pacific 325 Slumbercoach Loch Sloy. She cleaned mirrors and surfaces which hadn't yet been done this year while Shelly vacuumed the entire carpeted coach. Next Pauline washed windows, table tops, and seats in the Atlantic Coast Line Birmingham Lightweight Diner while Shelly vacuumed the carpeting in the dining room.

Shelly vacuuming a roomette in the Loch Sloy - Photo by Pauline Trabert

Pauline cleaning a mirror in the Loch Sloy - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen

The Birmingham diner cleaned after lunch - Photo by Pauline Trabert

John McKelvey was finishing reupholstering the last two seats from the DM&IR 84 coach seats in the woodshop. Thanks!! Welcome back, John - we know it's spring/summer when this snowbird arrives.

Lunch was in the Birmingham as usual. Guest Kevin Brown brought cookies to share - treats are always appreciated! Thanks! We also enjoy what he adds to the conversations - not that we're schmoozing him.... but we do want more cookies! John McKelvey, Mike McCraren, Jon Habegger, Kevin Kriebs, Pauline, Shelly and Michael B. our fearless leader, were also enjoying the cookies and discussions.

Kevin Brown joined us for lunch - Photo by Pauline Trabert

Kevin Kriebs and Jon Habegger at lunch in the Birmingham - Photo by Michael McCraren

Shelly Vanderschaegen and Michael Baksic having lunch in the diner - Photo by Michael McCraren

After lunch, Michael McCraren took a picture of the coach train being pulled by Silver Pilot and BN-1.

The Coach train being pulled by Silver Pilot and BN-1 - Photo by Michael McCraren