Illinois Railway Museum Blog

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!!  

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. 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. 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 

This is the second installment pertaining to the Mt. Harvard acquisition.  Last time I showed you the process of lifting and securing  the sleeper to the trucking rig.  This segment will describe part of the 3.5 hour move from Mid-Continent RR Museum to Irm.  The small entourage consisted of first, the lead vehicle with an oversized wide load sign containing a height measuring device, then the Mt. Harvard itself, plaquer with a OVER SIZE LOAD sign, then next to last, another vehicle again with flashing yellow lights with a OVER SIZE  LOAD sign and then finally myself in my Jeep with my flashers on. The lead vehicle had a measuring stick device to measure the height of any foreign objects as we passed underneath any overhead wires and overpasses, etc.  Fortunately, we did not foul any low hanging wires!  The height of the combined truck and Mt. Harvard body was 15' 4". Marv, from Rose Cartage, permitted the height at 15' 9" so we had plenty of room to spare.  Incidentally, FYI, all major interstate overpasses are now built to 16'  standards and our route was permitted for that height.  All permits were submitted to the states of Illinois and Wisconsin by the cartage company.   It took about two weeks to get final approval.   The permitting procedures also involved the counties and townships in which the load was  traversing.  I originally scheduled the lift and move for the first Monday in October but due to a minor misunderstanding on my part of permitting procedures with the town of North Freedom we had to reschedule the event for Oct 15 and 16. If it would not have been for the new route 12 bypass being constructed for three summer months, we might have had the "Harvard" at the museum much earlier.  It was the only way out of town.  Fortunately, it all worked out find and it gave us addition time to raise the funds to move the car. Speaking of funds....your help is needed to help pay for the transportation costs and the future restoration of the Mt Harvard.   Please join your fellow members in making a contribution to the Mt. Harvard fund.  Thanks  Roger