Arrivals

22^nd Annual ITS Meet At Alton Deemed A Success!!!

On April 26, 2008, the 22nd Annual Illinois Traction Society Meet was held at the VFW Post, at 4445 Alby Street, Alton, Illinois.  A tip o' the hat and a hearty slap on the back to ITS City Traffic Agent’s Mark Godwin and Andrew Sisk for a most memorable and an absolutely successful annual meeting!  To identify the 110 members in attendance, a souvenir “campaign button” with a modified St. Louis & Alton drumhead logo was issued.

The night before, 32 members gathered at Tony’s Restaurant for a fine meal and an evening of fellowship to usher in the 22nd annual meet.  The next day’s events began with the annual "Interchange" railroad swap meet featuring 32 tables which offered a wide variety of items for sale or trade, appealing to collectors and modelers.  At 10 AM, 80 members boarded two buses for a “Trip Over the Line” commencing at Alton to follow the former St. Louis & Alton right of way through Wood River, the tri-cities of Granite City, Madison, and Venice, then across the recently opened McKinley Bridge.  The return trip would highlight the paralleling Alton & Eastern “Steam Division” to Grafton, with a surprise stop at Lock Haven.  At this location, setting off of the beaten path, St. Louis & Alton passenger motor #103 still survives intact (minus trucks) as a fishing cabin.

At 2 PM the Annual Film Festival presented various films and slides of Illinois Terminal operations; system wide which were presented to a very appreciative audience.  At 5 PM, the Annual “Social Hour” was held and at 7PM, the evening program began with a “Welcome to the City of Alton” from Police Chief Christopher Sullivan, followed with the presentation of model contest ribbons.  The State of Society Report was provided updating members on the society financial and operational well-being.  The 2008 President’s Key Awards were presented to John Hitzeman for his production of IT models and contributions of art work for the FLYER magazine and Jake Greeling for his dedication to duty as ITC Assistant Superintendent: Steam Division, and his contributions to society publications.  The “Bent Spike Award” was presented to retiring ITS Secretary Missy Jobe and the “Clear Signal Award” to Mike Schafer and his staff in recognition of their dedication to promote the best interests of the society.  Chief Sullivan at this time presented ITS President/Editor Dale Jenkins with a badge plaque designating him as Alton’s First Honorary Police Officer.

The evening program, “Life on the IT Diesel Division” was presented by Jake Greeling and was well received by the 110 members in attendance.  The 23rd Annual Meet will be held in Staunton, Illinois, so watch the web site and the Phone Booth for futher details.  See ya in 2009!!!

Publication Schedule

The Fall 2008 issue of The Flyer is at layout and is projected to be mailed to members by November 25, 2008.  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 Fall issue of The Flyer!

ITS Brewster Green Paint Project Update

After development of the Illinois Traction Society's Brewster Green paint project hit an unforeseen and lengthy delay earlier this year, we are pleased to announce that the project is back on track and should be available this Fall.  The preliminary samples look perfectly good and we are anticipating a slot in the production schedule soon.  Preliminary prices are 1 oz. bottle in the $6-7 range (plus s+h), 4oz. bottle TBD (plus s+h).  Ordering information will be in the next Phone Booth and will also be posted at the Society's website, http://www.illinoistractionsociety.org/, and at the Yahoo! groups http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/McKinleyLines_IllinoisTraction/ and http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/illinois_terminal_rr/.

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!

Illinois Traction System Harristown Depot Could Be Yours!

Here's your chance to own one of the Illinois Traction System's signature station/substations. The station complex is listed by Hank Norris with details available at the following link: http://www.brinkoetter.com/agent.php?id=65 .  Then click on the link for the property listed at 1190 N. Meridian.  Hopefully, this gem can be purchased by someone that appreciates its unique architecture and place in history.

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.