Jazzing Things Up

Frank writes...

IRM has been running trains past dark on Labor Day for over a decade now (I had to check - 2015 was the first year) but I daresay we outdid ourselves this year. My father will report on the day's activities from Saturday, but to summarize, daytime activities included five trains on the main line, including the 50th Avenue shuttle; trolley buses in operation; and lunch/dinner service aboard the Zephyr.

I had signed up to run the wood cars for the evening shift and Ted Kuhn was my conductor. In the afternoon, we got everything ready, including checking the pumps on the 309 and 319 and testing the kerosene markers. We also coupled the 309 and 319. We were ready for service by 4pm.

We ended up making three mainline trips, all of which were pretty full, and everyone seemed to have a good time. The real action during the evening was down by the diner annex, where a blues/jazz band, The Stephen Hull Experience, put on a concert at 7pm as part of IRM's "Trains and Tunes" programming. This was the second T&T concert this year and it sounded like it was a great success! And after the concert there was a fireworks show, which was plainly visible from the 309 on our way back from Kishwaukee Grove.

After we got the train (and all the markers and headlights) put away, it was time to get to work. This week we are taking the rest of the seats that were removed from the 460, and will be going back into the 451, to the upholstery shop to be re-covered. Thanks to Dave from B&G for making the museum's new-to-us van available for this. And a HUGE thank you goes out to Good Nick, Richard, and Jeron for loading all these seats into the van. It was a big job!

I took very few photos because I didn't have my phone with me for the most part, but fortunately, we had some photos sent in. The remarkable photo below was taken by Nick Espevik of the 144 at Barn 9 North with the fireworks show in the background, seen over Barn 9.

And Ted, my conductor, took some terrific photos of the CA&E train. First, we have a photo of the train on the ladder track in Yard 8, waiting to go into service.

And here we are on Station Track 1 between trips. After our third trip we terminated on Station Track 2 (see the first two photos) which was a bit of "rare mileage" for these cars.

Overall, a terrific time was had by all, and the museum really put on a great show.

And as promised, here are a couple of views from operating the NWERR 24 during the day.  The car was full on nearly every trip, and everything went well.  Thanks to Zach for being the car host!