Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Entries from November 2015

Thursday, November 12. 2015

The Mt. Harvard unloading at IRM Posted by Roger Kramer in Passenger Car Department at 17:21

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The Mt. Harvard unloading at IRM

Here is the 190 ton crane with its boom extended unloading just one end of the Mt. Harvard onto its rr truck

Unfortunately, I was not at the museum when the Mt. Harvard was unloaded. These pictures of the unloading were taken by Bob Olsen and sent to me to be used on this blog. Thanks Bob for letting me use your pictures. The 190 ton crane was supplied by the company called CRANE LIFTS from Janesville, Wisconsin. Thanks to Mike, Mitch and Kathy McCutchin for all their expertise. Thanks also to Marv Bult of ROSE CARTAGE SERVICE for his advise and knowledge of trucking the Mt. Harvard.

The boom is fully extended to lift the Harvard

Here is the second rr truck being positioned so that the body can properly sit on it.

Another view positioning the truck

Nick is watching the activity

Moving it to position It just takes the right touch

Job almost completed

I would to again THANK everyone who was involved with the lifting, transportation, loading and unloading of the Mt. Harvard. My sincere thanks to both Crane Lifts and Rose Cartage Service for expert knowledge and assistance. I would also like to thank all of you for your continued support of this project. Unfortunately, what we budgeted for the project both lifting, loading, transporting and unloading at both ends has fallen far short of the actually funds needed to do the job. Due to unforeseen developments at the Mid Continent RR Museum we had to spend an extra day lifting and loading the Mt, Harvard. At the approximate cost of $5,000 per day per crane we accrued a larger expense for the entire project. The trucking of the Mt. Harvard has also cost us more than we budgeted. That translates into more money being spent then we planned for. Therefore, we are now in the red for about $14,000 and this must be paid back to the museum before any restoration plans can begin. You can see our dilemma. At one point we said we could have this car in limited service by 2016. Unless, some large donations come in, our Mt. Harvard WILL NOT be in service anytime soon. Please consider donating to the fund to help us erase this large deficit and then to continue our restoration plans. Thanks again to everyone who gave me kind words of encouragement through out this large project. Roger Kramer

Sunday, November 8. 2015

Trolley Bus/Motor Bus Dept Update ... Posted by Ray Piesciuk in Trolley Bus Department at 07:44

Trolley Bus/Motor Bus Dept Update 11/08/2015

Last weekend (Thursday through Sunday!) we were able to finish the reorganization of the Andersen and Hoffman Garages. A HUGE thank you to Wes Lloyd, who worked alongside me and Richard Schauer the entire day on Sunday. Without his help it is doubtful we would have been able to finish the job last weekend. Once complete, we gave a tour of the newly acquired coaches to President Joe Stupar, First Lady Gwyn Stupar along with other Directors, former Directors and volunteers. Once that was finished, we all joined Frank Hicks and a good size crew to tarp one of the CA&E cars in yard 11. It was a busy and rewarding weekend!

Yesterday started out lending a hand to Joel Ahrendt, who wanted to accomplish the simple task of moving CA&E 460 to the pit for inspection. There just happened to be a couple trucks and two other CA&E cars blocking his path. So we set about getting the two trucks, newly delivered for Tim Peters' 1024 project, ready to be moved. As usual, Richard Schauer was an integral part of the team. After a good deal of oil in strategic places, with additional help from Fred McGullam, Bob Olsen & Tim Peters, and encouragement from Marcus Ruef & Randy Hicks, we were able to get the trucks relocated. We then switched to other two CA&E cars and Joel was finally, with cooperation from the Diesel guys, able to get 460 to the pit.

During the week, Richard and Greg Kepka acquired, primed and painted a new trolley board for Chicago Marmon-Herrington 9553. Yesterday afternoon, with the help of Thomas Slater and David Fullarton, we installed it on the coach. It may be one of the coaches we put into service to shuttle visitors to and from the parking lot during the Christmas event, so it was critical that this maintenance was done prior to the event. Now, it is ready to go!!

We just received the bill for trucking the four newly acquired coaches from MOT in St. Louis. The cost came to around $8,000. Any assistance with defraying this cost via donations will be very gladly accepted!!! Sorry, no pictures this week.

These past several months have seen and incredible amount of activity and progress in both the Trolley Bus and Motor Bus Departments. I want to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us. Not only the volunteers, but those of you who have supported us via donations - to EVERYONE who has helped, you are GREATLY appreciated!!!

Tuesday, November 3. 2015

More Increditable Pictures of the ... Posted by Roger Kramer in Passenger Car Department at 19:36

Comments (27)

More Increditable Pictures of the Mt. Harvard Move

Here are more pictures of the move. I hope you enjoy them as much as I had taking them while driving on the interstates and local highways. I was the only Irm member documenting the move. After months of planning and worrying if the project would finally succeed I certainly enjoyed the entire driving and chasing experience!!

Entering the I-94 corridor off of 136 near Baraboo/Portage

At a rest stop checking the load and making a pit stop

Turning into I-43

Getting the entire procession

Here we are entiring the US20 bypass in Belvidere, Ill We made a left turn and I went thru a red light. It was sort of fun.

I didn't get any pictures of the Mt. Harvard traveling thru Maremgo or Union because by that time I was the lead car showing Marv, driving the130' foot rig, the way to the museum.

I got into the museum grounds first and took these two pictures

We had a small entourage waiting for us which included Dave Diamond Dan Fenlacei Paul Cronin Mark Secco Nick Kallas and Bob Olsen. I hope I didn't forget anyone but I was pretty excited driving onto the property.

Arrival time was dust but we made it. The time was 6:25 PM

Mark took this picture of me. I look a little worn but happy.

This is where the Harvard sat for two days until we finally unloaded it that next Monday morning

But the night was still young. We still had to unload the two wheel sets that were on the flat bed truck. Thanks to Mark Secco Dan Fenlacei Bob Olsen and Paul Cronin for unloading them. The unloading went quite smooth using one of our cranes under the direction of Mark Secco. Matter of fact the trucks were unload without any problems. The fact is because everyone in the crew were railroad men with years of experience between us all. We all knew what we were doing and got the job done! A special THANKS goes out to our two contractor companies with out which moving the Mt. Harvard would not have been possible! First, let me thank the company call Cranelifts out of Janesville Wisconsin, Mike, his wife Kathy, and son Mitch. Boy, they sure all knew what they were doing once we figured out the true weight of the sleeper. We used two cranes, one a 90 ton and the other 195 ton. The total cost was very expensive but was well worth the results. The other part of the team was Rose Cartage Service from Lansing Ill. I believe this is the third time we have used their services. Marv and his team got the special permits, worked out the route,and arranged for all the specialized rigs. They also soothed my nerves as the moving day approached! A special thanks to Marv the owner, and his brother. They sure made it look easy moving this 130 foot rig into loading position and then finally hauling the "Harvard'' to the museum.

I know I have mentioned this many times before but we need your donations to help pay for the move. We have had a substantial cost overrun and really need your help. The bills have been submitted for payment and the Mt. Harvard is now unloaded and sitting on its own trucks at Irm. Please consider a donation to the fund! Thanks to all of you for your support in acquiring this important piece of history for Irm. Roger W. Kramer

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James Kolanowski about Milwaukee Road 33C update
Fri, 03-29-2024 21:26
We're slackers and spend more time working on the equipment in the shop than keeping all you readers updated. We'll work on it, but I'm sure updates [...]

AJ about Milwaukee Road 33C update
Thu, 03-14-2024 08:02
What happened to the Department Blog? It's been over 2 years and I still regularly check for updates, but nothing comes...

Ted Miles about Progress update of the Multi Purpose Building
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]

J Blustein about The Old Bag and the Silver Beaver
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.

Jason E about Progress update of the Multi Purpose Building
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]

Thomas about It Happened One Saturday at IRM
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!

Ted Miles about It Happened One Saturday at IRM
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]

bob miller about Dover Strait Progress Part Three
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?

Ted Miles about John McLoughlin Progress - Part Two
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member

Jason Erkenswick about Diesel Shop update 1/29/2021
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]

Alex Schneider about Dover Strait Progress Part Three
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]

Matthew Maloy about Dover Strait Progress Part Three
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]