Illinois Railway Museum Blog

          Here is a progress update on the  Erie Lackawanna, Coach 556.   Much of fall 2014 the 556 has been languishing in inactivity.   The  Wednesday of Dec 17th, saw a increased  commitment on the coach.  Our new curator designate, Paul Cronin,  decided to try and removed a few baggage racks that were holding up our interior painting efforts.  His past experience with similar racks at another museum paid off.         With the help of myself and Bob Olsen the three of us not only removed a few but removed one entire side of racks in about 1 hour!               This last rack will be the first to be reinstalled.  Paul and I were surprised how smoothly each section was removed.     We saved all the brass screws and placed them in a box then stacked all the rest of the parts.        The  Sunday before Christmas, Mark Hoffmann begin the task of sanding the wall vacated by the racks.    He then primed those areas.  I was not at the museum that weekend but did get a report from him in which he stated that he had sanded and primed about 30 feet.  Pretty good production for one day in a rather poorly heated area.  We intend to have the racks commercially paint stripped then primed and paint at the museum before reinstallation.   If you would like to help pay for the paint stripping please send a donation to EL 556 fund. Thank You!   Since the Rock Island 2612 project is winding down we need many volunteers to help us with this project.  Volunteer days are every  Wednesday and Saturday.    Won't you help!?      Roger 

            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

        First, I would like to thank all of you for reading my restoration blogs and to wish all of you a Happy Holiday Season!!  Next, thanks to all the volunteers in the coach dept who have help make this a very successful year for us.  A number of projects are nearing completion as well as more receiving attention. Do not forget the blogs about the railroad china display. Two weeks ago  Paul Cronin and myself inspected the progress.   Quite impressive and very professional done, I might add.    Look for in the new year more progress and maybe a new arrival or two!    Remember, your donations, whether large or small, help Irm's many, many equipment restoration projects.   Thanks    Roger Kramer,  lead restoration manager                         

                   This fall we have completed two milestone projects on our Rock fleet.   Advertising cards have now been installed in the 2602 and  we now have fifty glass windows in the 2612.     

                    Here on a sunny day in early December I am  installing the last painted window frame in the 2612.  Austin Harvey prepped the last three frames and then I Installed them.   I would like to thank Dan and Lorraine Bixler, Gary Sherman as well as Austin for taking the time to sand each car body brass frame.   This  task was needed to remove the old paint and glue so that each window would more easily open and close.   Now all 50 window frames are painted and glazed with AS2 automotive glass.    Yet to be completed is the installation of 35 feet of new wooden window sills.     This will happen  warm  weather permitting.                                          We also  have done some detail work on the newly repainted 2602.    Rick  Serenda  has installed the car cards in the coach where earlier in the fall Dan Bixler had spent three days cleaning out the groves.   Rick has also removed the peeling wall advertising sign  holders and we will sandblast and paint them when the weather warms returns.              Again,  I  hope you all have a joyous holiday season!