The Colfax railroad Museum, in Colfax, WI has just been notified that we have the opportunity to receive a 40' semi trailer that was used by the Milwaukee road. This may be the only remaining trailer in original condition. It is in excellent body condition, but cannot be simply pulled to our site due to 15 years of bearing freeze. We need assistance to raise the $1500 needed to move the trailer to our site and build a concrete pad and support to display it properly. Any financial assistance would be appreciated. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Herb Sakalaucks
Chairman Colfax RR Museum
PO Box 383
Colfax, WI 54730

One thing you might want to try is to talk to a truck repair place near the trailer and see if it would be possible to swap the wheel set or just the axles.

From the photo it looks like the trailer has a sliding wheel unit, if you find another bogie with the same slide dimensions you could swap them out and then transport it with a tow truck over the road. If not a slider then it is just 4 U-Bolts and an air hose per Axle to change them out.

Rich C.

Are you sure the bearings are bad? The majority of the time the brake shoes seize/rust to the brake drum after sitting for a long period of time. To unfreeze you hook air up to the red gladhand and beat on the drum or get a long punch and hit the brake shoes. You can tell if the brakes are released by hitting the brake drum and it rings.

Something here doesn't make sense. Have a competent mechanic inspect the rig. Rusted brakes can be broken loose as described above. Make sure the air lines are good.

You might need a "trip permit" to move it to your location. You will want to check lights - at least brake, turn, and running lights.

None of this should come anywhere near $1500.00.

We've got a quote of $400 to move the trailer, another $350 for a crane to set it on the final site and $750 for a concrete pad and metal posts to keep it from settling into the ground with flat tires over time. It doesn't do a lot of good to get an item and not insure that it is displayed professionally.
Herb Sakalaucks

Good intentions, but I need to ask...what's the crane for? It's on wheels...

OK I can see the $400 to move it. Crane? No. Concrete pad? No. It will sit on its own wheels just fine, and maybe every few years have a tractor come in, couple up and drive it around the block a couple of times to exercise the bearings and brakes. The tires should be 10.00x20 which are readily available, tube type as well so if one goes flat just have the tube replaced. I concur that the brakes are probably just stuck in position and need to be freed up. Very,very, very common thing to happen to trailers sitting still for too long.

No permits should be needed to move the trailer if a sign is placed on it saying "Tool Trailer". At least around here if a semi is labeled as such and is empty its pretty much exempt from a lot of scrutiny.

There, we just saved you $1,100 in costs.

Another thing is that if the trailer is made street legal you can use it as a mobile rail museum and take it for temporary display at local fairs and events. Put a few displays inside about local railroad history, maybe even a small model railroad. Perhaps an antique truck enthusiast would tow it behind his rig in local parades. Great way to get some publicity for your operation.

Don't stuff and mount what could become your museum's goodwill ambassador.

Hi, Herb:

Congratulation on the new acquisition. It's a part of railway history that tends to be neglected. It's an artifact that can also provide some convenient storage space!

As with the others, I doubt the bearings are your problem, the brakes are almost certainly the issue.

Try checking with a heavy duty towing company. They can probably move the unit on its own wheels (if the rubber is semi-decent), and depending on the laws in your state they may not require a trip permit or safety certificate. It's under tow, after all.

You might want to check around with local trucking companies as well, who might be happy to donate worn tires to you. They would avoid disposal costs and would be helping you- a win-win situation. You could throw a few sets in the trailer, out of the light and weather, and as the existing rubber disintegrates, simply change to a new old set of tires.

Steve Hunter

We're going by the status the current owner said the trailer was in when he got it. The towing company has inspected the trailer and they plan to have the proper equipment to move it safely.

We have very limited space and the crane is needed to move out the parts currently stored there and set the trailer in. There is no space to maneuver it in hooked up to something.

As for the concrete pad, the soil is soft there and we don't want it slowly sinking into the ground. We've minimized our issues with the local village by making sure we look like a museum, not like a scrap storage yard.

Herb Sakalaucks

Good on ya, Herb!

Just looked at your website. You guys have a lot more on display than I realized. Is there an online roster?

Rob

Herb, this sounds like a good project and you seem to have a decent grasp on what you need to do.

This forum might not be the best place to raise money for a project, since most of us are involved with other railroad history groups raising money for our own projects. I know that is the case with me.

I've done you the favor of posting this to the Milwaukee Road Yahoo email group (almost 2000 members). You should also contact the Milwaukee Road Historical Association (http://www.mrha.com/) about funding. They make grants for Milwaukee Road preservation projects.

I suggest that you immediately add links to your eBay site and a PayPal donation 'button' to your donation page on your web site.
http://www.colfaxrrmuseum.org/volunteer ... oad-museum

The easier it is to donate, the more likely someone is to actually donate.

You may also want to create a quick page just for this project (or whatever project you want to feature) and link it to your donation page.

Good luck with your project! I'm glad to see you're working to preserve a MILW trailer.

Paul Krueger

The trailer is on site. We will have to position with a crane in the next few weeks. The tow truck couldn't maneuver all the way in due to obstructions frozen to the ground(We are very tight on street clearance where we could place it). The pads are in and we will be building block cribbing to raise the wheel end JUST off the ground. It will have a ramp installed and be used for storage. The inside is all wood lined and bone dry. It is original and has all the mechanicals intact. We will need to do some priming and painting on steel parts and touch up the lettering, replace reflectors and replace the steel around the rear lights.
The trailer was brought in by inserting a towing wheelset at the front end and ltowing from the road wheel end.
We are still trying to raise the funds for the move.