Today was another excellent Vintage Transport Extravaganza. The weather was nearly perfect and we had a good crowd of visitors; just about everybody seemed to be having a great time. Most of the time I was too busy to take many pictures, so we don't have anything of the 1630 pulling the coach train or the 411 powering the bilevels. The bilevels, of course, really look sharp when they have the correct locomotive on the front.
But here's our three-car train of wood CA&E equipment.
And the crew consisted of me, Frank, and a relatively new member, Rene Ruano. We ran seven trips and most of them did require three cars. Things went smoothly and a good time was had by all.
A couple of pictures showing only a small part of the vast array of vehicles.
Finally, I thought this looked like an amusement park ride:
So, as usual, the moral of this story is that if you weren't there in person, you missed a lot and will just have to wait until next year. Don't let it happen again!
Frank adds...
I snapped a few photos on Sunday, but most were after the end of service.
I don't think we've posted any full portraits of the 306 since it was painted and lettered a few weeks ago. It sure is a beauty!
Speaking of the 306, a metalworking shop built a replacement line switch box since the original was pretty badly deteriorated. Pretty nice work, I must say.
As a final mention, many thanks to everyone who made the event run so smoothly! The weather was outstanding and the railroad ran like clockwork, due to dispatcher Dan Buck along with help from the train crews. All four service trains made their first trips between 10:00 and 10:45 and ran every 15 minutes until after 4:00; I think there were 27 mainline trips, all of them full trips to the Grove, which is pretty impressive.
3 comments:
I have to say that Sunday's Vintage Transport Extravaganza was the most rewarding and enjoyable day I've ever experienced dispatching the Elgin and Belvidere Railroad at the Illinois Railway Museum. The weather was perfect, the vintage vehicles were spectacular, and the crowd was large and enthusiastic. I juggled four good-looking mainline trains and three classic Chicago streetcars. The train crews and streetcar operators were alert and professional, and made my job as easy as possible. Aside from one short-term problem with an electric switch, operations ran as smoothly as clockwork. A memory schedule with 15 minute headways was quickly established which served mainline operations well throughout the day. I echo the sentiment: anyone who missed 2023's Vintage Transport Day missed something truly special.
Dan Buck
I should have mentioned that the dispatching was handled very efficiently. That always helps make things run smoothly. Thanks!
Forget Disney, Six Flags, and any other museum. IRM IS the happiest place on earth.
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