After reading the painstaking work required on refurbishing 1630, as well as all the steamers that IRM crews worked on, as I state the obvious.
Now we know why railroads went to diesel locomotives. Do to the work to keep steam alive, I say "Thank You Very Much."
"Happy Holidays to all at IRM".
Dale Marks
What Ya´doin with Ol´ 2903? Are you Restoring it to Operational Condition? It would be fun to see a Locomotive that Size Operate and Especially Oil Fired.
2903 is normally on display in Barn 9. It was just brought out for the Santa Fe sign dedication. If you want to see a Santa Fe 2900 class engine run; there is a group in Albuquerque, New Mexico restoring sister engine 2926 to operation, and it is almost done.
Hello, I'm a big fan of your guys work, and am very happy about all of the progress you guys have made, especialy on UP 428, I'll never forget the day I just happend to be at the museum when I saw smoke near the steam shop. It was 428 getting her boiler fired up and checked. Now, I have a question. I am a fan of the steam departments resident Berkshire, C&O 2707. My question is, is their any hope for the locomotive? Is there anything that could possibly happen, even a cosmetic restoration? If you have the time, please respond.
-Owen M.
Owen, thank you for your words of encouragement. It is great to see appreciation for all of our hard work. Now as far as C&O 2707 goes there is no plan at this time to preform an operational over hall on her. With 1630 getting annual maintenance, the shay about to return to service, 428 to continue overhauling, 938 cosmetic to finish, along with countless other small jobs to do, we have our hands full. Now I am not saying that we are never going to fix it running condition. We have thought about it. We have thought about them all. It just comes down to desire to do them. So, it may be an extremely long time before it does, but one day it could run. Now, as far as cosmetics go let me make something clear, every engine in the fleet will get a cosmetic restoration. Over the last several years we have fallen behind on cosmetic restorations. However as you can see with the 938 we are starting to plug along at them again. What it comes down to is time, money, and man power. Over time we will continue to do cosmetics on all our engines. While 2707 is not next in line to receive work, it will gets it turn at a cosmetic restoration. If you would like to help 2707 or any of the engines send a donation to their restricted fund. Or you can come on out to the museum and volunteer. We can always use the extra hands. Either way is a great way to help support the steam department. Philip
Seeing comments on railroad social media pages about T&NO 975 "sitting in a field and rusting away." Anything I can pass along regarding it's situation. Thank you.
975 was already in rough shape when IRM got her. I'm not certain if she has been moved indoors, but I do know there are plans to move her indoors. abating the asbestos and sprucing her up costs money, time, and manpower, so if people want to see her look better, they are encouraged to donate to her restricted fund.
While the social media posts you are referencing correct about 975 being outside, it is FAR from "sitting in a field and rusting away." The Illinois Railway Museum is far from a field, while it may look that way if you only visit the south yards. The people posting on that site obviously aren't terribly familiar with IRM's facilities. That being said, its not impossible to have her moved indoors so that she's no longer "rusting away." I highly encourage anybody interested in seeing her moved indoors and later restored donate to her restricted fund. Any donation to IRM is fully tax deductible under IRS Section 501(c)(3)
Nathan, last I heard the Shay was in the process of being reassembled. Unfortunately, nobody has a clue of exactly when it will be finished. With an organization like IRM that relies solely upon volunteers who don't get paid a single penny and simply do the work out of the kindness of their hearts, they're kinda at the mercy of when people can fit the work into their busy personal schedules. Stay tuned, and I'm sure you'll know when the Shay is nearing completion as soon as the Steam Shop knows.