Should I Volunteer My Time?

So I'm bored. I can't really have any car projects at my house due to space constraints. I don't have any friends with projects either. I have no house projects either, due to me renting my condo, same with yard work. I have 3 days off of work and I spend most of it sitting on my ass on the computer or watching TV.

So, I am a frequent visitor of the Illinois Railway Museum. It's probably the largest railroad museum in the country. They are always welcoming volunteers to come and work on the equipment, because they wouldn't be able to operate without volunteers. They want to restore their rolling stock and motive power so it can be used. They constantly have projects going on and I feel like I can be involved in some way. I know how to weld, do body work, turn a wrench, have a background in Diesel Technology, etc.

I was reading on their site that they have a lot of older volunteers that know have certain abilities that are a dying knowledge because they were only used on the old locomotives that the museum has. There are a lot of wood workers who work on the old passenger cars and trolleys. There are machinists that make new parts that can no longer be acquired. There are painters that can hand paint letters and numbers back to the way they originally looked. There are guys who know how to work on the Trolleys and Trolley Buses. The museum is trying to get these old guys to show people their knowledge so it can be passed on to future generations. Some of this is stuff I would like to learn.

I was thinking I could go there once a month. Its 100 miles from me. I could either go up for one day, or get a hotel room nearby somewhere and stay for two days. I barely drive my Jeep as it is, but $60 in gas once a month wouldn't kill me and it would get me there and back. I could take a cooler with food so I wouldn't have to waste any money. It would be my own little vacation and I would feel gratification from doing it.

Well anyways, here's the site if you guys want to check it out. Several movies have been filmed here and it has a lot of rare stuff you'll never see anywhere else. It's really a cool place and I love going there. It would be even more awesome to work on some of the equipment.

http://www.irm.org/

I'd say heck, yes! If the mileage isn't too far for you to consider it, and you have the time, I would urge you most emphatically to go and do it!

Anybody on this board that thinks that is a bad idea is a dirty commie, and needs to be hunted down and given a stern talking-to.

You get to play with trains? What's the drawback?

I wish there was something like that for me to go volunteer at. It seems like a really cool way to spend free time. I know that most of us here like learning new things, especially if turning wrenches is involved. I say budget permitting, DO EET!!!

Hell, Id like to go visit the place.

You may even get to know one of the volunteers that might let you couch surf one night a month to come up and help.

I say go for it. Heck if you were closer I would say come on over and help me with the Olds

Really cool place. How can you go wrong?

Here's the place on Google Maps:

http://g.co/maps/pntd4

This place is HUGE. They have an 8 mile stretch of track that they run the trains down and back. They have bought a lot of the surrounding farmland south of the rail line to the east and west. There is a lot of room for expansion. Funding is the only thing holding them back.

Some of the Volunteers used to operate this equipment back in the day as employees of the various rail companies and its cool to hear their stories.

One time my buddy and I were checking out the Interurbans and this guy in his 70's saw us talking. He asked us: "How fast do you think on of these will go?"

I reply: "40 maybe 50"

He says: "Nope, They'll do 80 easily, My friend used to drive one of these. He would pick us up when passenger service was at a minimal and we'd hit a straight piece of track and wind it out."

I asked: "Was it scary?"

He said: "Nope, it was as smooth as glass"

My friend and I were just amazed to hear that.

Can you imagine going 80 in one of these?

There is a group of retirees that volunteer in our museum. They refurbish weapons and machinery, ser up displays etc. I'm sure you offer something to the railroad folks and have no doubt you'll have a good time and learn a few things.

They built an 1800's machine shop in the back room, belt driven line drive stuff.

This is why we have OSHA......

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2011/03/09/remembering-our-industrial-history-at-the-watervli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFN1yEvAhyc

My brother volunteers with the streetcar museum here, they've restored several streetcars and run them on a short length of track during the summer. It's a pretty neat project, but they have the same issue - most of the other volunteers are older guys, and they need younger members to keep the thing going into the future.

I used to live in Crystal Lake and would head over to there every now and again. It is an amazing place. If you can swing it, absolutely do it! Where else would you get a chance to play with that kind of machinery?

Oh, and the drive from Union back to Rt 47 is a great twisty country road. (at least is used to be)

Go for it. I'm vice-president of the Ridgway, Colorado Railroad Museum - visit our webiste at www.ridgwayrailroadmuseum.org -home of the RGS Galloping Geese.

Anyhow, your skills will be put to good use, you'll meet some great people, some with skills that will compliment yours, and I guarantee you'll also meet other car people,too. Gearheads are gearheads, just different sized gears. Volunteering is a good thing to do anyhow, and doing it on projects that interest you is a win for everyone.

Go for it! Every time I look into the cab of a steam locomotive I'm amazed that someone actually knows what the 85 different valves and levers do without any of them being labelled! I fear someday no one will know, and these iron horses will be silent forever....

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

Trust me, the EPA will silence them before there are no more people to run them.

I want to volunteer at the bradley field air museum as they have an A-10

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: In reply to Gearheadotaku: Trust me, the EPA will silence them before there are no more people to run them.

Berkley You EPA.

I really hope the EPA never comes around to shutting down a few museum trains. There will always be bigger offenders, like anything large that flies.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

Right now, I know the big railroad companies have to have special permits from the EPA to run special excursion trains. Small museums and such don't seem to have to.

Right now, the EPA is going after Steamships that are still being used on the Great Lakes. They are trying to give them incentives to switch over to diesel engines. This is just the beginning.

While the EPA may not be forcing the shut down of steam locomotives, its been said that the Insurance companies will probably do it first.

Yes you should.

Opportunity to play with old trains? Check.

Opportunity to give back to the community? Check.

Opportunity to learn dying arts? Check.

Opportunity to do something that your friends will be jealous of? Check.

Sounds like a winner to me.

In reply to JohnInKansas:

Depends who your friends are

Well, atleast we will be jealous.

berkeley yeah you should do it.

Now the next step is to have the talk with SWMBO. She may not go for it right away, but I think she'll be fine with it after she thinks about it for a while.

Luckily my old boss (who also is a railfan and member of IRM) is getting me a hookup with one of the members of the board of directors for the museum. Apparently he's my age, owns a DeLorean and a couple Yugo's. This could work out really well.

stuart in mn wrote: My brother volunteers with the streetcar museum here, they've restored several streetcars and run them on a short length of track during the summer. It's a pretty neat project, but they have the same issue - most of the other volunteers are older guys, and they need younger members to keep the thing going into the future.

That the one over on Harriet? Or at least the track space? I used to love riding that as a kid.