It Actually Lights!

Today's big news is the lighting ceremony for the Santa Fe sign.   That will appear later.   I started by working on air leaks on the 319, and caulking holes in the roof of the barn.   But then, I got to help on something else.

Henry Vincent needed help picking up a model railroad layout that was donated to IRM, which will be installed in our model railroad building when it gets built.  The layout was built by an Explorer Scout group in Elgin that has evidently folded due to lack of interest, and the building, seen below, has a large number of HO modules of various sorts.  There was a lot more we could have taken, but we have only so much room to store all this stuff until the building gets built.

 One interesting thing is that this building was built along the right-of-way of the E&B, at the point where it crossed the creek on a trestle.  Unfortunately, there are no remnants left.

When we got it back to the Museum, it was stored in a baggage car with the help of Roger Kramer and Jeff Button.  Eventually, you'll see it on display and in operation.

I 

The B&G and Track Dept. guys spent all day cleaning up the west part of the material yard.   By the end of the day, you'd hardly recognize it.   

And at the end of the day, we had the big Santa Fe sign lighting.   There was a good crowd of people there. 

Our Executive Director's idea of dressing up:

There were several good speeches, explaining the history of the sign, how it came to be saved, and thanking all the people who contributed to this project.   First, Nick Kallas:

Norm Krentel:

Dave Diamond:

Andy Williams, from BNSF:

And Jack Barriger IV, who worked for the Santa Fe in the Railway Exchange building.  

Finally, the sign was lit.  It's magnificent.

I didn't stay around until it actually got dark, because I had other things to do at home, such as watch the World Series.   But in a week or two, after the time change, I'll post a picture of it after dark.  Stay tuned!