Always liked Burlington Northern. Fresh repaint here, just about done-

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=153838

Have a look more for a freshly done MILW HH660.

Joshua

See the IRM website, http://www.irm.org, for a set of photos detailing the entire repainting process of BN 5383 to date. There's a link from the IRM homepage.

Am I to assume that since most of the photos show it coupled to a switcher that it's inoperable?

I've been to the IRM and they have a fabulous collection. It's a wonderful operation and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Moderators, I'm not trying to start a flame war here.

But I am curious as to how this modern (albeit a bit rusty) member of the roster gets in line for paint ahead of some of the many many significant steam locomotives sitting outside - especially when it doesn't appear to run.

Just a question. . .

I'm not a member of IRM, but I might provide a partial answer.

The U30 may be very close to running; we don't know.

The work at IRM, like at many museums, is done by dedicated teams of people -- volunteer people. These people assemble themselves into work groups dedicated to specific projects or concepts. Often these same people directly fund the project they work on or they become the primary fundraisers for this favorite project.

It is a difficult job for the management of a volunteer supported museum to manage this support. You desire to see specific projects go forward to completion for the betterment of the entire museum; it is a sales job to get these projects funded and completed. Often, you find yourself striking a spoken or unspoken deal -- do a project for the museum and do a project for the volunteer’s gratification. It might be do diesel fleet maintenance; and restore your favorite diesel to add to the operating fleet. The end result hopefully is overall betterment of the museum.

Another part of the answer is cost and time. I think in general a diesel can be brought back into service for less time and cost than a steam locomotive.

Hit a lot of the points involved, Brian. We are organized in five major equipment departments or groups. Internal COmbustion, Freight, Electric Cars, Passenger Cars, and Steam. Each department sets priorities, and each project likely runs years in the making and execution. Such is the case with the BN unit. I believe it IS operable since for years it was the primary diesel power on our weekend coach trains. It was becoming very decrepit and rusty so the decision was made by the department to re paint it. Once old paint was being removed, and rustout and repairs were in progress, it made no sense to continue to run it and other locos have taken over those regular duties.

If it was me I would not lube it, inspect it, and try to run it in a partial paint job, but rather try to keep it indoors and as clean as possible until the job is complete. I am sure you will see it run in the near future.

As to other questions posed about repainting steam locomotives, resources are in short supply for merely cosmetic work. Nevertheless, the C&O engine, the Rock Island Pacific and perhaps a handful of others have been improved by squirting on black paint, and having minor repairs made. But the thrust of the steam efforts center around three engines, all of them potentially operable.

Repairs to the Decapod running gear (Frisco 1630) are needed and this will require the use of our new drop pit, very close to being complete and a project in itself. Our Shay is being retubed, and the usual other work like cab repairs and paint. Maybe next year on that one. And for years the major work has been on the UP 428, a 2-8-0. It would take another thread to even list the work completed so far, but to oversimplify, most of the heavy boiler work and tubes are in, passed a hydro, appliances and cab being remounted and piped up, and a LOT of tender work done.

In the last five years or so a dozen freight cars have been completed, a handful of coaches or other passenger cars repainted or cleaned and lettered, and the electric cars continue to be restored to operation and debut a new one every year or so. Every July 4th we organize a Pageant or parade of electrics and the THIRTY or FORTY (!!!!) cars far enough along to operate pass by in review. Lots going on so you are all welcome to c'mon out and help or send donations.

Bob Kutella

I have nothing but admiration for what IRM has accomplished over the last 50 years. While it has been almost five years since I have been there, I follow their progress on the web with much interest, particularly since my family is all from Illinois, and I spent my formative years there.

IRM has the majority of their steam locomotives under cover. The ones that are not will in all likelihood be placed indoors sooner or later as IRM has an excellent track record of doing just that with most of their collection. Locomotives such as ATSF 2903, MILW 265, and N&W 2050 once kept outdoors are all under cover today.

Also, many of the steam locomotives at IRM were moved there because the cities to whom they were donated no longer wanted them, and they faced scrapping if IRM did not take them. These include SP 982, and MILW 265. But for the intransigence of Richard Jensen & METRA, GTW 5629 would have been on that list. As devastated as all of us were by the loss of 5629, the grief would have been far worse if many of the other steamers rescued by IRM had been cut up as well.

So why should IRM restore a U30C? Well, let me ask you, how many GE U series are preserved anywhere, let alone in operating condition? The number could probably be counted on the fingers of both hands. I applaud the diesel department for the outstanding craftsmanship they have put into their charges. Almost 50 years have past since steam was vanquished from everyday operation on US railroads, and so much of the first and second generations of diesel locomotives have been scrapped with almost no thought given to preservation. For example, the only surviving FM Trainmasters, and C Liners are in Canada. There are no Alco DL 109's, or Baby Faced Baldwins anywhere. So lets not bash IRM for taking care of their diesel collection.

To add another note here to Mr Kutella's words.

In addition to the various criteria Bob mentions, often times the "push" to restoration (cosmetic or otherwise) will come down to the almighty dollar.
The more benevolent amongst us may contribute to the general fund, or perhaps to the Diesel (or steam, electric, grounds, etc) Dept..

On the other hand, someone with deep enough pockets, time and/or interest may choose to put his/her weight and money into a personal favorite project, be it either through self-funding or fund-raising along with the actual labor involved.

While I personally have nothing against this locomotive or the work completed on it, I would have listed it far down the list of things to do at IRM. This is all personal opinion, while I am a dues-paying member, I in no way speak for the organization.

Having said that, the alternative of potentially having that effort and money go away because the person or person(s) involved wasn't as heavily invested in any of my personal favorite projects is a loss that isn't acceptable.

Simply put, any restoration effort is better than none at all.

As an added note, any efforts to "brighten up" the property (IRM or anywhere else) tends to paint a better picture in the eye of the visiting public. While those amongst us toil away thinking that all the work we have yet to do should be proof enough to the public that we need more money and resources, I suspect the truth is probably 180 degrees the other way,, people will avoid the "dirty rusty" and flock to the "bright and shiny". More traffic equals more money.

Thanks for the information. I continue to applaud the efforts of the folks at the IRM.

The last time I was there, there were two long lines of steam outside. I'm very glad to hear they're moving indoors as time and of course money permit.

Thanks to all.

Scott

Scott,

I am simply a member a long way from Union, but the basic answer to your questions this:

The Diesel is intended to be the front end of a late 1950s/ 1960s C&NW commuter train. The museum has three bi-level commuter cars from some of the first ever orders to be used in Chicago. But the F Unit had gone offf to other homes and needed to be repainted to regain its youthful appearence.

I am not a great Diesel fan; the IRM electric collection is much more my thing, but it should be a good looking train with a whole lot of seats to carry the visitors to the museum.

Ted Miles

Kevin:

The SP locomotive at IRM is the 975,not the 982. I believe it was towed from Beaumont to the IRM by the above mentioned BN unit.

You are correct about the diesel. It had already been donated to IRM and was on site when arrangemnts for moving the SP steamer finally fell into place. BN was short of motive power so the diesel went back out. I believe it worked some other trains besides the move. If not mistaken BN looked it over at the Springfield MO shops, topped up the fuel, lube, inspection, maybe a new set of batteries. Of course we did not run 'our' locomotive hauling back the SP engine, BN did, and it consisted of a lot of short segments, slow orders, etc, before arriving on own wheels at IRM.

Bob Kutella

Now that the new paint job is complete, BN 5383 is running again, and is powering the IRM regular passenger train today. Check on the web cams at www.IRM.org

Pete Schmidt[/quote]

Yes. It also ran the train last weekend. It was not operational earlier this spring until a new/repaired aftercooler was re-installed. Meanwhile the unit got stripped, painted, lettered.

This particular unit came to us in shabby exterior but operational. It was also the engine returned to the BN to have them use it to move some steam from Texas to our campus. (At the time they were short of motive power, long on traffic.)

We have five major restoration divisions for rail equipment. Steam, diesel, freight, passenger and electric cars. Within each dept the Collection Curator makes project evaluation and plans, monitors costs and funds, and establishes priority.

Often there are 3-5 'hot' projects in each department ongoing concurrently. An example being that last year four diesels all got to substantial completion nearly at once.

For all practical purposes, the steam guys are a different 'craft union' and work done by the diesel guys does not slow down the steam work. Major grants or donations, (FUNDING), can play a part in moving any project up in the que.

So there are often tough decisions to be made. It cannot be that different anywhere else with more equipment than funds or labor can support.

Bob Kutella

Excellent job on the U30C. Couple of those shots almost look like builder's photos at GE's Building 60. Question -- was the carbody stripped down to bare metal, or just surface prep with repaint? Those v-screens look great!

On a related subject of preserving old GE U-boats (specifically with respect to maintenance), what is the 5383 using for air intake filters? We have the Clark AE-25 paper filters in our U23B, and I'm looking for alternatives as these filters are a little bit on the pricey side....

AT Kromer
Railroad Museum of New England

I've told this story here before, but I think that it bears repeating in light of the subject locomotive here.
On one of the few occasions that I have been able to volunteer at IRM for work, (I have been a member since 1990), I was helping out in the Diesel department one morning. We were going to start up the 5383 for the first time since it's winter slumber. I was only doing go-fer type work, hold this or that, but we had been working on it for about 2 hours before we were ready to make an attempt to start her. I and 2 other gentlemen were in the cab when the call from outside came to hit the start button. One quick push of the button resulted in an almost instant belch to life by the big FLD. Almost equally instant to that was the awakening of two large racoons that had been hiding somewhere under the long hood. I can't believe that they had not left the area much sooner as we had been clanking around there oiling, preheating things for over two hours, but once that prime mover started, they made a hasty retreat down the walkway into the open door of the cab that already had three of us inside it. I jumped up on top of the firemans seat box, the other guys made likewise attempts to get out of the way of these two very frightened racoons. They circled the cab a few times then decided that it was also not the place to be and made their exit out the way they came in. They finally decided that this was no longer home sweet home and departed the locomotive and beat a hasty retreat to the ravine to the north of the diesel shop. After that rather eventfull few moments, one of the lead gentleman came into the cab and remarked, "You never quite know what is going to happen when we start one of these babys up!"