We are sad to say that Don Ross, a longtime member of IRM, has died at the age of 90. Don was well known in part because of his huge and well-researched photo website, Don's Depot Rail Photos, but his history with IRM goes back many years. After serving in the Korean War, he joined our organization in the mid-1950s when we were still the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, located on the grounds of a foundry in North Chicago, IL. He helped acquire our Illinois Terminal Birney and he purchased the last IT sleeping car, the "Peoria," which was later donated to the museum. He played an instrumental role in IRM moving to its current site in Union when in the late 1950s he discovered the abandoned piece of right-of-way that now serves as our main line. And he was the first editor of "Rail & Wire," the museum's newsletter, starting with issue #1 in February 1957. Don played an enormous role in the early development of IRM and his death is a tremendous loss to us and to the entire railroad history community.
A far more comprehensive account of Don's life, told in his own words, can be found at https://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr077.htm