So how does IRM do it?

Crescent-Zephyr · **Joined:** Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm **Posts:** 1717

I was surprised to see that phrase posted by that poster. Seems like an incredibly odd statement to make with his knowledge.... but hey he’s got way more experience in the field than me so I can’t really judge! Ha.

I agree that the IRM line is just about right for a good “demonstration” rail line.

NS 3322 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:24 pm

Is it possible to visit barns normally closed off with a volunteer guide?

Steamguy73 · **Joined:** Wed Dec 24, 2014 3:15 pm **Posts:** 612

NS 3322 wrote:

Is it possible to visit barns normally closed off with a volunteer guide?

I haven’t been able to go myself, but I’m sure if you asked politely enough, maybe?

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:58 pm

I've never had this experience at IRM, however, membership DOES have it's privileges, although I usually contact someone I know in management beforehand, so I don't waste my time. Just showing up and asking means spending half the day finding the right person to ask, who then has to spend the time to find someone who has the time to escort you... or simply takes the easy way out and declines.

As to other museums of which I'm not a member, I wouldn't expect I'd get access unless I had made arrangements IN ADVANCE, IN WRITING. Phone calls get forgotten, e-mails get trashed, but a piece of paper can get passed around until it lands on the desk of someone whose job it is to deal with it. Given enough lead time, most museums will be accomodating, but if it's important enough to you that they have to find someone to escort you, the least you can do is show how important it is by taking the time to make arrangements in advance.

filmteknik · **Posted:** Tue Sep 24, 2019 5:58 pm

I hope what passes for civilization doesn't get too close for a long time (time enough for IRM to buy sufficient farmland for a big NIMBY buffer).

IRM's success has been the result of decades of hard work and while no one out there is coasting whatsoever, it probably does help that they ("we"...I'm an associate member) have achieved a sort of critical mass so that it's pretty much a must-see place for this part of the country. Volunteers do the vast majority of the work but professional help is called upon as needed whether paving a road or putting up a pole barn. And I believe the store and snackbar staff are paid employees.

Shout out as well to Monticello who have made incredible strides since my UIUC undergrad days. I visited Sunday to see SR 401 (2-8-0) with a train as well as trains pulled by an FPA4, an F7, and a switcher pulling a caboose hop. And a steam crane in operation. Only nitpick: Their website includes a 401-in-steam page which always fails to include "Railroad Days" weekend for some reason.

buzz_morris · **Joined:** Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:32 pm **Posts:** 344

I'm a regular volunteer at the IRM with most of the keys and I have not been able to find a particular car without calling several people. The last printed roster from 2010 had 455 pieces of equipment, now in 15 barns and 6 outdoor yards. I don't know how much has been acquired since 2010 because we don't have an updated roster. Freight Dpt. now is trying to generate a database of where freight cars are, and what is their condition and contents.
Lately I also can't say just how cars are moved, I don't think any one person decides what goes where and why. We have lots of qualified switch crews and if something needs to be moved because of a paint job etc. it just goes somewhere else. Asking the first volunteer you see where something is is most likely not going to be very productive.
So, answer to the question how to see a particular car. Call way ahead, try to somehow communicate with that department head to locate and prearrange a visit.

BCR4619 · **Joined:** Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:58 pm **Posts:** 28

hadder wrote:

I last visited IRM about 2015 for the Tourist Railway Convention. Our Hotel was a Holiday Inn, probably about 30 minutes away but very close to a Metra Stop. It was perhaps the best convention I have attended. Not so much due to good planning, but because IRM as a host location had so much variety to offer for all the diverse seminar topics.

The Convention coincided with Member's Weekend, so Saturday was filled with operations. Trains or trolleys departed every 15 minutes on the demonstration line, with an occasional runby from an electric powered freight. It was exciting to watch, and the best place was the dispatcher's tower to see how all the train movements were being danced around. Night time was even more impressive, with the functioning signal system and the old school neon around the property. I'm sure that if all those operating crews were being paid, there is no feasible possibility of being financially viable for such an event. It's the tremendous dedication of the volunteers that makes that happen. Most trains left the station with only a dozen people on board, and all those were either members or paid one general admission ticket for unlimited rides.

Despite all they have and do, I see IRM as still having a lot of room for improvement. There is so much equipment that it is difficult to see it all, especially crowded in those giant barns. The new turntable/ roundhouse will help with the steam collection, and I'm glad that so much is under cover and protected. But there just simply is a lot to maintain. I was impressed with the main street scene they were working to create, and I hope it becomes popular as a movie set.

With the tremendous volunteer base they have, I'm surprised that there are not more steam engines running. I'm glad they finally got the shay back up, but having some more locos for variety would really enhance the experience, even if they only run on select weekends a year. After all, steam locomotives are not that expensive to operate, as long as the labor is free. Parts are mostly just raw material and machine time. And adding a few more miles to the demonstration railway with perhaps a wye at the other end would be nice as well.

Eric

That was my first conference that I had attended, like everyone I was amazing at how much they have and its good that everything is somewhat under cover.... in the few days I was there I still don't think I was able to see everything they have it was that extensive. Regarding their trackage I believe they can not go any further until they get a bridge over the creek which I thought they were fundraising for but I could be wrong.

Robert J · **Joined:** Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:05 pm **Posts:** 92

HudsonL · **Joined:** Mon May 24, 2010 10:22 am **Posts:** 548

This is several years old, but it shows IRM & it's property buffers.

-Hudson

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:47 am

I don't think it's ever been seriously considered... at least I hope not. Aside for the need for a bridge, bridge abutments (the original was on wood pilings) and about 600' of embankment (the original interurban crossed this flood plane on a wood trestle) the end result only gets about another mile of run... and puts IRM firmly in the sphere of suburban development. It just doesn't make any sense; it doesn't add to the visitor's experience by any means. My personal opinion is the ride is almost too long already; it forces one, and possibly two meets at Seeman road, and if the timing isn't perfect, the kids get cranky. In addition, the longer the run gets, the less activity happens at the depot, and that aspect, seeing trains arrive and depart, is important too. Years ago that was always part of the excitement of IRM; no matter when you looked, there was always something moving. With the longer mainline we've lost that, except on the busiest days.

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6468

Dennis -

The creek I'd like to see IRM cross is the one just beyond the diamond already installed (see photo) at the point on Hudson's map where sections 3 and 6 meet section 5c. IF IRM can bridge this creek, it opens up all the acquired land of section 5c and also section 7 beyond. Does IRM have a plan to do this, and if so, any schedule?

Thanks.

Les

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:05 pm

I thought we discussed this here a few years ago. Yes, that crossing is intended to lead to a bridge, although where the track goes after that I don't know. It is my understanding that this lead will provide better curvature to the barns currently in the parcel labeled 6 on the map; also there are some potential barn sites that currently don't have ANY good track access. This is the result of planning as we grew, without any idea when, if ever, additional parcels of land might become available. Bridging this creek is nothing compared to what would be required to bridge the South branch of the Kishwaukee River discussed above.

There are a couple other mis-starts evident in the overall property plan, such as the barn site immediately north of Central Avenue (the main east-west road through the property) which runs afoul of the code required fire separation between buildings now that the shop lean-to has been added to barn 4. Long and logical story there. That's going to be for the next generation to correct as they replace these pole barns with permanent buildings.

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6468

Thanks Dennis. If we DID discuss the subject of this diamond previously, my apologies. The talk about bridging the river on IRM's main line, got me to thinking on the subject again. I am glad to hear that the bridging of this creek would be "nothing" compared to the river crossing previously discussed. For the record, I took another shot that day of a wig-wag which kind of shows the trackage in that area from another angle. I've included it here. The diamond is located just behind the tank collection shown.

Les

So how does IRM do it?

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