Illinois Railway Museum Blog

            The L&N diner, 2726, aka The Galt House, has finally been removed from track 33 to track 31 in preparation for much needed 2015 mechanics and inspections.  On December 6th  Paul Cronin and I began the work needed to repair the buffer damage  that was on the eastern side of the car.  This damage occurred more than 6 years ago as a result of the diner's movement back to the museum.                                               As the picture below shows Paul is quite knowageable in his techniques while using a torch.   That's one craft I never learned!        With the help from Bob Olsen, the three of us tugged and pulled and finally had enough room to pull out the bent buffer bar.                                        Wednesday, Dec 10, also the day of the woodshop xmas party, found a larger crew working on the buffer reassembly.                A special member came to visit us in barn 3 that cold day in December.             Not pictured but equally important was the reinstallation of the torsion rod.    This was accomplished on Saturday, Dec, 13th by Paul Cronin and Brian Le Kemper    Yet to be accomplished is the repair of the extremely bent steel buffer.    We must cut out the damaged area and weld in a new piece.   This will take place sometime in January or February , weather permitting.   With a new push on the diner the air is fresh with renewed optimism that the 2726 might operate in 2015.                        Again, Happy Holidays     Roger Kramer