With members on this board from both organizations, I figured I'd inquire about a couple of steam projects underway in the Land of Lincoln.

First, at IRM. They had a nice blog going, but that seems to have come to a dead stop in November of 2008. At least word the hardworking crews in Union were working on a shay, a decapod and a UP consol. Any word from those projects? I remember a few years ago someone posted here that a steam test was near for the UP engine, but haven't heard anything since.

Also curious about the Southern 2-8-0 at the Monticello Rwy Museum. There's some great pictures on their website, but updates stopped in January. Looks like a heck of a project, complete with new boiler.

I'll be driving across the Midwest for Trainfest and the NRHS Convention and figured I might try and maximize my steam fix. I thought about e-mailing directly, but I figured there would be others here at RYPN interested besides me...

Dave Crosby

While not in a position to speak on behalf of either organization, I can relay the information which has been available both informally from recent visits to IRM, Monticello and various internet board postings.

The IRM team is continuing hard at work on all three projects, the UP Consol, the Shay, and the Frisco Decapod. They're also working on an overhead crane for the steam shop from what I understand. My understanding is that steam tests are hoped for by the end of this operating season with a hope to return at least the Decapod to the operating line-up in 2010 or 2011 at the latest.

As regards the Monticello folks, another member of the IRM family made a very recent trip and reports on his blog ( http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/ )
that a steam-up of the Southern 401 by end of this year is also hoped for.

Again, I stress, this is one man's observations, not offical museum information.

John

Thanks, "Hicks Car Works" is a great site, hadn't seen it before. Thanks for the info. Looks like another midwest trip is in order sometime next year...

Dave

Another Illinois Steam Project is the Leviathan locomotive which is debuting at Train Festival. This privately built locomotive was built in West Chicago just a bit SSE of IRM in West Chicago

Thanks. I have some more pictures of the 401 which haven't been posted yet. I'll probably update the steam page.

Randall,

Thanks! By the way, I lost a good hour yesterday looking at the Diner page....

Dave

A question for the IRM folks. Were you able to work something out with the FRA so that the "clock" does not (or did not) start on the boiler one calender year after the first tube went in?

Jason

An update on the Leviathan locomotive project.

The engine was steamed and moved under it's own power for the first time yesterday (Tues 6/23) at 3:00 PM. The engine was steamed at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. Additional testing was scheduled for today, and the engine is scheduled to leave the museum property on Friday.

I wasn't witness to this, but did receive some nice photos (beautiful engine, still needs her pilot attached) which hopefully I can get shared here in the next day or so.

Not positive, but this is probably the first time steam has ever operated on this right-of-way since the railroad was first built (Except for IC switching at the Coleman interchange)

John -

When I was a member for a short time at South Elgin MANY moons ago, I often wondered what the grade was on the interchange track at Coleman. I imagined an IC Mike or maybe Consolidation, really working to get back up to the IC's track above. I also seem to remember one of the other members telling me that some vandals had once released the brakes on a car on the IC's line and the car came down around the interchange curve to the museums track below. I don't remember for sure if the car ran off the end of the museum track at that time, but my guess is that it probably did.

Les

Les
There are two significant grades on the Fox River Line, the old IC interchange at Coleman was far and away the steepest. Not only was this a significant grade, it was also on a curve and crossed a short timber bridge as well. You put that scene on your model railroad and get ready to be crucified for "not prototype !!".

I seem to recall similar stories about cars being cut loose to run down the interchange but memory fails as to whether that included the car(s) jumping the tracks,, seems pretty likely, but who knows ? I do know for a fact that the entire interchange/mini yard area was always a concern for the museum, just a lot of extra track that got little maintenance from the very over-burdened track gang. How do I know for a fact,, I spent the single worst day of my entire life involved in the effort to get the museum's 70 ton Whitcomb switcher rerailed after an axle jumped the rail while I was running it. Well over 90 degrees, ungodly humidity, and,, oh yeah,, have to get this thing back on the rail that you just drove off.

I've always had two thoughts that come up every time I think of the IC interchange, first, it must have been one cool customer of an engineer to run a couple fully loaded hopper cars full of coal down that thing, especially towards the end as maintenance no doubt fell off. The other thing is that's where the museum's lengthened South Shore cars came in, how they didn't break their backs is just a wonder to me.

The other significant grade is at a spot called Tredups. This is the spot where the museum trackage passes the backyard of promininent South Elgin businessman Ed Tredup. (Much of the museum's trackage abuts residential backyards on it's western boundary) For anyone who's ridden the line, this spot was no doubt pointed out by your motorman or conductor, the backyard features a speeder shed and quite a bit of railroadiana.


Had a chance to run out to FRTM after work today (Nice to have a railroad museum less than 15 minutes from home), these photos are less than an hour old.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19332706@N00/sets/72157620503364842/

Enjoy