15 Seconds of Fame

The visit by the WGN morning news crew seems to have gone off very well.  These people are professionals and know what they're doing.

Here's the interview with Nick Kallas.

We wanted to put our best foot forward, of course.  Not seen here were some of the Museum's showpieces, such as the Zephyr, the 1630, the Santa Fe 92, L cars 24 and 1268, and the two steel CA&E cars 431 and 460.  And for some brief operation, two wood cars, the 36 and 309.

Also the 3142, operated by Fred Zimmerman, Frank Sirinek, and Ana Belaval.

And there was an interview with Nick Kallas, and so on.

Some of the production crew:

And this is how people traveled on what is now the Prairie Path.  That was our educational message for today (among others).

If any of you were able to see some of these segments on WGN, please let us know about it!

I should also mention that many other people helped make this project a success:  Frank Hicks, who did most of the organizing, Nick, Harold, Jim West, Jim Windmeier, Jamie, Richard, Dave Diamond, Thomas, and I'm sure I'm forgetting several others.  What a blast!

Update:

Our long-time friend Les Ascher reports:

I thought it went very well, and presented lots of equipment and the Museum most favorably. Our Museum members all were very presentable and well-spoken. I hope we will get some people coming out as a result of this feature.

And then, some pictures by Carina Borst via Facebook:

IRM on WGN TV

This morning, Friday, Sep. 7, IRM will be featured on the WGN morning show "Around Town".  So tune into Channel 9 if you're in the Chicago area, or WGN on cable if you've got it, and see your favorite Museum on live television.  And don't touch that dial!

The tentative schedule is:

45-second spots at 7:55, 8:20, and 8:40.
2½ minute main feature at 8:55.
45-second spots at 9:20 and 9:40.
2½ minute main feature at 9:55.

Of course, this may be overridden if something unexpected happens, but let's hope not.

Vintage Transport, Pt. III

Chuck Amstein was there on Sunday, taking pictures of the Vintage Transport Extravaganza. This is just a few of the ones he sent me.

He also dropped off a couple of disks for me, which I forgot to pick up.

As always, these photos are copyright by the photographer and may not be reproduced without permission.

Cruisin' Illinois Visits IRM

Here's a link to the TV segment that was just shown on WGN. You won't want to miss seeing noted TV personalities Frank Sirinek, Joe Stupar, and Stan Wdowikowski as they explain how the Museum works! This is actually a much longer clip than the one that was shown on the broadcast.

Smile!

Today Channel 9 came to IRM to take some footage for the feature "Cruising Illinois" which appears on the 9 o'clock news on Thursday. I even got to meet Julian Crews! Many of the service cars were pulled out and the newsmen were taken for rides on the open car, the 749, and maybe others. We'll post the information on when the segment will air if we can. Let us know!

I pulled the blue cars out and did some final inspection and lubrication work so they'll be ready for service this weekend. And I also did some work on the 319, getting it ready for painting. See the next post.

And excitement is building for the World War II re-enactments on Memorial Day Weekend. Colonel Klink says: "You muss be zere or elssss!"

Route via CA&E!

While going through my railroad and traction books, I found this piece of CA&E stationery. It came with a copy of Red Arrow I purchased several years ago. The piece of stationery had a note from the seller of the book, thanking me for my purchase. Thanks to the magic of computer photo editing, I was able to remove the note. The book came from a seller in New Jersey. I can only imagine that such stationery was handed out by traffic solicitation agents for the railroad.

Note the date line ends with "195__." Of course, the CA&E never lived long enough to print some stationery with "196___" on it.

Membership Meeting and Rules Test

"The Boss" recently contacted me and reminded me that I haven't been doing my "fair share" of posting on the blog recently. He is right, so I felt this was a good time to review the previous weekend. The annual membership meeting, rules review, safety meeting and rules class was held a bit earlier than normal this year.

I took Amtrak's Lincoln Service up, leaving St. Louis early Friday morning and arriving in Chicago at noon. At Union Station, I rented a car from one of those "discount" rental car places. On Saturday, Frank and I drove the rental car out to Union and attended the rules review. Jim Nauer conducted the review. After the review, Frank and I drove over to the museum to review work on the Brookins collection and other ongoing projects. Here is a picture of me getting ready to start the car:

After arriving out at the museum on Saturday, I ventured over to Barn 2. There, Charlie Strong had just put the first coat of red on the 319. This coat is a "sacrificial" coat that will be sanded before the application of subsequent coats. Charlie also showed Frank and myself some different samples he has made of the Aurora Gray paint.

Longtime IRM member Dick Lukin has donated an antique saw for use in the 319's wreck tools compartment.

Here is a photo of me guarding the saw in the 319. In actuality, I had mistakenly grabbed by St. Louis Cardinals jacket when heading out the door early Saturday morning. I had already heard enough verbal reprisals against me on the train, at Union Station in Chicago and at the museum on Saturday morning. I was prepared now to defend myself.

About that time, Car Department members pulled the open car, number 19 out of Barn 4, so the membership could examine it. Here it is, below the restored CA&E sign and the new South Shore sign. Dave Diamond and his whole crew deserve lot of thanks for the work they have been putting in to coordinate sign restoration and placement throughout the property.

After lunch, Frank and I took the rules exam. We both passed with a grade of 99%. Following the rules exam, the open car circled the property in a seemingly endless loop, as members all clamored onto the new "breezer." The weather was perfect to ride in the new car.

The membership meeting that night was very well attended. Car Department volunteer Joe Stupar was elected to the board of directors on the first ballot. The various pieces of the Brookins Collection, by a vote of the membership, were moved to the museum's permanent collection list as well.

Magazine Advertisement

Bob Kutella sent along a color scan of the magazine advertisement David had mentioned a few weeks ago. Looks nice, doesn't it? Only at IRM!

Disclaimer: We don't accept advertisements and aren't being paid so we're not actually urging you to buy anything. I'm sure everybody's already familiar with this magazine!

IRM, CA&E Cars Featured in Trains Magazine Advertisement

This evening, upon my arrival home from work, I found the February 2010 issue of Trains Magazine. After taking a quick glance, I noticed one of the "blow-in" return mail cards for an upcoming special issue titled Historic Trains Today prominently features IRM. The majority of the card consists of a photo of CA&E 309 meeting CB&Q 504 at the heavyweight coach train at Johnson Siding. It's a nice photo, and I hope IRM is featured prominently in the issue as well.

UPDATE: The color scanner at the office isn't working today, so we will have to be content with the black and white scanner. Sorry for the image quality, but in real-life the card is in glorious color and featured near the front of the magazine, next to a story about Milwaukee Road 261 returning to Green Bay.

Rising From The Ashes

An article summarizing the 309's restoration, written by Frank, has now been published here on the railroad.net website. Enjoy!

Video of the 309 Dedication

The 309 dedication ceremony on July 5th was videotaped by Al Stasch, a commercial video producer. He generously sent us an 18-minute DVD of footage taken that day, and here are some excerpts. I decided to skip the speeches, which the DVD includes in full. I don't know about Ray or Nick, but after seeing the video I decided to fire my campaign manager and find some new speechwriters. Anyhow, on to the action!

First, breaking through the banner: Then, coupling the two cars together. I thought this might be interesting because you seldom see Van Dorn couplers in action: Then, we load the passengers and leave on the first trip: And thanks to Al Stasch for posting these to YouTube and helping with the html!