Dear Pioneer,

You should have heard how my train ooh’d and ahh’d when my letter writer pulled out your two-page missive. (Vesta assures me my voice was among the chorus, but I don’t remember anything like that). The first letter I get from you each year is always a highlight. Even moreso when it’s more than twice the length of the one I sent!

U-505’s story wasn’t as shocking as you might think. For all our differences, I think I understand his position at least a little. It’s not exactly the same but when they finally pulled us E5s off of drag freight, we were in no condition to be doing anything besides sit and gather rust. It wasn’t so much that we had finished our job as that the job had finished with us, and we had made our peace with that. The idea that someone would want any one of us in the condition we were in… I won’t say scrap was preferable, just that none of us would have been able to imagine something so fanciful. If any one of us could have given our parts to save the other like 318, we would have, but we were all in about the same state. Like U-505 though, someone stepped in to change what I thought the end of the story would be.

It’s a funny thing to know you owe your preservation to someone in particular. In service, we see our regular passengers most days and develop relationships with our engineers, but owing your continued service to one person is something outside the regular friendships engines usually have with people. I hope U-505 is handling Admiral Gallery’s passing okay. It sounds complicated – but then, everything about U-505’s service sounds that way to me. When you can go anywhere in the water, an engine’s place in the world must seem very different. Smaller, maybe.

That said – and I mean no disrespect – I’m happier that he is at your museum to keep you company and share his stories with another museum’s train!

As far as news around here, there’s been only a little in the way of acquisitions so far, but the year is still young. Of note, we’ve acquired a new Budd car from the PRR! That’s 999’s old railway, right? Anyway, 4618 is a dining car built in 1949. They took her tables out so she can be used to host a museum display for “steam engine technical displays”, which I’m told means models with cut-away sides so you can see inside and look at how the parts work together on a real steam engine. My train was obviously interested when they heard there’d be a new Budd car on the property, but once they saw she was Tuscan red and not at all streamlined, they were less interested, haha.

We’ve raised our ride fares again this month as well, $1 for adults and ¢50 for children. Members still ride for free, so I think the idea is that if you like our rides enough, it might seem like a better investment to get a membership for the whole family. Part of the reason for the fare increase too is that we’re hoping to offer more services soon, including refreshments and proper restrooms. To that end, some of our guys put up two forty-foot poles to hook up more of our buildings to the electric grid. Those don’t cost nothing, so we’re hoping the fare increase is an even exchange!

Our steam workhorses have all mostly finished their maintenance stays in the shop, so Shay, Frisco, and Tuskegee should all be ready for when operating season resumes in April. Apparently the state comes out and inspects operational steam engines every few years, so they all got a little certificate that says they’re cleared for work in 1977. I wouldn’t mind a certificate! It could go next to all your letters in the file they have for me.

Aside from that, we’re all just waiting for April! We’ve had to put out a call for a new typewriter as well. Handling the new editions of the Rail & Wire and our letters has proved too much for the current one. If my next letter is all hand-written, you’ll know why!

Please give your yard my best!

Your friend,

Pilot

Dear Pioneer,

U-505 makes a good point that it’s rarely just one person who helps preserve an engine. Our guys can certainly attest to that. It can take an entire team of people just to get even a small engine situated on the property. It makes sense then that it took an entire city to move a submarine!

Our guys have been quite busy on that front. If last month was a bit of a drought in terms of donations, May has been something of a flood. We acquired two new railcars and something a little unusual for us locomotives and rolling-stock; an International Harvester semi-tractor.

He wasn’t donated to be preserved but rather to help with transporting some used rails and switches we received from Commonwealth Edison last year. He’s not very talkative, but everyone who’s been working on the rail project has said he’s been invaluable so far, so we’re very happy to have him! Rail and road vehicles have a long and proud history of working together to get things done, so it’s nice to have it shown here at the museum too.

The railcars are from the Chicago North and South Shore lines, though the two of them being donated at roughly the same time was coincidental. The North Shore car is Milwaukee Car 253, a combination passenger and baggage car from 1917. You mentioned having your papers signed over to the museum, and that’s exactly what happened with 253! She’s been with the museum since before I arrived, but she was still owned by one of our members. There’s always a chance that a private car could be called upon to move somewhere else or be used again, so the museum has to focus most of their effort on those of us they own outright. Her being donated officially means that she can be moved into one of our barns and protected from the weather and maybe even restored.

The South Shore & South Bend car is 504. She was originally an RPO combine when she started out on the Indiana Railroad, but when South Shore bought them out, they blanked out her windows and put in baggage doors on both sides so she could do express package service. When South Shore stopped doing express package service, she and her twin, No. 503, worked on wreck train service instead, helping carry the supplies for the wrecker. Last year she was retired, bought, and donated to us.

Even though she is a donation, the work of getting her on the museum proeprty still falls to us. One of our guys, Randy, was sent off to Indiana to ride with her on the trip back up and make sure she made it to the museum safely. He thought it was going to be an easy enough thing. He had a sleeping bag and a cot to spend the night in 504 and he had packed some candy bars to eat on the way. Meaning no offense to 504, but a baggage car isn’t the most comfortable accommodation. I can’t say I know much about food either, but I get the impression from our volunteers that candy bars are about as nice a meal as sleeping in a baggage car is comfy. But it was only supposed to be for one day so “roughing it” should have been fun.

And it might have been, if they hadn’t missed the connection at the South Shore interchange. They were supposed to meet up with a train from the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway in Gary that would take them some of the way here, but that train had to leave before they could get added to it. They’d have to wait for another train going the same way, but that wouldn’t be until the next day so they had to stay overnight. To make matters worse, a very strong storm came in that evening so on top of the already rough riding, it was now also cold and wet and thundery outside.

All in all, it took them three days to get here, and it sounded like Randy was ready for a proper bed by the end of it. But he and 504 are both home safely now so I’m sure it was worth all the hassle.

If they do make a television that can be placed outside, please let us know! Your museum gets all the newest things first so you will surely know before we do. Apparently ours showed some safety films made by Union Pacific during the annual safety meeting last month to prepare our volunteers for their safety qualification exam, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them myself. They show them on a film reel with a projector though and it can be too windy and bright to set up outside.

Work has been progressing steadily on the concession stand and technical library as well. I can see the shape of the stand from the wye. It’s being built close to the streetcar line so that once it’s finished, it can be one of a few stops around the property. They say the back half will also have a shower next to the restrooms, which I can imagine will feel very nice for our staff and volunteers after a day like the one we just had!

Speaking of, I hope U-505’s rollers are handling these temperature fluctuations alright. I hope you are too.

Your friend,

Pilot

P.S. – Our call for a typewriter was answered. We actually received two typewriters and an adding machine. If your museum needs any help with accounting or sums, let us know!

Dear Pioneer,

I hope your computer finds a new home somewhere as nice as the one it’s leaving behind. I’m told we have one that we’re using to keep track of our museum members now. I’ve never seen it myself, since you can’t bring them outside, but last month we found ourselves having to account for almost 1,000 members now – and the list is still growing!

Of course, the adding machine is useful in calculating all those membership dues. The museum has all sorts of costs they say I don’t need to worry about, but I know it’s expensive to run any kind of organization, even a not-for-profit one like ours. You can imagine the amount of money needed to send out nearly 1,000 copies of our newsletter every few months. It’s why they don’t mind us being pen-pals. We’d have to spend $35 on stamps anyway.

Solar panels! That’s fantastic! My letter-writer explained how they work as best she could to me and I’ve been thinking about it all week. Of course, we don’t know as much about science as you all do, so she suggested I might direct more of my questions your way. Do you suppose they could power a whole train on solar energy one day? The guys in the shop don’t seem to think much of the idea. A diesel engine wouldn’t get much use out of them, but an electric engine might – don’t you think? Of course, you and I are diesel-electric, so maybe there is a solar future for the lights and air, haha. Venus is asking if I want to put her out of a job, but I think she’s just teasing me.

I’m happy to hear about your Mr. McMaster’s retirement. It’s nice that he’s able to do more outside his work. I understand people value that sort of thing. Although, as you say, I can’t imagine feeling that way about it myself!

It must be stressful to be a museum president. Our former president, Mr. Hansen, suffered a heart attack like your Mr. Lohr earlier this year, but he’s recovering well now and we’re hoping to have him back at the museum soon! He’s not the president anymore – not because of the heart attack though. Our museum has elections for board membership and he decided not to run again after 9 years of being at the position. I think if he had chosen to, he’d easily have been able to make it a decade.

He was actually the one who advocated for us to come to the museum all those years ago, so me and my train owe him a debt of gratitude. He’s a good man, definitely a “fixture”, and we’re missing him very much.

Shay’s restoration was finished in the spring, and she’s already up and handling operations for the summer season. We didn’t get a chance to see the extent of her cleaning and repainting until the weather got warmer since she’d been in the east barn, but the work they did on her was spectacular! It’s just as well, since Frisco was beginning to clank a bit and when they checked her rod bearings they found she needed a few replaced. She’s back in the shop until they finish making her some new ones.

We’re in the thick of it here as far as attendance goes, I imagine you all are as well. I think that last winter made everyone eager to come out now that the weather’s nice. Even inside we’re making progress on the technical library, though. They’re looking for blueprint cabinets for all the various plans they want to store as reference material for anyone who wants to view them. I’m unsure if a blueprint cabinet is different from a regular filing cabinet. Maybe once we move all our membership paperwork to the computer, we can use them for more technical documents.

Does your museum have a library? I would think it would have to be huge to store all the materials for so many exhibits!

Please keep me posted on the solar panels! I’m very interested in them. Do you suppose they work better in the summer, since it’s always so sunny?

Your friend,

Pilot

Dear Pioneer,

Please thank your guides for their willingness to help us understand solar panels! If it’s too much trouble, please don’t have them put themselves out on my account. That must have been a lot of hard work for them to research since the technology is so new. I suppose it’s all information that can be found in the new energy exhibit, but they certainly didn’t have to seek it out and write it all down for another engine at a different museum.

I understand your concern about what is and isn’t Useful for an engine to know. Some of the older staff here would consider learning about solar panels frivolous, but when I brought it up with a few of my regular letter-writers, they said that museums are for everyone to learn from and that I was helping you and your guides to be Useful by asking good questions. I don’t know about all that, but at the very least they don’t consider it time wasted.

It seems like there’s nothing that can be run entirely on solar panels for now, but even if it’s only used occasionally or with reserve power, that’s still a very powerful technology. It isn’t limited by how much coal we can mine or how high gas prices might get. Even if it can only power small things now, maybe in the future we’ll be preserving solar-powered doodlebugs at the IRM with the help of new exhibits like yours!

I do wonder if our new concession stand is small enough to run on them, though. Yes, we are very proud of it, can you tell?

Part of making those raised fare prices worth it was making the IRM a place you could spend the whole day, but that was hard when there was nowhere for our guests to refuel, so to speak. If they got hungry, they’d have to leave to head into one of the nearby towns. If that happened, they might be more inclined to head home early. Now, with an onsite kitchen and a place to store cold treats, we can offer our guests more reason to stay here as long as they like. Since it was finished in July, it’s been keeping our volunteer cashiers very busy.

There’s a little bit of revenue to be made from selling hot dogs and ice cream, but the building itself is worth more as a courtesy to our visitors, especially with the restrooms they were able to install. There’s even a shower in the men’s room for volunteers and staff to wash down after a hard day! It’s getting a little cool to be using it now, but I can imagine on a hot summer day next year it will be as refreshing as the soda pop we’re selling there.

Speaking of, September’s letter would usually be the one where I explain what all happened on Members Day 1977, except it hasn’t happened yet! The museum pushed the dates for that weekend back to October, so you’ll have to wait until my next letter to hear about how grand everyone looked. I can tell you ahead of time that they will look grand, but you’ll have to wait to hear more detail than that.

I think part of the reason we went a little into the fall with our summer operations was the number of charters we had this year. We were booked out thanks to some savvy marketing from some of our staff members last spring. Our staff mailed fliers out to schools and church groups to let them know our equipment was available to rent. When the numbers came back for the operating season, it came out to 2,500 guests who came to the museum to charter our streetcars for a field trip or other group outing. It’s not quite a culture bus program, but it did bring in more schoolchildren than I’ve ever seen here before.

Of course the street cars have been in very good spirits all season because of that. Being busy is the best way to keep morale high around here. CSL 144 and Green Hornet are both very personable (and photogenic!) so each group would get their picture taken with one of the cars and the museum would then send those pictures to the local paper. It made the charter groups happy to appear in the news, and it’s good publicity for the museum as well! It’s very Burlington in that way. I’m happy that both of our museums seem to be taking cues from the Q. (Ha!)

I understand about being on the lawn and worrying about the moisture. For as many barns as the IRM has, we have just as many pieces of equipment lined up to take the space as it becomes available. There’s also the consideration that we’re a train set and would need to be stored together if we were to be stored at all. Putting me and the Goddesses under-roof means taking up six spots that might be given to engines of a more delicate constitution, and I wouldn’t want any of us to be in a barn alone. As you say, we must look after each other.

All my best to you, your train, and your yardmates. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your friend,

Pilot

Dear Pioneer,

It’s funny how preservation changes your view of the weather. When I was in service, I admit I didn’t think much about it as long as it didn’t affect the schedule. Rain and snow were fun to talk about if you wanted to chat up another engine at the station, but passengers would be at the platform regardless of the forecast. Everyone had someplace to be, after all. But at the museum, if there’s an event planned and the weather takes a turn, it can really throw a wrench into your plans.

Such was the case for our 9th Annual Members’ Day weekend. Saturday in particular was rough. There was supposed to be an outdoor steer roast and swap meet, but both were moved into the car barn on account of the rain and the cold. I suppose that’s one drawback of pushing the date to October; there are fewer nice days. Fortunately, picnic tables work just as well indoors as out, but some of our guests probably thought better of coming. Even so, I’m told that the swap meet was a big success, and they’re planning on doing another one next year for people interested in trading ‘railroadania’.

Anyone who couldn’t come on Saturday missed Indiana Railroad 65 running for the first time since 1973, which is a real shame for them! I’ve mentioned IR 65 before, she’s the mother of the whole museum, being our first car ever preserved. She’s seen the museum grow into what it is today and is the reason any of the rest of us are here at all.

When our original founder who helped preserve her passed away in 1973, IR 65 suffered some electrical damage and stopped operating regularly. It wasn’t until this year that the damage could be fixed so she could be the spotlight operating car for the final event of the year. It felt poetic, in a way! We’re all really happy for her and the guests loved seeing her again. Green Hornet was out as well, along with the usual roster of Illinois Terminal and North Shore cars, but IR 65 was indisputably the star of the show and made everyone’s rainy Saturday a little brighter.

Luckily, Steam Sunday was much clearer. Shay, Frisco, and Tuskegee were the leading ladies all day and as usual they made the work look effortless. They even let me take a few trips up the line! Despite the number of us running all day, all of our Zephyr trips were filled to capacity, and even the staff remarked on how popular our train has become in the last few years! We may have to take cues from your 505 and start offering concessions for our runs next year. Ceres is chiding me, saying not to make fun of dining cars, but I’m being serious – there were that many passengers!

Tuskegee 101 had the honor of pulling Ely as part of the Directors’ Special, a train put together to honor the museum directors. Unfortunately, all the directors were working the other trains that day! Only one could be cajoled into leaving his post and he had to be asked to change out of his dirty coveralls before being allowed onto the train, as Ely is kept meticulously clean and is very proud of that fact. Once the special guest was seated, other passengers were allowed on and were doted on hand and foot as an homage to Ely’s station as a private car. It was a fun bit of history brought to life.

For the final two trips of the day, the team thought it would be fun to link all the trains together on the back of Frisco. Together with her Q coaches, Tuskegee’s Lackawanna rake, an RPO, and private cars Ely and Inglehome, the total count came to nine – the longest train ever pulled at the IRM! Frisco’s train was so long, that when our last Zephyr run came along we had to do a saw-by.

She pulled into the siding just enough for us to come up alongside on the main line, then we stopped so she could switch onto the main line too behind us. We were able to continue once the last of her nine cars was pulled off the main line, and then we did that again on the way back. Usually saw-by’s are to be avoided in real railroad operations, but at a museum it’s just another way to show off how a real railroad sometimes operates.

Naturally, just like on a real railroad, there are sometimes problems. Our star of last Members’ Day, diesel crane C&WI 1900, was out and showing off when the boom accidentally dropped and caused a minor derailment. You’ll recall last year that 1900 rescued D.D. the diesel switcher when she derailed, but D.D. got the last laugh as our other crane, C&WI 1917 came out to re-rail 1900. Never a dull moment when you’re running that many engines at once, I suppose.

Even though all that excitement was a month ago and things have wound down at the museum for the holidays, I’m still buzzing. I can already tell this winter is going to feel longer than usual. If your guides take any pictures of your Christmas celebrations, we would also love to see them! I know there were many snapshots taken of our steam engines (and perhaps a few of a certain streamlined engine as well…), so maybe we can make a trade of it?

Your friend,

Pilot