Arrivals

“Meet (Me) In St. Louis”

The year 2010 will be the 100^th anniversary of the opening of the St. Louis Terminal and the dedication of the McKinley Bridge.  To commemorate this historical occasion, the 24^th Annual ITS Meet will be held on April 23 & 24, 2010, in St. Louis!  The Crowne Plaza of Clayton (St. Louis) will be the designated hotel and meet site for this historic event.  Members will receive a special discount rate of $99. for one queen, one king, or two-double beds, or for $119 stay in the Executive Tower; 2-delux queen beds at this four-star rated hotel. The beds are Simmons World Class Beauty Rest Pillow-Top Mattresses for complete comfort for a night’s rest. Note the standard rates for these same rooms are $189 and $229 respectively.  See below for additional details for reserving your room.

This property offers a free shuttle van within a 4-mile radius, accessing area shopping centers and attractions and the Metro-Link station which is located 2 blocks west.  They are within a 4-block radius of 44 restaurants and the hotel restaurant offers a hot breakfast buffet for $10.95.  For members in attendance, parking is free (normally $6).  We have locked in a rate of $39.50 per person for dinner (including taxes/gratuity) and will be assigned the Windsor Ball Room for our evening banquet.  (Note there is no charge for this room, a savings of $500 over other past locations).

At 9 AM Saturday, a tour will originate at the hotel and cost $25 per member.  A check in booth is provided and is located to the right of the hotel registration desk.  A deluxe elegant shuttle bus will make its first stop at the former passenger station/general offices of the railroad, then follow a narrated route of both the street and elevated trackage of St. Louis.  At Branch Street, the attendee will have the option to walk up the approach and across the McKinley Bridge to the Venice side to meet the bus to continue the route of the “Bridge Cars”through the tri-city area and a surprise stop for a photo-op.  Arrangements will be made to stop at a local restaurant for lunch on your own, then follow the former St. Louis & Alton route back towards St. Louis.  At this point one bus will return to the hotel for those who want to “railfan” on their own and the other will continue on to the Museum of Transportation for a tour of the museum and return to the hotel.  The annual social hour will be held at 5 PM in a private room (provided free of charge) at the Crowne Plaza just off the bar.  Dinner will be served promptly at 6 PM in the Windsor Ballroom, followed by the State of Society report and the evening program by noted rail photographer/historian Mike Schafer.

With the tour beginning at 9 AM and returning at 4 PM, the annual swap meet, model contest and film festival will be suspended for this annual meet due to the full day of tour activity.  In addition to the campaign button, a 100th anniversary commemorative gift will be given to each member in attendance.

The Crowne Plaza/Clayton special ITS Discounted Group Rate can be obtained with reservations which can be made anytime between now and no later than midnight March 24, 2010. The meet date is April 24, 2010.  This rate will also be honored for Friday, April 23, 2010.  To make a reservation call:  1-314-726-5400 or toll free at:  1-888-303-1746 and tell the reservation clerk that you are with the Illinois Traction Group to receive the special discount.  Make reservations now to share in this once in a lifetime opportunity... and we will “Meet (You) in St. Louis”!!!

Publication Schedule

The Spring 2010 issue of The Flyer was mailed March 24th.  This is a special 64 page issue commemorating the Centennial of St. Louis - Tri-City service and the completion of McKinley Bridge.  Please allow 30 days for delivery before contacting Membership Services for assistance as the Post Office will not begin tracing any sooner.  Thank you for your patience and we hope you enjoy the Spring issue of The Flyer!

ITS Brewster Green Paint Available

The Illinois Traction Society still has an ample supply of custom-made Brewster green paint available for the modeler!  The paint comes in a 1oz. plastic bottle and is matched to the Brewster green formula devised by William Clouser.  It is an easy-to-use acrylic paint compatible with Badger Modelflex.  Available now for $6.50 each (limit of four per order) plus $2.50 per order for shipping and handling.  Allow two-three week delivery via USPS.  Make your check or money order payable to Illinois Traction Society and send to:

The IT IN Miniature

Atlas has announced the release of an “O” gauge Illinois Terminal RS-1 locomotive in November of 2008.  The O Master model is in the green/yellow “football” scheme with roman lettering.  The 2-Rail Gold Model 5964-1 bears No. 752 and model 5964-2 bears No. 756.  The 3-Rail TMCC model 6964-1 bears No. 752 and Model 6964-2 is No. 756.

On The Property

The former ITS Depot at Carlinville, Illinois is undergoing an exterior renovation of tuck pointing, painting, signage and redoing the lighting.  The building is owned by the Body Depot Spa Salon.  To further preserve the interurban history of the depot and area, a wall is being dedicated to display old photos of people’s memories of the depot.  Anyone with photos of the Carlinville Depot they would like to share are welcome to call (217) 854-2175 or stop by.

On The Trail

Word has been announced that an agreement has been reach with Ameren-IP to grant permission to build a hiking/biking trail between Sherman and Williamsville north of Springfield.  Speculation is that an additional trail will be built south from Lincoln to connect at Williamsville.  The eventual goal will be to have a trail from downtown St. Louis to Lincoln, in part restoring the former IT right of way.

IT Presentation

Dale Jenkins, Editor - Illinois Traction Society, made an IT presentation to members of the Retiree’s Club  of the First Presbyterian Church of Decatur, Illinois on September 25, 2008.  Thirty-five members attended the presentation.

Illinois Terminal 277 Runs Again!

Illinois Railway Museum resident passenger motor 277 has once again come to life as her wheels churned over the rails of the museum, pulling the life giving power from the overhead wire to excite every railfan's interest for the first time in 29 years.  On October 4, 2008, 277 with trailer 518 in tow made four round trips on the main line of the IRM.  This special event was the official makeup day for the rained-out Member's Showcase Weekend activities of September 13-14.  Thanks goes to Rod Turner, Electric Car Department Curator, and his talented staff of volunteers whose work started on the 277 earlier in the year and continued throughout the summer with a goal of operating the 277 and 518 for Member's Showcase Weekend.  Overall, the car was not in too bad of shape, but some of the air and electrical components needed to be cleaned and "exercised" to overcome nearly 20 years of "sit-itis".  Contactors were cleaned, fuses replaced, bearings polished and lubricated.  One of the most vexing problems was an air brake problem that caused the 277 to go into emergency application and then make it nearly impossible to "recover" brake pipe pressure.  The problem was found and corrective measures were taken.

While the interior of 518 is in decent condition, much of the interior of the 277 is disassembled from an aborted restoration project that was started years ago.  The original canvas roof is leaky and needs replacement and a proper restoration would entail the inspection, removal, renewal and refinishing of literally hundreds of metal and wood parts on both cars.  If any ITS members would like to support the continued care and further restoration of these cars, a donation can be sent to the Museum and stipulate that it go specifically to the IT 277, 518 or any other IT piece of equipment in IRM's collection.

Illinois Railway Museum
Buck-O-Project
P.O. Box 427
Union, IL 60180-0427

The museum is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.  All donations are tax deductible.

For those of you able and interested, please consider donating.  The timing couldn't be better and if anyone is interested, perhaps we could offer our volunteer assistance to help further the project along.  For anyone interested in assisting further, feel free to contact the webmaster directly and I will see that your message and interest are forwarded to the appropriate individual(s).

Illinois Terminal 170 "BosenBirney" Safety Car

Recently an interesting and important development has come to light.  A group in Northern Texas has taken the lead, obtained all important grant funding, to help with the research and pattern work to have new journal boxes cast for the Brill 79E type truck used under many of the "Birney" single-truck streetcars.

They are now ready to have journal boxes cast and have invited all interested museums and organizations to join with them and help lower the unit cost.  It was confirmed that the IT 170 now residing at Illinois Railway Museum did indeed use these journal boxes.  IT 170 was used in service at Galesburg and Alton, Illinois and with its service life over, the original Brill 79E1 truck was removed and the body was used as an office in the Saint Louis, Missouri subway terminal.  There is a cost estimate of $1780 for a set of 4 journal boxes.  All money raised would initially go to fund the acquisition of the journal boxes and anything above and beyond that amount would go toward the further restoration of IT 170.

Quoting from recent messages posted by long time IRM volunteer and IT Society member Bob Kutella,

"Progress and support for this idea has been remarkable, and not just from the friends and members of the electric car department. As of this evening (ed., 11/15/2006), we have donations and pledges for donations from 22 people. You know who you are and a heartfelt thanks. If you have pledged a donation but not yet sent it, please do so as soon as you can. Timing is very tight to draft an IRM check and get the deposit down to Texas.

So the goal is even more likely reachable, but not yet met. If you are considering a donation, please do so right now while fresh in your mind. The funds are needed, and we are already closely examining the next steps and remaining work, including getting truck suspension springs if funds allow.

On a positive note, I can confirm that we have the needed air compressor, a DH 16, and two 25 HP GE 264A motors, in stock; and can confirm that the machining work on the box castings is planned to be done by our volunteers in house.

This is a broad based team effort - please join the team."

For those of you able and willing help with this effort, the immediate need is to GET THE JOURNAL BOXES.  Checks may be made payable to "Illinois Railway Museum".  The funds should be noted on the memo line or with a cover note that they are to be considered a RESTRICTED donation to the IT 170 or to the fund R170, for those accounting types.  The address for IRM is:

Illinois Railway Museum
Buck-O-Project
P.O. Box 427
Union, IL 60180

The museum is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.  All donations are tax deductible.

For those of you able and interested, please consider donating.  The timing couldn't be better and if anyone is interested, perhaps we could offer our volunteer assistance to help further the project along.  For anyone interested in assisting further, feel free to contact the webmaster directly and I will see that your message and interest are forwarded to the appropriate individual(s).

By the way, your webmaster concurs with Dr. Harold Cox's analysis in his book, "The Birney Car", available on line at http://www.telcen.com/streetcars/ , that they would be better named "BosenBirneys" in recognition of design and development work of the Illinois Traction System's own J. M. Bosenbury, Superintendent of Motive Power and Equipment.

Go to http://www.irm.org/cgi-bin/rsearch.cgi?estreet=Illinois+Terminal+Railroad=170 to see this car on the Illinois Railway Museum web site  With our help, this car can once again run in the Illinois countryside!

Trail Update

The ITS Trail Committee Inc. is a not-for-profit organization composed of dedicated volunteers from Staunton, Sawyerville, Benld, Gillespie, Carlinville, Edwardsville and St. Louis.  Although the organization only came together in January, 2006 it has already garnered the endorsement of many organizations, municipalities and governmental agencies in the area.  Since the trail from Worden to Staunton is already approved and funded and the trail from Benld to Gillespie has been in existence for several years, this project will provide the key missing link between the two.  It is reported that the Madison County Transit District is planning to connect Worden with the closest trail which ends just southwest of Hamel.

The next major goal is to raise $15,000 to pay for a preliminary engineering study the results of which will be used in a grant application for funds to complete the construction phase of the trail.  As a fund raiser, the group is inviting donors to advertise on a Safety Vest which is bright yellow with reflector strips.  These vests provide excellent visibility for Morning walkers during dark winter morning walks and runs.  They are also a good idea for bicyclists in almost any weather and are available for $35 each.  Polo shirts are also available in sizes S/M/L for $23 and XL/XXL for $26.00.  These tastefully done polo shirts and vests will make great Christmas presents for your loved ones!  For additional information, to join, or to order a vest or polo shirts visit the group's web site at http://www.its-trail.org/.

Announcing the new Illinois Central Railroad Heritage Association

Excitement is building around the formation of the new Illinois Central Railroad Heritage Association!  The ICRHA is dedicated to preserving and disseminating the history of the Illinois Central Railroad, its predecessors and successors including the Chicago Central & Pacific, Illinois Central Gulf, Paducah & Louisville, Mid-South, and IC lines now operated by Canadian National.

Everyone is invited to join and share the benefits of membership which include the Mid-American, an excellent full-color quarterly journal, an annual calendar, an annual convention, and more.  Regular membership costs only $34.00 per year.  Sustaining membership is $65.00 and includes the annual calendar (to be published for 2008).  Members with addresses outside of the United States pay $58.00 and $89.00 respectively.  Join now and the first issue of the Mid-American will be sent to you right away (while supplies last).  Articles in the premier issue focus on the Paducah & Louisville Railroad, the Seminole, and the Dodgeville, Wisconsin branch.

The ICRHA is not affiliated with the Illinois Central Railroad, its successors or parent companies, or any other historical society.  It is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation chartered in the state of Illinois.  Checks or money orders in U.S. dollars should be sent to: ICRHA Membership Services P.O. Box 47 Bucklin, MO 64631.