PDF - Illinois Railway Museum

The Newsletter of the Illinois Railway Museum
No. 72
Post Office Box 165. Union. lllinois 60180
April - May 197;2
The advent of t.hewarm summer- weather has made it increasingly difficult to mad rrt ed n
a publishing schedule wh~t with more energies and spare time being devoted to the
museum project a~ Union by all concerned. In order to bring you up to date and whet
your appetite :for the next issue when these subjects will be covered in depth here
is a brief status report.
The Cornwall Street Rwys. locomotive #14 arrived during June and was made operational,
running itself off the flatcar it was shipped on. Fund chairman Dave Shore reports
that the #14 fund is still in the red and urges your consideration in donating t.o
this fund.
MiChigan Electric #28 thanks to your past generosity is now on the property at ~nion
and fund chairman Norman Krente1 has promised to write a report on this exciting move
for the next issue of the newsletter.
Due to the urgency of t1).esituation the Board, of Trustees voted at the July meeting
to purchase a pair of Illinois Central suburban cars. The cars are a standard I,C.
motor trailer cpmbination numbered 1380 and 1198 and cost $3,000 to purchase. F~d
chairman Rqy Cook witt assistance from Tom MangaJ;lare now eng~ged in raising the
funds to pay for these cars which were delivered during July.
These four new pieces of equipment are now at the museum site in Union and I urge you
to come out and see t4e newest additions to the collection and view firsthand th~
progress being made at your museum.
BACK BY ~OPULAR DEMAND DEPT. The Illinois State Historical Society's History mobile
will be making a return engagement to UnioJ;lon Saturday and Sunday, September 16th
and 17th. The new exhil;:lit
"Railroading in Illinois" consists of eighteen cases of
exhibit material and is divided into three specific areas of railroading: the history
of railroads in Illinois, the tools of railroading, and travel on the railroads.
In conjunction wit4 the History mobile exhibit, the museum will have open for public
inspection the restored private car "Ely" fron the Golden era of railroa,diJ;lg.If
you missed it the first time, this will be your last chance this year to see this
fine exhibit, $0 circle those dates, September 16th and 17th, tell your friends
about
it, and come on out to Union.
r>.
-2-
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
The quarterly membership meeting was held on Saturday, April 29 at the Union firehouse with well over 60 regular and associate members in attendance. The main order
of business to be considered by the membership was the enactment of a new set of
bylaws and the election of three trustees to fill offices expiring at this meeting.
The old bylaws that the museum had been operating under were enacted when the museum
was located at the foundry yard in North Chicago at a time when the museum's assets,
budget, and scope of operations were but a fraction of what they are today. After
a lengthy explanation, discussion, revision, and approval by the membership on an
article by article basis, the new bylaws governing the museum were approved by the
membership. Much credit is due to Bob Opal who spearheaded the effort and the bylaws committee composed of Glenn Andersen, Jim Johnson, Frank Jur, and others, our
counsel Tom Ploss, John'Fenlaciki who spent hours typing them up and having a copy
for every member present at the meeting and the many others, who assis-ted in this
important project.
Briefly explained, the new bylaws passed incorporate many provisions of the old set
of bylaws plus revisions which would bring them in line with current state statutes
and museum practices. A copy of the bylaws is available for membership inspection
in the office and sufficient extras have been made so that any member who would like
a personal copy should mail in a request and it will be sent to you.
The next order of business was the election of three trustees to fill positions whic.
had expired at this meeting. Re-elected by acclamation was Frank Jur and after a
lively nomination and run off voting Jeff Brady and Nick Kallas were newly elected to
three year terms of office. A big round of THANKS to retiring trustees Warren Cobb
and Bob Kutella for a job well done.
The seven man Board of Trustees now consists of: Herb Hansen (chairman) Glenn
Andersen, Jeff Brady, Jim Johnson, Frank Jur, Nick Kallas, and Doug Oaks.
After the meeting the new board met to appoint the museum officers.
Corporate officers are:
Current
Pres i dent ...
Herbert N. W. Hans en
First Vice-President
Nick Kallas
Second Vice-President &
General Manager
James D. Johnson
Secretary
Glenn M. Andersen
Treasurer
Frank Jur
Comptroller ....................•. 0...0.Douglas Oaks
Couns el
Thomas Plos s
>
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
o
••••••••••••••••••
o
••••••••••
0
•••••••
o
0
•
0
' ••
•••••••
•••••••••••••••
Current Operating Staff
General Manager.
James D. Johnson
Superintendent of Operations ......•.Fra~k Jur
Stemn Locomotive Repair Foreman ..•0.J. David Conrad
'0 •••••••••••••••••••••
-3-
Car Dept. Mechanical F'oreman......•.
Car De'p; , MainTair..ence Foreman."
Oar R~storatior.L For-eman , ,
Commurri
(.~a
. ti ons Foreman
News Le tt.e r Editor"", •••••
Jeff Brady
.Dave Shore
.Fnank Sirinek
.Dan Gornst ei n
,Nick Kallas
Signal For-eman
.Eran ...
k J1IT
Line Dept., For-eman •.• " ..",,, .. ,, .. ", .. Randy Anderson
Safety Di r-ec't or , "
G,lenn M. Andersen
Gif: Shop Mar:ager .. "),,
flWarren Cobb
0
>
"
o
•
,
.,'
v
0
•
0
,
•
v •
,
,
,
•••••
~
0;
"
~
f)
e ., ~ e
f,
• c
0
•
,
,
G
e ,
$
~
(!,
v
t>
••
:l,.
&~,
0
(Ol ~
0
~
0
o
GO.
0
i;
Ci
.'!I
e,
,
~
e "
OJ
r-i nr.er.dent,
& Greu nds '-
Supe
~
Il
~
v
Q
Bu.i
Po ~
Ld
*
0
e
o a.'
(0
e
'"
$
C
;;,
c (. e
'.0"
o.
Secreta.ry. ~, ..,,," 0" 0""
0",,'0""""
Reco.r df ng Se crettV~: . , 0
0
Ccr r espcndence ')c:-c'?ta.ry.".",
Member s.hip E 2- ' <>:a:c;;
, •
c
s
"
n
'C'
STEAlvl DEPA.'RTMENT
by J.
D,
".'
,
v
••
•••
"
0
,
a
I r.ga
9
Su:perintenden'C} 'trolley bus
fac~.lities,."",."
00"""
Caah i.e r , ,.• "",.,."
0
... ,,"
•
0
.~ ~
••
"
9 ••
•
,
••••
0
'.00'"''
e
.•.
Kal,l as
Glenn M. Andersen
c ••••
Q
Nick
,
D
, •••
Glenn M. Anderson
Rals ton 'I'ay Lor:
.John Kutella
Bob Kutella
•
.Rober-t
Opal
C8nT~d
Work on the Shay con t i.nued tel occupy most of the steam depar-t.ment t s t.Lme vt.h Ls spring
As our operating
season approached wc rk in several areas was speeded up" The front
universal
joints vrhich had been r ebui Lt by weLder Al MacDonald of Huntley, and our
Sherry Smith assisted. by Bill Crosby were installed
and found "to 'be a great improvement"
The safety
(pop) valves v1er~ Lnape ct ed , tested
and tagged,
'I'he mejor work however was
done on the boiler
and fi rE' box of' ·t.he s-ngine.
DennLs Dougherty (in Chicago tc visit)
and Dave Conrad installed
two nev fire 'box staybolts
and a new "uhirab.Le" or b.Lanked
off boiler tube.
Lat er Dave, assIsted
by Mark Secco and Dave Shore, tightend up
and re-beaded most of thebdler
tubes in the fire box, Tightening was done 'with
a flue r-o Ll.e r , a tool 'vli th s ""veral 1008 e rollers
in it.
The tool is placed inside
a boiler tube then a 'Capered rod is pla.ced in he tool and a.n air motor is used to
run it in.
As it goe:; In, the r-o.l Ler-s are f'o r-ced against
the tube causing it to
become tightly
sealed aga.i ns r, t'18 flue sheet,
After this is done an q;ir hammer
is used to .re=bead the errd C'T t he tube
'r'Dls work took 3 'weekends t.o acccmp.Li sh ,
but when done the bc il er- .vi t.hs ,..ood. a 250 psi hydro test wi th nary a drop of water
showing any-where. Al.s o Qdi2 (,;,th""
SId.;,' was : boiler
padnt.ed , Ph.l.L Helm, Jerr
Lynn;
new sheet metal cut out, Bob I'/alk",r, John McKelvey, .Jchn a Lso put new foot boards on
the Shay,
0
Work on the other eng Lnes we,:,; 'ca"l';-:::r ",J ow , but s evar-a.L jobs ',lere done , Number 101
received a new 'wheel set under h-er l2Fi9.r,
a.Lso the truck
cerrt er plate r-ec.ei ved several
of those Shell Oil CC;, Lucr i c at i on wa.rer-s 'you see'on T.V,
'rhe 0-6-0
had some w,;)rk done
on Lt , throttle
lapped lag:::ill) i r.ev steam gage syphon, firebox wash out
and
new metalic
air pump .!;li:;.o~k.l [;g n.ad- 1.1;':
In May, tvro full weeKend.s were d,c;,re:t,;::6. -;:..) the LccomorLve par-t s and tools we were
given by the Eagle-P;',c.hC-;·· l'llrl'1r~
C::" :'::)1 ~•.her; ve got U'(' Decapod.. Arrangement.s
were made with the Fri s co Mr::Whl;~"':'= :::-_srl, at: ('.'.: NvJ .e~Yr· l'x'ee traDsporta1:ion
of the
-4-
parts. Dan Gornstien, Dave Shore, Mark,John and Dave C drove down to Pitcher
Oklahoma to sort through and load the large quanity of parts and tools. With the
help of a front end loader and two E-P employees we loaded approximately 50 tons
of material including fire brick, cylinder bearing machine, driver tires, side rods,
air pump, grease stick machine, wheel sets, new bearings, and thousands of other
items. A week later we had to unload it all. Small items went into a boxcar while
everything else went into a pile on the steam yard for sorting and relocation in
our material yard, As luck would have it, the same weekend, the coal arrived and
had to be unloaded also. Thanks to everyone helping with the unloading that weekend.
OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
Poor spring weather held down passenger figures for Saturday and Sunday operation
during April and May, Total passengers carried for both months were 691 and 5,454,
respectively, down from 1,176 and 8,520 a year ago.
Operations chief Frank Jur said the low totals were undoubtedly due to the weather
and that great improvement was expected in the fare figures as soon as the weather
showed corresponding changes for the better.
One indication
Day weekend as
year. Service
help of TMER&L
that better weather would greatly improve crowds was found at Memorial
steam service began and the parking lot filled for the first time thi .~
was generally maintained by CSL 144 alone on Saturdays with the added
streetcar 972 on Sundays, always our busiest day.
Training classes began on the 972 for
learn car operation and help maintain
of May, classes were also underway on
familiar with safety cars such as the
more than a dozen members who volunteered to
passenger service when qualified, By the end
the 144 for more advanced operators already
972. No steam training was conducted.
Frank notes that further training under the capable direction of Jeff Brady will be
conducted in June on both interurban equipment and the Chicago el cars.
NEW ACQUISITIONS
A North American Car Co. reefer lettered for the Rock Island is the latest addition
to IRM's collection of rolling stock. The car was donated by International Minerals
and Chemicals in Union where it was used for storage. The Chicago and North Western
was kind enough to swit ch it from their siding to our connection at no cost to the
museum.
Important donations or purchases of parts and equf.pmerrt continued to be made in the
spring months. Among these was the donation of machine shop metal working equipment
from associate member Ed Ducay of West Chicago, who for many years used the tools to
build parts for miniature locomotives.
Ed's donation includes milling mach i.nes, lathes, drill presses and a forge. The mUSE
extends a special "Thank You" to him for the gift. We are very pleased to ha.ve these
tools as they compliment other heavy equipment donated by the Transport Company of
Milwaukee last year,
r>;
-5-
Speaking of the Transport Co ,, they recent.Iy agreed to donate or trade for other
i'urniture,parlor car chairs for the Menominee needed to restore the car, Transport
had been us ing them for office furniture
Also new on the property from Mi::"waukeeis
a stock of wood wor-ki.ng machinery from their shops and a supply of wood doors for
various pieces of rolling stock, including streetcars, gas and trolley buses which
should prove to be very useful to IRM.
0
Restoration of the Decapod 2-10-0 was greatly aided by receipt of a gondola load
of spare parts for the big ex-Frisco locomotive, all gift of the Eagle Picher company
which last operated here,
'l'hedonation of virtually all remaining parts for the decapod, is another of those
cases in which the acquisition of parts is almost as important as getting a car itself
because it helps us get a piece of equipment we already have into running conditiono
Included in the donation were spare rods, trucks, fire brick, several tires and brake
shoes for them (special ones needed on the decapod because of her wide tires which
adapt her to standard gauge) axles, wheels and much more.
This gift and the earlier donation of a fire ring used to heat the tires to Lns t al.L
them is expected to take care of many mechanical requirements of the engine, Jim Johnson
speculates, and should help speed the day she is returned to service.
r>.
Late in May, large numbers of ties and rail in the form of special work began arriving
at Union from the Commonwealth Edison Co. "s former generating station at California and
Addison Sts. in Chicago where eleGtric locomotive #4 formerly operated. The generating
station closed in 1970 and rail that f'ormerly served the plant is being removed.
The 4000 series el cars purchased from CTA in January are at the Skokie shops now
awaiting removal of surplus motors not included in the purchase. Cars to be preserved
include the 4215. a baldy which originally had a center door, and the 4412, a "plushy"
similar to cars still running on eTA's Evanston line.
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS
Rehabilitation work on the railroad highlighted the many tasks undertaken during the
April-May period as the weather improved but still occasionally hampered working members
'I'he
main line was tamped, r-a.i sed , levelled and aligned by the Midwest RR Construction
Co. during April along those stretches east of Olson Rd. on which balla3t was spread.
last fall and earlier this spring. (See picture of tamping machine at work el.sewhere
in this issue.)
The railroad presents itself well at all speeds as a result of this operation but there
is still some work remaining on this section as a result of a lack of ballast in some
areas, Jim Johnson said. Future surfacing probably' will have to be done to care fer
settling that can be expected to occur within the next six months to a year ..
~
Cost of the operation was $1,'125, pointing cut the reason behind repeated appeals for
ballast donations t o the "Buck A Proj ect" club" There is still a good stretch of the
present main line that could use crused limestone o r slag as well as leveling and
straightening.
0
-6-
Other wor-k directly related to the railroad includes some rail bonding and track
extension work out the east doors of the barnD Tracks one and two were laid in
April a distance of more than 100 feet and Illinois Terminal 233 and 234 soon
found a home on t.he stub end of track one. As indicated in the track plan map in
the 1971 ArffiualReport, these tracks are eventually to connect with the main line
via a lead track bypassing Yard 2.
Other track work included new ties laid at some switches and seven poles set to carry
vrire over the wye extension in Smokey Hollow. The second main rail was 'bonded east of
the east switch in anticipation of signal installation later this summer. Some parts
for this are now on order_ The initial installation of two blocks will protectthe
main line from the switch east,
Wire work in front of the barn was comp:Letedwith the addition of ~~ogs o,er the barn
leads and final preparation for hanging the trolley bus line wire were made late in
May with actual wire on "t,hebracket arms expected early in June. Mor-e on t.hese
projects can be found in "(he Line Department '.
Fr-ank Sirinek and Bill McGregor brought to a successful completion their massive
repair project to the roof of the Illinois Terminal 415 as the new canvas was applied
late in May" Frank and Bill did a fantastic job building a totally new roof on the car,
leaving it as good as it was when it was first outshopped from the factory, Jim Johns('
noted. More on this may be found in the Car Department article"
gravel path from "the depot to Central Avenue via the barn was put down in May for
-Ghe ccnvi ence of pedestrians as well as to facilitate regular garbage disposal from
the station area •.The fill brings the area immediately in front of the barn up to
railhead level and eliminates "Lake Kutella" which formerly formed by the barn
doors each time it rained.
A
Four persons were hired to conduct summer weekday operations as that season neared.
Bob Opal is the foreman and chief weekday operator, assisted by Tom Arden, second
operator and grounds man. Jim Morris was hired as the weekday gift shop clerk and
ticket agent and Dave Conrad was hired as a part time steam locomotive mechanic.
It is expected that they will trade off tasks from time to time to put variety into
their work through taking turns at different jobs.
LINE DEPARTMENT
by Randy Anderson
During this period the Line Department concentrated it's efforts on cleaning up the
overhead work related to the barn project. Included in this was the installation
of two frogs for tracks 1 and 2 of the barn. Also installed was the frog from the
east leg of the wye into the lead track of the car-barn , Related to this work was the
pulloffs installed on the wire over the east leg of the wye.
As reported in the last i3sue section breakers at the barn entrance were installed
thus separating the barn from the rest of the line. In conjunction with this a
switch cabinet was installed complete with knife switchand a below ground entrance
for the power ca-ble controlling the barn. Safety was the prime consideration for
this installation for it is now possible to kill the power in the barn when working
on cars and not have to shut dovn the ¥Thole system. Jim Johnson noted that museum
operating practice is that the power in the barn will be dead except when an operator
is moving a car into or out of the barn for use in operations or testing.
r'
Photo by Jim Johnson
THE WORK GOES ON DEPT. Pictorial essay of the track project
described in this issue. Pictured above is the first step, the
spreading of ballast.
Pictured below is a railhead view of the
vibrator tamper heads with Bob Rayanec and Bob Kutella shovelling
ballast.
Photo by John Woytash
Photo by John Woytash
Above, front view of the business end of the Jackson automatic
leveler/tamper at work on the main line. Below, view of the
museum's eager track gang aligning the main line, the last step
of the project.
Front row (1 to r), Glenn Andersen, Jim Johnson,
Randy Anderson, John Fenlaciki, Ray Cook, John Meyer, Dennis Storzek,
Warren Cobb, and Don Weege.
Back row (1 to r), Nick Kallas,
Charlie Sargent, Bob Rayanec, Doug Oaks, Bob Opal, Bob Kutella,
and Dan Gornstein.
Photo by Frank Sirinek
--4:
•
-7,,----...
,ther line department work during this period included the installation of half
the crossarms needed for the telephone communications system on the mainline. This
project headed up by Dan Gornstein is proceeding on a time available 'basis.
The other major area of concentration for line department personnel during this
period has been the trolley bus line. Much time and efforts have been expended on
this installation and as of this writing the overhead line work is about 75% completed. A full detailed report on this project is scheduled for the next issue
of the newsletter.
Many thanks to the following people responsible for this work: Randy A~derson,
Line Foreman, Glenn Andersen, Bob Rayunec, Dan Gornstein, and John Meyer,
CAR DEPARTMENT
The big news from the car department is the completion of the reroofing work on
the Illinois Terminal 415. As promised in the last issue of Rail & Wire, Frank
Sirinek has authored the second half of the 415 report in this issue.
Besides his work on the 415 Frank Sirinek would sneak in some time on the Chicago
Surface Lines 144. Frank managed to get the car completely repainted in time for
the Memorial day weekend. In addition to the painting he also installed the new
conductor I s bell cord rmlleys that Bob Bruneau made up hims elf. Bob used one of
the few remaining originals for a pattern and made up a set for the car. Another
bonus from attending the Hersey high school woodshop class was the new set of
~olding
platform doors Frank and Bill McGregor made. The doors were made of
.iondur as Mahogoney and consist of four panels with arched upper glass. Numerous
Wednesday evenings went into the building of the doors and upon installation could
not be told from the originals.
Speaking about our CSL cars the sweeper E-223 has rated a spot in the barn. Much
work was expended last fall getting it into operating condition and it was felt
that due to the wood construction and age of the canvass roof it should be kept
inside.
Equipment photographers who have shots of the Charles City Western 300 (Iowa
Terminal 30 pictured in the last issue) when it was out at Charles City now have
rare photos. The cab of the locomotive was slightly out of square probably from
an accident, and it has been straightened out. It all began innocently enough
after Dave Shore and Dan Gornstein stripped the roof of the old rotted canVaSS
and found some rotted roof boards and carlines. The only'way to replace these
without having to custom fit each piece was to straighten the cab. The cab straightening project was engineered by Bill McGregor and was achieved by coupling the
C.N.S.&M. 604 line car to the locomotive and attaching one end of a coffing hoist
to the line car and the other end to brackets fitted around the corner posts of the
300.
After straightening the cab the rest of the job went fairly easrty , New' carlines
were pliced in and new tack mOUlding was made by Frank & Bill at Lincoln Park. The
new roof boards were fastened and the eng i ne was ready for the new canvass roof which
~-was put on by Dennis Storzek and Jim Johnson.
-8-
I'Torkon the Michigan Electric 28 which was located at Duck Lake Michigan was going
on during this period.
Fund Chairman NormanKrentel will write a detailed report
for the next issue of Rail & Wire from start to finish on this project.
Just to
wet your appetite of what suprises your're in store for, the fellas
(Norm, Dennis
Storzek & TomJervan) went up to Duck Lake to remove the false roof and found the
original roof mounted headlight and roof saddles and trolley boards still
intact.
Replacement of broken windows in the three Erie-Lackmranna coaches and the Burlington
business car 90 was also accomplished during this period.
Jim Johnson replaced
about 20 windmvs on the E-L coaches, windows which were broken while the cars were
in storage and in transit
from Hoboken, NewJersey.
The windows were replaced and
the cars cleaned up and placed in service.
The Hal.Loween witches caldron was dragged out and put to use the day the new pinion
was installed
on the traction motor for the Sand Springs 68.
The pinion was dropped
into the caldron of boiling water and heated up in this manner so that it could be
installed
on the armature shaft.
Besides installation
of the new pinion other work
accomplished by Bob Kutella on the 68 has been the installation
of new flooring and
scraping, priming and finish coat painting of one platform and the tracing of the
old wiring still
in the car.
Bob also removed one of the rotted window posts and
pLans to make a new one using the old post for 8. pattern.
Another continuing project is the wor-k on the Nor-t h Shore Line city car 354 being
done on a time available basis by Jeff Brady. Jeff reports. that two major projects
have dominated the work done on the 354, the :first being the r-ebui Ldfng of the inter
walls and floor below the side wi ndows, All rotten wood was removed on one vTall and
the rusty metal was cleaned and primed,
Newwoodwork~ subflooring,
flooring,
wall
panels, and framing were made, painted and insta.lled and cleaning and priming of
window sills
was also started.
~
The second major project is the replacing o:f the trucks under the car.
The body has
been on blocking for 18 months for the prupose of replacing all old air piping and
to rebush brake rigging.
This piping project is now essentially
complete and the
car is being replaced on the trucks preparatory to swapping trucks "tith T,M.E.R.&L
966. This swap will a.Ll.ow operation of 354 in the not-to-distant
future.
Restoration
of 354's original trucks will then continue on a separate basis.
The 354 originally
came to I.R.M. less motors.
Part of the restoration
is replacing of these motors.
'which will be accomplished by the borrowing of 966's trucks for a short whl Le,
Negotiations are now underway with the Wiener Stadtwerke in Vien.•.
na to obtain the
replacement motors.
After they are instal.led in the original trucks. the trucks
will be replaced under 354 and the borrowed trucks will be returned to 966.
Pinions,
axle bearings and wheel gaging and~uirgwill
be done as the funds become available.
The special appeal sent out for volunteers to paint equipment has generated some
interest
and work is in progress now on several pieces of equipment.
The offer
still
stands 50 if' you are ~nterested in helping the museumby painting a piece
of equipment come out to Union ana see Jim Johnson and he'll
get you started.
Bil"
Associate member Bill Harsh has volunteered to VITi te the Car Department report.
a
welcome
addition'
to
the
Newsletter
St:.
is a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and
to
Nick
Kallas
or
John
Hoytash
who
will
Car Department news can be given to Bill or
pass the information on to Bill.
'"'
ILLlliIOIS
TERMINAL lliITERURBAN
#415
~
_,1 mtd May) roofwork was nearing
c omp.Le Li.cn , ',-lith several of our members at, wor-k
both platform ends were completely formed ,with two layers of basswood each part fitted
individuallYQ
The results
were a perfectly
formed contour at each enda This task was
completed with help from Dennis Storzak) .Norman Krentel and Bill McGregor who directed
the pr ojec t , A final application
of white lead was made to the new roof work and the
job was finished,
The museum had on hand the needed canvas to cover the nevi roof work
and it was sewed Lnv t hr ee parts by a firm in Elgin who has handeled such jobs for us
Ibefore
The actual canvas work was started in early June
The assistence
and aCiW~c'c'e
of those members who have had experience in the past with these canvas jobs was m-ost
[appreciated.
Before the canvas was applied though we installed
as. an under-pad long
sheets of fiberglass
mesh, The canvas was applied to the full roof in a matter of a
few week ends , It 1-TaSindeed a p.leasure to sink the new tacks into brand new tack
mo.lding" By late June the roof was nearing completion with the app.lication of paint,
sadd.les and trolley
boards.
All new hardware was used of course and each part sealed.
Next the roof vents were installed,
sealed to the new roof and new brass screws used
to secure them to the car.
Thanks to our many members who sat for hours c.leaning up
the vents for us"
a
0
MeamThi.ledown below the carbody ,,,as being prepared for painting by D'2}.~l~ 3 torzak &
cr ew, The famous "IT Dents" were removed with care and the car comVl.etely spot primed.
Areas under the letterboard
.were renewed and new filler
strips Ln st.a.Ll.ed, sealed and
primed as needed,
New filler
blocks -we:;:';::
also installed
in some questionable
corner
posts and primed ..
Brady also was fast at work on the brake system nov already about 70% renewed and'
early Ju.ly brought this long tough job to a successful
comp.l.e
t Lon ,
The trolley
poles
were installed
at this time and the car WaSready to be taken out for tests for the first
t.Ime , The brake system' renewal was a total success as the car preformed- and st.opped
as thought it were new
The brakes operated safely with maximumcontrol.
Thanks Jeff)
for a very profes-sional
job.~
~eff
.1
c'
The car was still
not ready to run in revenue ser-vi ce however. Looking like a spotted
calf, our car department got together and quickly made plans to final paint the car.
Another note of thanks to our members who gave up their time and favorate projects
to
lerm-a hand in completing this job"
John .McKelveyactive member of our Steam Department
offered to do the actual spr-ayIrig , .Iohn-has had .Cbllsid~r:able experience with a spray
gun in his daily work but has ;;,.-,:)t attempted such a-1118:SS1.Ve
job as this one, However
John and the crew got together a"!l.dpracticed with the gun on our mobi.Ie air compressor
from Milwaukee.
It turned out very well and they set up the spray equipment in front
of the barn.
Inside the barn another of our crews were finishing
masking off the areas
of the Car that were not green in color"
The car was r eady,
John operated the gun f',or
the most parf and later
some of our~o~:'cre::nembers took a try at it under his direction.
f.['wocoat-s of apple green paint were app.lied-that
afternoon ar::d:lhe car quickly put bsc k
into the barn where the paint was a.Ll.owedto set up for one-~ko
The following week....
end in late July was again spent masking off the painted portions of the car and -pu.Ll.a.ng
the car out in front of the barn for a final spray of Milwaukee Ivory~ The next day
with the cooperation of our IT fans and members the car was completely .lettered in about
8 hours of' work_ The members wor-ked feverishly
and steadiJ,ytili
the task was completed
in this record amount of time"
A final clearine: Has preformed _on t.he interior
and #415
~then-took it's
place back on the main line in r-evenue service once c:i,gainthe last Bund ay
.r'>':';n·'::,JUiy-.
it round of thanks to all the members who worked so hard with us to make IT ,;;'~15
again the pride of our fleetQ
Frank E. Sirinek
Car Department
-lO-
ODDS 'N ENDS
Publici ty Department: Publicity chairman Herb Hansen wi th assistance from Warren
Cobb have aone an a~mirable job of getting I.R.M. to the forefront of public
attention. Foremost of this is the radio publicity that was broadcast on the large
media stations in the Chicagoland area. The museum is a member of the Northeastern
Illinois Fourism Council and through their efforts and the Illinois Department of
Business and Economic Development Division of Tourism the radio spots were produced
and distributed. Other publicity has been the printing of the brochures of which
50,000 were given to the Illinois Tollway commission for distribution at the tollway
Oasis.
Milwaukee Woodworking Machinery: 'Iwo more pieces of woodworking machinery donated
by The 'I'r-ans por-t Company have been made operational by Glen Johnson and John Hur-ckes
who spent many hours setting up and looking them up electrically in the woodshop. The
two new pieces are the variable speed bond saw and the table saw and were put to
immediate use by members working on car projects.
Doug and Chris Oaks were up from Dayton, Ohio and Bob Johnson have been working on
0-6-0T No.7 cleaning, priming, and painting it, making it presentable for public
inspection and display.
Road and Parking Lot Grading: The township grader was put to good use again when
Mark Secco and Warren Cobb graded I.R.M. 's road network (West Central Ave.) and
the visitors parking lot smoothing out the chuck holes which had developed over the
winter and spring thaws.
Visitors to I.R.M. Department: The T.R.A.I.N.S. convention held in Chicago was the
occasion for a visit by Mike Lennon and Henry Brainard of the SEASHORE TROLLEY MUSEUM.
A small anecdote to this is that Mike is the first member on the I.R.M. mailing list
having the lowest zip code number.
The trolley meet held in Chicago in the spring saw Al Spilker from the OHIO RAILWAY
MUSEu~ at Worthington and found model builder Bill Clouser and family from St.Louis
visit LR.M.
Former MlLwauk ee Mayor Meyer and a contengent of newsmen visited I.R .M. and were
guests at a buffet luncheon for museum volunteers arranged by Bill Nedden and catered
by our own Mary Dahlke and Lois Fr-iese of Union.
Navy flier and noted gandy dancer Bill Young flew in for a weekend and worked on rail
bond welding. Besides I.R.M. Bill is also a member of BRANFORD TROLLEY MUSEUM, ORANGE
EMPIRE TROLLEY MUSEU~, and others. Bill is probably the only guy active in museum work
on a coast to coast basis.
"Just trying out my new car on the road" is what the former newsletter editor and I.R.M.
ambassador at large Pete Schmidt said brought him to Union. "Doc Schmi.dt"was transfered
to Wa.Bhington D.C. and is active in the BALTIMORE STREETCAR MUSEUM.
Newsletter Staff
Editor: Nick Kallas
Assoc. Editor: John Woytash
Typing: Frank Sirine~
Correspondents: Randy Anders OJ ..
Dave Conrad
Production - Andersen, Brady~ Fenlaciki, Hehn, Johnson
Jur, Krentel, Kutella, Lynn, Opal, Secco
-11-
$$$$ Buck-a-Project Club $$$$
With the large outlay from the general fund for the new barns Treasurer Frank Jur
has passed down the word on funds for the rest of this season, and the word is bad.
The general fund will not be able to support many of the project already begun this
summer, so progress on them may have to stop unless you can provide financial support.
Your help can make the difference between progressing this fall and winter or just
hibernating.
Cornwall 14 Fund: Fund chairman Dave Shore reports that his fund is still $900.00
dollars in the red. Dave's offer for a pencil drawing suitable for framing for any
donors of $14.00 or over still stands so why not take advantage of this offer. Dave
reports that the drawing is completed and will go to the printers as soon as the response
from this appeal is in he will know the numberto be printed.
Ballast Fund: Tamping and aligning described in this issue has depleted the ballast
fund. This same proceedure has to be done to the west end but first we have to buy
ballast. Won't you help us get to Jefferson Street?
Car Barns: Three new barns have been approved, the contract have been let and construction has begun. Contributions to the carbarn fund would help to reimburse the
monies advanced from the general fund and get many other projects rolling.
r">
.eneral Fund: If you have no favorite project why not let our officers decide where
your money will do the most good. With the present situation it's guaranteed not to
sit around idle for long.
ROlling Stock:
You name it----steam, electric, or otherwise----it needs your help.
* * *
*
* * * * *
* * * * *
* *
* * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * **
*
*
BUCK-A-PROJECT CLUB, Illinois Railway Museum, Box 165, Union, Illinois
Cornwall 14 Fund ----------------------------------------------------
* *
*
* * * * *
zip-60180
$---------
Ballast Fund ------------------------.-------------------------------- $-------Car Barn Fund -------------------------------------------------------
$------------
General Fund
$---------
-------------------------------------------------------
Rolling Stock - Your Favorite Car or Engine(
Name
~
---------------------------
Address
Date
)-_.-$---------
--------------
City
Total----·-·--$
State
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PLEASE KEEP US INFORMED OF YOUR ADDRESS CHANGES.
The Post Office charges us for each change of
address and still returns your newsletter.
We
then must send another copy requiring additional
postage.
Often we run out of newsletters and cannot
supply you with a new one. So please send a change
of address card when you move.
ILLINOIS
RAILWAY l~SEUM
Post Office Box
Union, Illinois
165
60180
Non-Profit Organization
United States Postage
PAID
Union, Illinois
Permit No. 8
TIME VALUE PUBLICATION--DO NOT DELAY