The Illinois Railway Museum has been awarded a grant of $30,000 by the John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust. The grant will fund the first part of a major rehabilitation and stabilization program concentrating on the museum’s network of overhead trolley wire and associated infrastructure. IRM has more track under 600 volt trolley wire than any other museum in the country, some nine miles altogether, and many of the line poles require significant maintenance work. Following awarding of this grant, the museum intends to begin this stabilization work in spring 2019 as soon as weather permits.
The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust was established by John Emery, a longtime Chicago resident and avid rail enthusiast, for the purpose of helping to preserve rail equipment and infrastructure from the “Golden Age” of rail travel in the mid-20th century. IRM is one of 29 different organizations to have received a grant from the Trust in 2019, with a total of some $500,000 being awarded altogether. The members and volunteers of IRM wish to extend their gratitude to the Trust for its support of the museum’s preservation activities. More information on the Trust may be found at emeryrailheritagetrust.org