Wednesday Report

The week between the two Thomas weekends is like the eye of the hurricane here at IRM.  It's a good time to catch your breath.  But there are always things to do and see.

The first thing that I noticed when I arrived is that the 2903 was pulled out of the barn to get some sun.

This tremendous locomotive is usually stored inside where photography is difficult.  I can remember seeing it when it was being inched down the middle of the street in Hyde Park back in 1995.

Another piece which was posed for pictures is our Santa Fe cattle car.  It arrived at IRM back in 1975 and was nicely repainted and lettered by Bob Kutella.  I don't know why two locomotives are required to move it, perhaps the journals need more oil?

The next revenue service for the CA&E wood cars will be the Annual Transport Extravaganza on Sunday, August 5.  You won't want to miss it.  This event is always well attended, and we hopefully decided that three cars will be needed.  And therefore, it's time once again to shuffle the deck.  

The three cars will be the 36, 308, and 319.  The 309 sees limited service due to the bearing problem that we've talked about before.   This is your conscience speaking.   Anyway, all four cars had to be moved, so I always like to take a few pictures.  Step 1:

This is two two-car trains bunched together, by the way.  After the 309 is switched out and put back in the westernmost berth, the other three look like this:

So I got to run the three-car train back and forth a little for testing, and everything seems fine.  So be there or be square!   Note to self: the feed valve on the 309 was stuck open, but it won't be running again for a while.

As usual on a Wednesday, there are a lot of projects going on.  Pete Galayda is painting up a rebuilt door for the IT Class B.

He proudly wanted me to point out the nicely polished hardware:

And by the middle of the day, he was almost done with the first finish coat.

I started looking at the roof of the 309.  It needs cleaning and probably at least one new coat of paint.  It hasn't been repainted since 1997.

The Michigan Electric team is at work.  Here Jeff and Rich discuss how to make a complicated block of wood for the floor.

On my way over to Barn 11, I noticed the freight car guys working on the Pennsy bobber.  This is the worse end, but they're ready to start putting it back together.  Here the end framing is getting a first coat of brown primer.

I went to the 321 to look for grey canvas paint.  But something seems to be missing in this picture!  Can you tell what it is?

That's right, the park train is missing!  Anyone with clues as to its whereabouts is urged to call the Hicks Car Works investigative hotline -- operators are standing by to take your call!

And with the 2903 outside, we get a better view of some of the other steam engines on display in Barn 9.

And while we're wandering around, let's take a self-guided caboose tour.   Please step this way.

Don't climb into the cupola.  It's for your safety.

The interior is beautiful.  For a caboose, at least.

Here you can see the spare trolley pole.

"Our Founder" is Samuel Insull, founder of the North Shore Line, not Howard Odinius, founder of IRM.  

Well, that was quite interesting, thanks to Buzz and company!

Ed Mizerocki

Speaking of founders, a relative of Ed Mizerocki, one of the early IRM stalwarts, is looking for any information about him people might have.  You can use the blog contact form in the right hand column to reply.   Thanks in advance!