Was able to get down yesterday to the Monticello Railway Museum's Annual Railroad Days cekebration where I found recently restored Wabash Railroad caboose #2824 on display. James Holzmeier and his WRHS crew, and Kent McClure of MRM, did a terrific job on number 2824, as the photo shows. I actually ran into Jim and had a chance to talk to him about the caboose and other Wabash info. Wish I had a chance to yak some more, but there's a lot to see at MRM!

I'm not sure if there was a photo posted here on RyPN about the museum's Stair Tower and I've included a photo below. The tower is a replication using Illinois Central Railroad drawings and a number of IC artifacts, including levers, have been put into place. Nicely done!

MRM member Dennis Slone would take me to task if I didn't mention the work that he and the MRM crew have done needle scaling rust and old paint off of two single dome tank cars that now need to be primed, painted and lettered. A photo of one of the two cars in MRM's paint shop, is included herein. Hopefully these two cars will soon be added to future photo freights at the museum.

Finally, because I'm partial to her restoration, I thought I'd also include a photo of Southern Railway 2-8-0 #401 shortly after her late afternoon departure from Nelson's Crossing as she heads for the depot in downtown Monticello, Illinois. Unfortunately, only 3 photos can be posted on a message, so I'll have to include this photo later.

Les

As mentioned above, here's that photo of 401 and her mixed train. Certainly a terrific way to end a beautiful September day!

Les

Thanks for sharing Les. i have a lot of respect for what these folks are doing.

Agreed, tip of the hat to the museum. One of only a few welded boilers to be operational. From what I have been told it was a stellar restoration and one heck of a museum to visit. On my list for the next trip south. Regards, John.

That's a terrific bunch there and they're getting lots of work done with minimum fanfare.

I alluded above to a photo freight and I thought I would send a photo of the one that operated at this years Railroad Days. Nice mix of cars with IC side door cabooses 9831 and 9926 bringing up the rear. MRM operated this train, the steam powered mixed train, a passenger train and a shuttle from the Nelson's Crossing depot to the shops. They also snuck in the passenger-riding motor car "fleet". And everything flowed smoothly! Those folks know how to do things!

Les