Waukegan Local via DOWT

Sunday I was back out at IRM for Thomas Day Three.  This time I was conductor on the North Shore train with Ron Seavers as the motorman.  It's been a number of years since I worked on the North Shore cars, so it was interesting to reacquaint myself with the differences between them and the CA&E woods.  For much of the day I was the only conductor, but Keith Letsche joined the crew for the last few runs and manned the 749 while I took the 714.

One object of note in the above photograph is the yellow thing peeking out from behind the 714.  I forgot to get a photo of it, but the "Henrietta," IRM's newest CRANDIC (ex-Rock Island) car, was in public operation following quite a bit of cleanup work by the Coach Department.  This car just arrived on the property earlier this year and, while work certainly remains to be done, it was impressive to see it made available for service so quickly.

The crowd seemed good; it's certainly encouraging to see the parking lot so full.  As with most Thomas days, people seemed to be enjoying themselves and many aspects of the museum's normal operation were revelations.  You mean the train rides are included with my ticket?  You guys are open other times of year too?  All of the people working on the trains are volunteers?  It's always fun to talk with people who have never been to IRM before, and it's encouraging to see the equipment and the operations exposed to people who have never even seen an interurban car before.  I tried to talk up some of the museum's other events, like Labor Day Weekend and the Happy Holiday Railway.  More than a few families seemed very interested in these, particularly the December event.