A contractor has started construction on two new railway equipment storage barns at the Illinois Railway Museum, numbered 13 and 14 in IRM's yard numbering system. Photos are here:

http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2015/08/variety-show.html
http://www2.irm.org/blogs/archives/1845-The-long-wait-is-over.html

These are wood pole barns but they have concrete-encased steel bases for the posts, which presumably will avoid a weak point in the older designs where the posts rot out at the bottom. Each barn will be about 500' long and four tracks wide, so this project will add some 4,000 linear feet of track to the roughly 12,000 feet of track current under roof at IRM.

cool, needed equipment to get under asap.

Frank, how many more similar sized barns would it take to cover the rest of the equipment sitting outside after these two new ones are filled?
Thanks.

I'd say one, maybe two. (I"m not Frank, but he's out of town.) Many of the cars sitting outside are not part of the permanent collection, but are being used as warehouses on wheels. The long-term solution, of course, is regular warehouse space. And we're also working on that.

I am ever thankful of IRM storing all of this indoors, but...

I must say, the few times I have been there, I have left a bit disappointed.

All of the "odd" things I would have liked to have seen, were stored in in-accessible buildings. The buildings you could go through, the stuff is packed in so tight is almost impossible to see, let along photograph.

Its great to see everything inside, but whats the point, if all it is going to do is go inside and stay inside?

Add the E33 to the list of things that you won't be able to see after the novelty of having it around has worn off and it is buried deep inside one of their storage buildings.

Rick,

Don't think the brick will get buried in a storage barn, current report on another forum, is that after the Brick (Virginian 131, NY,NH&H 300, PC 4601, Conrail 4601) leaves Old Saybrook, Ct. she will be passing through Altoona for a cosmetic restoration before arriving at IRM. We will have to wait and see which paint scheme she will get.

Too bad they couldn't make her functional, other then as a MU control unit, as the rectifiers and transformers were scrapped years ago because the PCBs used in the cooling oil.

Rich C.

Back to the subject at hand, framing for Barn 13 is going up and framing for Barn 14 is being staged. Photos at http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2015/08/barn-raising.html.

Back to the subject at hand, framing for Barn 13 is going up and framing for Barn 14 is being staged. Photos at http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2015/08/barn-raising.html.[/quote]

Frank, expanding on my earlier question about the new barns, will that still leave the
assortment of steam, diesel, and GTEL locomotives in the open?

If so, how many more barns are needed to get everything under roof?

Thanks. And congrats on the 2 new ones going up now.

Some equipment will still be stored outdoors once these two barns are completed. I'm not sure exactly what will and won't be outdoors; some of the decisions on what will go inside are left up to the departments and I don't think those decisions have been definitively made yet. I think the GTEL is too tall to go inside any of IRM's barns.

And good question regarding more barns. I would guess that another two barns the size of these would get everything in the historic collection under cover with room to spare. However keep in mind that a fair amount of what will still be stored outdoors once Barns 13 and 14 are completed is located in Yard 5, the central display yard which is home to the GTEL and various diesels and passenger cars. This yard cannot have a barn built over it due to zoning restrictions on separation between buildings, and as such has become a nice place to put equipment on public display where it can be seen more easily than inside a barn. I don't think there are any plans to "abandon" Yard 5 and it will likely continue to remain mostly filled with equipment. As such, it might actually be accurate to say that only one more 500' long barn (after 13 and 14 are built) would be needed to put everything indoors that the museum seeks to put indoors. I can tell you that fundraising has already begun on the next barn, Barn 15.

Thanks, Frank.

Just wondering if IRM could comply with the zoning regs and build a roof over yard 5. Better than nothing. Could even resemble a trainshed.

I think the answer is no, that an open roof would still qualify as a building. There have been some suggestions along those lines floated over the years; I recall that back 10 or 15 years ago there was even a tongue-in-cheek idea forwarded for a "Union Depot" style headhouse at the west end of Yard 5 along Depot Street with a canopy over the existing yard tracks and a direct connection to the creek via the existing diamond and "tail track" near Electric Park. Nothing quite so grandiose (or difficult to conform to zoning regulations) is actually envisioned in the museum's master plan.

Frank,

Two questions:

1. With the two abuilding barns, how much track will be under cover at IRM?

2. How does one donate to the Barn 15 fund?

Hello, Lincoln Penn and all.

1. Lincoln Penn asked: "If so, how many more barns are needed to get everything under roof?" That, believe it or not, is NOT an "easy" question at all. Let's look at Barns 13 and 14, along with Barn 15 (more on that below.) These barns each contain four tracks, and each track has 480 usable linear feet. So, our Department Curators have numerous 480 foot "puzzles" to solve. The covered track space is too precious to waste, but you also can't saw a car in half and put it on two separate tracks.

2. Also, who is paying for the covered storage? Every car has a "restricted fund" tracking its expenses from cradle to grave, whether or not we actually solicit donations for that particular car. This fund tells Museum Management whether the track space has been paid for, and by who; and after track space has been paid up, whether and by whom the indoor storage space has been paid for. Cars "pay their way" either directly through donations supporting the car, or from "discretionary" department funds managed by the Department Curator. The curators also have some flexibility, so that fragile cars that aren't immediately supported after acquisition can be preserved. But, they must generally ensure that all "self-paid" cars are indoors before they can "house" an unpaid car. After all, if a donor pays the storage charges for a particular car, and visits the museum multiple times seeing "their" car out in the weather, they will stop giving money. They might also stop their friends from giving money, or worse. So, while we try to keep ALL of our artifacts from deteriorating, "supported" cars receive more support.

3. In addition, we are still growing our collection. I have posted in a separate thread on "Interchange" soliciting funds for the Mt Harvard. IRM has also taken delivery of our two IC/Metra Highliners (plus a second set for parts.) We are also taking delivery in the next two months or less of the Silver Beaver, a Budd Baggage car we obtained a couple of years ago. The four "keepers" above by themselves potentially account for two thirds of a barn track. And, that's just what is PUBLICLY mentioned. So, will we ever get EVERYTHING indoors? Probably not. However, that does NOT absolve us from growing our buildings while we grow our collection. And, that brings us to Barn 15.

4. We are now accepting donations to build Barn (and yard) 15. Like Barns 13 and 14, Barn 15 will be a four-track barn with 480 usable feet of track space on each track. The barns are lighted and have plenty of 110 and 240vac outlets to allow for some restoration work in-situ, and are well-lighted. The areas between tracks 1-2 and 3-4 along with the entire east end are asphalt-paved to allow for public access when the land around the barns is opened for general public access. the balance of the flooring being ballast. Write "Barn 15" in the "for" or "memo" line of your check or money order made payable to "Illinois Railway Museum" and mail to:

Illinois Railway Museum
7000 Olson RD
Box 427
Union, IL 60180

In addition to mailed donations, online donations through the IRM Online Store are available; both generally and on a department-by-department basis, labeled "Indoor Storage." Online donations via the IRM Online Store can be made in $25 increments up to an amount of the donor's choice. The Illinois Railway Museum is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

5. Why should you give for Barn 15 NOW when Barns 13 and 14 are still being built? The answer, sadly, is bureaucracy. The McHenry County Zoning Authority's permitting process can be quite lengthy and difficult for us for reasons I will not go into. We are unable to start this potentially lengthy process until we have "cash-in-hand" to build the barn. So, the sooner we raise the money, the sooner we can build the barn. Thank you in advance for your generous and continued support.

Thanks.

Brian J. Patterson.

Sometimes a governmental permitting authority is more
motivated to approve something if they think that there
is a possibility that construction could start soon. That
way, more fees can be collected quickly, instead of in the
possible future, when someone else might benefit from them.