Hops Aboard Photo Gallery

Many thanks to Nick E and Steven J, who sent along photos taken during the Hops Aboard event on Saturday night.

Steven took this photo of the 504 getting its coach train ready before the event started. BN 9976 was not in operation during the evening.

Here's one of the nice Hops Aboard tasting glasses being put to its intended use, courtesy of Nick.

Nick got this shot of the band set up on the 50th Avenue platform. This was a pretty neat venue, especially with the platform lighting, but Zach had to make sure to spot the 1374 at the Central Avenue platform so that we weren't completely blocking the band!

There were some really nice displays set up in the depot, temporarily replacing the usual displays, about the Milwaukee "beer line." Nick took this photo and the next couple as well.

Yours truly

This was the first time I'd done a "car talk" for people with beer in their hands. Don't worry, I kept it brief and only spent a few minutes going over the pros and cons of K-28 vs. K-35 controllers. This wasn't really a railfan crowd, after all.

While the event was going on along Depot Street, Joel and the car shop guys were doing a switch move. Here's the 972, which yes, was moving itself under power. These last several photos were taken by Steven.

And here we have the 972 with one of our favorites, the 18! Between the intermittent air compressor issues and the problem with the car wanting to climb the frog at South Junction, this switch move was its first operation in 2025. We have plans to address both those issues, but between all the shop extension work and other, higher-priority projects, this has not been at the head of the line.

Here's the 251 heading into the barn.

The 251, 749, and 714 were made up as a three-car train.

Here's the Class B moving the C&NW bay window caboose. What could this possibly all be about? You'll just have to come out to IRM this weekend for Museum Showcase Weekend and find out!