Since it was Father's Day, I decided to let my wife treat me to a visit to IRM since the Russian Decapod was running again. Unfortunately, the 1630 was down for the day. Thought I would post a couple of photos so I could ask a couple of questions.

The first photo shows a diamond with a "track to nowhere". Obviously this is for some future expansion, but I couldn't quite understand to where. Can anyone offer some insight?

Second shot shows the steam crew working on the 2-10-0. What was the problem?

Finally, the most surprising thing I saw there at IRM yesterday was the Rock Island 4-6-2 taking up space in the steam shop. Here is a photo of her front end. Is some work being done to her? Even cosmetic work would be welcome, but was some evaluation being done to see if she could some day be restored to operation? With all of the Rock Island open window commuter cars sitting around the property, the 938 would sure be a logical restoration project.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Les

As for the track to nowhere, an aerial view helps:


Yards 10 thru 16 (or the grading for their future locations) all show here.

Your track to nowhere is just to the left of the X.
As you can see, yards (numbered at left edge of picture) 10 and 11 are accessed off of the streetcar line, and require any equipment that enters them to go thru 2 fairly sharp curves.

Yards 14, 15, and 16 use (or will use)the north-south track of the diamond for access

Yards 12 and 13 will be more problematic to access, and require lead tracks that extend thru the diamond, and across the creek

There will also be another "cutoff track", going east of the 2 "steam leads", connecting the north end of the steam leads with the north south yard lead (rough estimation of location, limited by my editing program):

This will allow some longer wheelbase equipment into the southern yards.

Jeff

Jeff beat me to the explaination, but he has better maps anyway. Thanks Jeff!

Thre's some discussion of the Schmidt Cutoff on the Hicks Car Works blog, found here:
http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2014/06/watch-them-multiply.html

The "trench" they are cutting to lay the roadbed is heading right to an area in the vicinity of the diamond pictures.

As for the 1630, I have no idea. While I've never met you, Les, you do not strike me as a shy person. You should have asked, most IRM volunteers are super-friendly, especially if you point out that you are from another museum.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

David

David -

As you might have surmised a bit by the photo, the crew looked pretty darn busy. They obviously weren't going to have the Decapod repaired in time to run that day, so I thought it would be better to stay out of their way and leave them to their efforts and possibly get an explanation later.

Les

That map is slightly off, there is no yard 16... yard 15 is actually where the 16 is shown. The yard that is loaded up with cars is yard 14.

Jamie

I can add a bit of background to what Jeff said...

The original "master plan" for the East Union campus was crafted in the sixties when the organization was still the Illinois ELECTRIC Railway Museum. It envisioned a line of carbarns where barns 3, 4, and yard 5 are presently, all accessed from tight radius curves, suitable for streetcars, interurbans, and "L" cars. Actually, I believe the initial intention was to also fill the space between the existing barns/yards with track, then at some point build a continuous facade that would look like a big city streetcar barn, but the building code requirement for fire separation nixed that idea.

By the mid seventies it became apparent that plan was seriously flawed... most all the electric railway equipment that could be foreseen had already been acquired, and the bulk of the accessions would be steam railroad equipment, in keeping with the museums newly expanded mission.

I was somewhat involved with the master plan revisions done in the late seventies, that created a new "steam road" curvature lead to the locations of barns 5-8. It was realized at the time that the switchback lead was less than ideal, but there was always the option of building a second bridge over the creek to connect with the mainline a bit further east. Here is a link to a current map of the museum grounds. Barns 5-8 are marked 12, 14, 15, and 18 for some inexplicable reason.

http://www.irm.org/tour/propertymap.html

The area now designated for barns 10 & 11 (key numbers 23 & 24 on the IRM map) was intended for the restoration facilities. It was realized that access curvature was poor, although great pains were taken that there was enough tangent track off the south tail of the wye (just to the left of the X) that steam road coaches could be brought in one at a time via the wye. That was thought to be workable for a restoration facility. That's where things stood in 1980 or so when I ceased to be active.

In subsequent years, more land became available to the south and lead to an expanded plan with more buildings close to Olsen Rd. More land has also been purchased to the east of the creek, and a second bridge is now envisioned, in line with the crossing in the photo.

I imagine a streetcar loop extension crossing the diamond and creek, going through land IRM now owns, and plugs back into that steam switchback lead Dennis discusses (just south/east of the diesel shop.) It would eliminate the sharp S-curves there north of the diamond, eliminate all the switchbacks to yards 5-8, and allow easy access to yards 10-12.

Yards 14-79 would be accessed via that cutoff Jeff describes in his second photo.

Dennis/Jeff -

Thanks for the info. I still don't understand however, the reason for the diamond in the photo (to the left of the "X"). It's hell getting old!

Les

Les,

The track will continue east across the creek, someday, to provide better curvature access to the yards/barns just to the left. In Jeff's photo you can see some bridge steel intended for this use along the car line just to the left of the X in the photo.

Okay Dennis, bridge across the creek to the east of the diamond. Got it! Thanks.

Les

Actually the long-term plan it to extend the streetcar loop around the south end of the property, then along the fence on the west end to eventually go down the middle of "Main Street" the street scene IRM is planning in the future.

The S curves aren't a problem, for streetcars.

1630 had a leak up on some piping in the cab. The leak was tightened. 1630 was then fired up. By the time she was under pressure it was too late for a train, but she ran back and forth on the main line a little bit. To show off for the people who stuck around.

938 is in for cosmetic work only. Put the parts back on and give her a paint job is the goal.

David's correct, and the streetcar line extension is actually shown as a green dotted line on the map at http://www.irm.org/tour/propertymap.html. The planned street scene will be in the middle of the field south of the parking lot, where the green dotted line turns from north-south to east-west, and will effectively been an eastward extension of Central Avenue.

I believe the Shay is the next big steam to get going.

I might decide to hit the July 5 trolley parade, virtually most equipment is going to run the main as well as the loop

...............

Following on the heels of last year's 60 cars for 60 years event, the Illinois Railway Museum is proud to announce the first all-day trolley parade event ever! On Saturday, July 5th, starting with the 10:30 AM departure, all parade equipment will operate in revenue service with passengers on board. That's right: each consist will enter the main depot and board passengers. You might say, "Thats going to take all day..." And you may be right. If there is something unique that you always wanted ride but couldn't, this is the day. In addition to the main line, several streetcars will also be operating on the streetcar loop.

This timetable is for informational purposes only. The usual disclaimers apply: This event is subject to weather, mechanical condition of equipment, and anything else that may happen between now and then.



10:30 AM&n bsp;CA&E 36-308-309
10:45 AM CRT 1797-1268
11:00 AM Coach Train #1
11:30 AM CA&E 409-431-460
11:45 AM CNS&M 714-160
12:00 PM CNS&M 229
12:15 PM IT 101
12:30 PM CTA 4290-4412
12:45 PM TM D13
1:00 PM Coach Train #2
1:30 PM CNS&M 251-749
1:45 PM CTA 41-30
2:00 PM CTA 2153-2154
2:15 PM CTA 2200s
2:25 PM Demonstration Freight Train
2:45 PM CA&E 409-431-460
3:00 PM Coach Train #3
3:15 PM CSS&SB 1100
3:45 PM CSS&SB 34-40
4:15 PM IC 1380-1198
5:00 PM Coach Train #4


............

I didnt know the South Shore cars would be operable, is 1630 pulling the coach train? (or other available engine if need be)