I was wondering if any of you are going to Monticello, Illinois for Railroad Days?

It is my understanding that the good folks are going to try to have 401 make her first public appearance this weekend.

IF all goes well, could someone post some photos of the event for those of us who can not make the trip? I have been keeping up with this restoration for several years and have enjoyed the Monticello Railroad Museums website with photos of the progress.

Thanks in advance,

JD Johnson, Morhead and North Fork Railroad Historian

I will be there. It looks like a great event, not just because of the 401. The NS F units and the Southern Heritage unit, 6910, are going to be there as well.

I'll be there, now that I know about it.

Correction: 4610, not 6910.

For those of you traveling to Monticello for the first time, you can look forward to a wonderful museum.
I have been a life member there for over forty years and at times have had a private caboose or two used/stored there. You really can't find a nicer, down to earth, hard working, well focused, group of folks than those at MRM. They have eight miles of nice track with a wye on each end (although the normal trip is about three miles one way) beautifully restored/operating equipment (including a complete IC passenger train)and friendly helpful people whose goal is to help you enjoy a trip into the past central, Illinois, railroading. They have invested and spent their money wisely, patiently restoring 401 for about the last thirty years and frequently have been the recepient of funds to build an engine house, back shop and a couple of large equipment sheds to house restored equipment when not in use and out of the weather. They are not as big as some museums but they are definitely one of the best and every time I visit, the grounds are immaculate and they seem to be getting younger folks involved too.
Congradulations to MRM on reaching the goal of restoring 401.

Barry

Unfortunately, while it was requested, and we were told it was coming, NS heritage unit SOU 4610 will not be at Monticello due to a scheduling conflict with an event in Aiken SC., a conflict about which we were just recently informed. Sorry to disappoint anyone wishing to see the 4610, but we will still have two of the executive F's, as well as an operation life saver unit, and in addition, the NS exhibit car will be here.

Kent

We at Monticello Railway Museum look forward to a great event this weekend and hope many of you will be able to attend. We are planning on having SOU 401 in operation both days.

She moved out of the shop under her own power for the first time last Friday and made a brief test run. We are spending this week working out the usual collection of bugs that inevitably appear with a restoration like this. We are making shakedown runs throughout the week and plan to get a few miles put on her in preparation for the coming weekend.

Russ

How was today's run?

Found this from the test run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_emYTvD ... re=related Boy, she's a great looking lokie with a beautiful whistle!

401 looked gorgeous in that test run video.. and I agree with the whistle, sounds so awesome. Is 401 a narrow gauge?! Or maybe the video just made it look that way?

She is standard gauge.

I was there Saturday. Engine looked great and so did the museum. Very well kept grounds and equipment, and an incredible shop facility. The volunteers and the events were fantastic.

I ended up riding the very first trip downtown which included a dedication ceremony at the depot. My family and I were crammed in to a beautiful Illinois Central observation car with many other passengers. It was standing room only on the train, and the event was well-attended overall.

Yes, she's about the right size and everything. Does she also run forwards?

dave

We had a great weekend and 401 ran well with very few problems. Here are a couple of photos of our first runs on Saturday.


Russ

What a great job!! You should all be very proud of 401. And so refreshing to see an absence of white paint all over the engine. It looks like it steamed right out of the pages of "Pelican Road".

Howard P.