Illinois Railway Museum Blog

The team in the Steam Department are refiguring some of their storage area.  Making full use of the space in the steam barn is Jeff Calidene with the shop's fork lift.   Since space is at such a premium it was decided to make more efficient use of wall space by purchasing and installing tall storage metal racks.    They are moving long stored engine parts from the floor and onto these palette racks.   This solves two problems.   First, it inventories and tags the individual steam locomotives parts and, second, it moves them from the floor onto the racks so that they can be accessed at later date.   This clears valuable floor space for ongoing projects. Smart idea I would say!    Stay tuned!  More to come!

Jeff just finished building and installing the new racks 

One of the first pieces of equipment to be stored in this space is our McCabe Flanger 

A closer view of the flanger setting in the new storage area 

For some of you that are new to this site the Steam Dept is always looking for more volunteers who are interested in learning the many aspects of steam locomotive preservation and operation.    Another aspect of their efforts is the constant need for additional funds [$] to continue the equipment restorations.   One project comes to mind!  The Union Pacific 428, our 2-8-0, is in desperate need of more funds to continue the work necessary to complete it to full operation.  What is the estimate to completely fund the project, you ask?   To finish the job by our volunteers the estimate is $22,750.    To send out some of the machining work to a qualified contractor, you can more than double that figure, to an estimated 53,000!!   That is why your donations to the steam dept are so important.  Tom and his crew can accomplish a lot with the funds they receive!  The museum, with its vast amount of ongoing projects, just does not have enough funds to  devote to this one.    Why not send in $10, $20, or $50, to UP 428 project, today.   Thanks   Roger