Illinois Railway Museum Blog

The small band of volunteers are working on three ongoing projects in the Coach Department. The progress is being made on the  Mt Harvard, Milwaukee Road 649 and the John Mcloughlin. Here are the updates for your viewing pleasure. First, is the Mt Harvard and its interior restoration. I have been slowly working on the interior with the goal of repainting the hallway leading into the lounge area of the sleeper. Before I purchased the car from Mid Continent RR Museum, its previous owner, Dick Goddard, begin the interior up grade by repainting the lounge and priming part of the hallway. I thought that would be a good place to start where he left off. The hallway was partially stripped but never finish painted. After a few weeks of work it has been primed and  now has a finish top coat.

Here Sandi is using an electric heat gun to remove layers of old paint. 

Our small team has remove the old paint and have sanded the door. I just finished masking those areas getting the door ready for primer. This door leads to a small kitchen.

I just primed this area.

June 5th I painted this area.

Another view this time long from the lounge into the hallway and buffet kitchen.  

Another view, this time taken from the section area into the hallway. 

This wall next to this window has just been sanded and prepped for priming.   

After the painting has been completed. Note that color is an exact match to the old Pullman interior color.

Bob Olsen has started removing the old paint in the hallway leading to the vestibule door.  What a job but we should get the stripping done in another two months.  Weather permitting

This is a massive restoration commitment and a personal goal of mine is to restore the Mt Harvard to limited service at the museum. Before I go on I would like to thank the following crew members for their help; Dale Steichen, Bob Olsen and Kari, Sandi, Paul and Charley Voyda. Now, once the interior is painted and in good shape I will turn my attention to the exterior. That means, basically, finding a welder to work on the installation of new steel panels for the vestibule area and also along the exterior side of the sleeper below the lounge area. A large amount of money. Perhaps, $9000 FOR JUST THAT WORK. The other large expense is the manufacture of major vestibule parts. They include two traps, two stairs and the rebuilding of the two vestibule doors. Since I have some of the parts already in storage the expense should be somewhat less, maybe $7000. Again my goal is to have the Mt Harvard in operation on our demonstration heavyweight steam train showing the membership and educating the general public the significance of passenger trains to the American economy. If you would like to help with this project please consider a donation the Mt Harvard fund. And by all means when visiting IRM please stop by and visit the Mt Harvard. Its currently located in Barn 11. Thanks, Roger Kramer