A Bright Future

Forty years ago IRM published a prospectus outlining its ambitious plans for the future. This 16-page booklet on glossy paper was printed by Donnelley, so my father received an advance copy. Here are the first ten pages, from the Hicks Car Works archives.

Predicting the future is always hard, so it's interesting to look at what was planned back in 1968. Obviously, plans have changed, although the basic purpose of the Museum hasn't.

The art work is still pretty impressive. It's obvious what piece of equipment each of these drawings represents. You will, of course, notice that IRM was still mostly an electric railway museum.

The roster of equipment is interesting: the core of the collection, most of which was brought from North Chicago.

What's more interesting is what this plan does not include: buying more land (as of course we have done) and expanding the collection (likewise!). For instance, the roundhouse is designed with seven stalls because that's how many steam locomotives were on the roster at that time (we now have 25).


The site plan is much more compact and crowded than what has actually been constructed. After a visit that year, I pencilled in the tracks that were in existence at that time - only Yard 1 and the station tracks. Most of those buildings (on the right) would still be nice to have!

There are several more pages of detailed project plans, a brief history of the Museum, etc. which I didn't bother to scan.