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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:38 pm 

Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:50 pm
Posts: 2815
Location: Northern Illinois
10stewi wrote:
Hey Filmteknick, Is this the Lima Switcher?



The locomotive currently numbered "409" is Union Pacific 1366. a Fairbanks Morse H-20-44 built in 1947. While it looks like a really big end can switcher, this model was designed to be, and used as a road switcher:

http://www.irm.org/cgi-bin/rsearch.cgi? ... lroad=1366

The Lima is Armco Steel E110. Info Here:

http://www.irm.org/cgi-bin/rsearch.cgi? ... Steel=E110

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:52 pm 

Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:58 pm
Posts: 1346
Location: Chicago USA
Be aware that many say that the FM demonstrator H-20-44, which became UP 1366 (DS1366) became the cement company's 1366 then just 66 and that's the one that became 408. (408 is at the museum in Campo, CA)

If so that would make IRM's 409 the former UP 1369 which became 69, then 409.

That is, if "they" are to be believed, they being the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and the David R. Sweetland book.

They were both modified with extra air intake filtration when the cement company bought them.

As for the Lima, here's another shot.


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:59 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am
Posts: 1025
When I was at IRM for the 1985 ARM convention, they had the Lima working with a ballast hopper the day before the actual opening of the convention. Apparently, it has fallen upon hard times. Are any other Lima diesels preserved?

Regarding visiting the museum in this century: I was there for the 60th Anniversary and North Shore weekend earlier this month. This was a juicefan's wildest dream come true--everything from a single truck open streetcar to trains of CA&E and North Shore interurbans. They also had the Nebraska Zephyr running. By this time next year they should have one of the steamers running, making IRM and OERM two of the few museums that can run with all three types of motive power. I found the members to be hospitable and informative, especially the docents for the Electroliner, which was on display but not running. Portable air conditioner units were set up to make the interiors habitable.

Access to IRM has always been a challenge; rental cars have become a lot more expensive in recent years, with government entities realizing that "tourists don't vote in local elections". I rented a small car from Hertz with my AAA discount and stayed in Crystal Lake. Monday I used it to visit Kenosha, ride their streetcar and photograph a re-purposed North Shore depot.

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:51 am 

Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 518
Location: Illinois
filmteknik wrote:
Be aware that many say that the FM demonstrator H-20-44, which became UP 1366 (DS1366) became the cement company's 1366 then just 66 and that's the one that became 408. (408 is at the museum in Campo, CA)

If so that would make IRM's 409 the former UP 1369 which became 69, then 409.

IRM's data comes from FM directly, after checking the frame # with them. It is the 1366, ex FM2000.

Jeff

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:31 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
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Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Bob Davis wrote:
When I was at IRM for the 1985 ARM convention, they had the Lima working with a ballast hopper the day before the actual opening of the convention. Apparently, it has fallen upon hard times. Are any other Lima diesels preserved?


Whitewater Valley RR in Indiana is "Lima Diesel Central", pretty much.


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:02 am 

Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:58 pm
Posts: 1346
Location: Chicago USA
Per a museum official, as I recall, IRM's Lima suffers from a freeze-burst oil cooler or something like that. Plus whatever else happens when something sits around outside for years but that was the specific item that needed repair.

I thought the Baldwin centercab was good on one end and needed electrical work (a cabling issue?) at the other. But maybe there's more wrong as it did not appear in the recent diesel pageant.

I suppose another "must see" if running during a visit would be the beautifully repainted BN U30C just because how often do you see a running U Boat anymore. Throw in the Chinese Red CB&Q SD24 as well. Perfect rescue power when your E5 runs out of fuel.

Steve


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:10 am 

Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:09 am
Posts: 130
Joshua K. Blay wrote:
I'm coming out to Chicago at the end of August for a friend's wedding and if possible I'd love to visit the IRM the Friday before Labor Day.

I'm coming in by train, and I was looking to see if a METRA ride would be convenient.

Thanks for any help,

Joshua


I just did this two months ago. A few friends and I took the "California Zephyr" to Chicago changed stations from Union to the North Western station two blocks away. Caught a Havard, Illinois train to Woodstock. We stayed at a hotel there. With free breakfast. So we would have a full day at IRM. It costs the same to rent a car as to use a cab. With a cell phone today. They come right over and pick you up. You also get a driver with the cab. We had a small group from Nebraska and Iowa. about four people. It was well worth it for the cab. It would have been the same cost or more to rent a car. You do have to do your homework before you leave. Give the local cab company, a call for rates. And tell them you are coming. When we got off the Metra train, our reserved cab was waiting doors open! The driver was helpful and excellent. The hotel had our room ready. Everything went well. It was a learning experience for the Nebraska railfans with me. They were used to driving everywhere they went.


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:13 am 

Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:09 am
Posts: 130
Joshua K. Blay wrote:
I'm coming out to Chicago at the end of August for a friend's wedding and if possible I'd love to visit the IRM the Friday before Labor Day.

I'm coming in by train, and I was looking to see if a METRA ride would be convenient.

Thanks for any help,

Joshua


Besure to not stay at a hotel that doesn't have a restaurant that's too far to walk too. Woodstock is a nice town by the way......


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:18 pm 

Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:50 pm
Posts: 2815
Location: Northern Illinois
Higherspeedrailnow wrote:

Besure to not stay at a hotel that doesn't have a restaurant that's too far to walk too. Woodstock is a nice town by the way......


If you remember either Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with Steve Martin or Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, you'll recognize downtown Woodstock. The only thing it needs to be complete is an interurban circling the town square (hey, the Woodstock & Sycamore tried, but never made it). Too bad most the motels are out along highway 47, and are a mile to a mile and a half from the square... a bit of a hike with luggage. The Metra station is a couple blocks from the square... the opposite direction.

There is one hotel shown that's on the square, but I have no idea what it is. The Best Western (used to be a Days Inn) at 47 and Lake Ave. never looked too bad, and has a breakfast restaurant adjacent, but I've never stayed there. That is at least walkable from the square.

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:26 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
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All this talk about visiting the Illinois Railway Museum via train out of Chicago and then finding a way to Union via taxi or rental car, got me to thinking about an IRM plan I once heard about, running a train to Union on a Saturday morning, direct from Chicago. The story I heard was that the Nebraska Zephyr was supposed to be used for this (the recent operation over common carrier trackage indicates that it could have been done). Anyway, I wonder if any serious thought was ever given to this, perhaps using a regular METRA train to its final destination, and then continuing with the train set to the museum. A return trip a number of hours later, and then using the train set for a regular METRA run back to the Windy City. Would need to put a platform in at Union on the old C&NW (now UP) line, which seems doable. But I'm sure there are other things (insurance, crew costs, etc.) that may not be able to be addressed for such an operation to actually be done.

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:27 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 9:14 am
Posts: 223
Location: Baltimore, MD
Les Beckman wrote:
All this talk about visiting the Illinois Railway Museum via train out of Chicago and then finding a way to Union via taxi or rental car, got me to thinking about an IRM plan I once heard about, running a train to Union on a Saturday morning, direct from Chicago. The story I heard was that the Nebraska Zephyr was supposed to be used for this (the recent operation over common carrier trackage indicates that it could have been done). Anyway, I wonder if any serious thought was ever given to this, perhaps using a regular METRA train to its final destination, and then continuing with the train set to the museum. A return trip a number of hours later, and then using the train set for a regular METRA run back to the Windy City. Would need to put a platform in at Union on the old C&NW (now UP) line, which seems doable. But I'm sure there are other things (insurance, crew costs, etc.) that may not be able to be addressed for such an operation to actually be done.

Les


Years ago there was at least one passenger carrying revenue special run from Chicago to IRM on a weekend. No need to build a platform on the UPRR. That trip and many other METRA and UP passenger specials run over the IRM mainline 1/2 mile from the interchange connection into the IRM station platform.

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:24 am 

Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:58 pm
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Location: Chicago USA
Here is a UP excursion train on the property in 1996.


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 7:49 am 

Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 4:02 pm
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Location: Back in NE Ohio
The 1993 NRHS Chicago convention included a visit to IRM via Metra train. The train stopped at the end of a line (forgive me, I'm not that familiar with the commuter lines out that way, but if you want to know anything about MARC or VRE I'm your guy) and we then took chartered school buses to the museum and back to the train. So, I'm guessing that perhaps the logistical problems in running semi-regular weekend service to IRM might not be something Metra wants to deal with.

I was thinking that perhaps, since I'm guessing it doesn't come up all that often with visitors, that IRM could do one of a couple of things to get visitors from Woodstock to the museum. First, show a phone number on their website that visitors could call to set up a pick-up time from the station, and then have a pool of volunteers willing to use their own cars to take them to and from the museum (probably have to deal with insurance issues here). Second, the museum could acquire a classic bus of some kind, or even a modern smaller shuttle-type one, and set up a schedule whereby they would meet certain regular Metra trains at the Woodstock station on weekends by prior arrangement. The question is if the extra revenue from those visitors would pay for the costs associated with doing either of those things? I don't know, and I think we should hear from someone at IRM about this.


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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:44 am 

Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:50 pm
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Location: Northern Illinois
Les Beckman wrote:
All this talk about visiting the Illinois Railway Museum via train out of Chicago and then finding a way to Union via taxi or rental car, got me to thinking about an IRM plan I once heard about, running a train to Union on a Saturday morning, direct from Chicago. The story I heard was that the Nebraska Zephyr was supposed to be used for this (the recent operation over common carrier trackage indicates that it could have been done). Anyway, I wonder if any serious thought was ever given to this, perhaps using a regular METRA train to its final destination, and then continuing with the train set to the museum. A return trip a number of hours later, and then using the train set for a regular METRA run back to the Windy City. Would need to put a platform in at Union on the old C&NW (now UP) line, which seems doable. But I'm sure there are other things (insurance, crew costs, etc.) that may not be able to be addressed for such an operation to actually be done.

Les


That would be a logistical nightmare, as I don't think any equipment stays downtown overnight, so that train would have to deadhead in from the end of the line, then deadhead back out afterwards to be in position for Monday morning. Probably only get four hours at the museum out of a twelve hour crew day. For what, eight or ten riders? Nobody expects to ride Metra out to the country; they all have cars.

The day will come when Metra institutes service out to Huntley as an extension of service on the former Milwaukee Road past Elgin. Huntley was growing like a weed until the housing bubble burst, much more development there than further west along the MILW. Huntly is also the end of IRM's ROW, although lack of a major bridge keeps IRM from extending that far. However, if Metra is smart, they will site the Huntley station somewhat west of Huntley to better serve the new development that's sure to come once the housing market recovers. I happen to know of a major land owner along the tracks that has a commitment to keeping housing development off the land; commuter parking would seem to be an ideal alternate use to corn fields. Now is the time to start lobbying, because these projects tend to take twenty years or longer to plan.

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 Post subject: Re: Visiting the Illionis Railway Museum
PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:36 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:28 am
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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
PaulWWoodring wrote:
I was thinking that perhaps, since I'm guessing it doesn't come up all that often with visitors, that IRM could do one of a couple of things to get visitors from Woodstock to the museum. First, show a phone number on their website that visitors could call to set up a pick-up time from the station, and then have a pool of volunteers willing to use their own cars to take them to and from the museum (probably have to deal with insurance issues here). Second, the museum could acquire a classic bus of some kind, or even a modern smaller shuttle-type one, and set up a schedule whereby they would meet certain regular Metra trains at the Woodstock station on weekends by prior arrangement. The question is if the extra revenue from those visitors would pay for the costs associated with doing either of those things? I don't know, and I think we should hear from someone at IRM about this.


Are you offering to pay for all of this?

Seriously, I imagine if you crunched the numbers on IRM's visitor ship and marketing, you would find that most visitors drive a car to the museum and park it in the parking lot.

I would suspect that the largest part of IRM's visitorship are not railfans, and probably not inclined to take an all-rail or rail-bus-volunteer-pack mule trip out to the museum when you can take a one-steat ride out in your car.

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