UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum on Saturday played host to “Shay It Forward,” a preservation fundraising event held to honor the memory and legacy of late Trains Magazine editor Jim Wrinn, who died March 30, 2022, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Fundraising activities included throttle time with the museum’s three-truck Shay locomotive, J. Neils Lumber Co. No. 5; lunch and dinner meals aboard the museum’s articulated Nebraska Zephyr train set, pulled by E5 No. 9911-A; and night photo sessions featuring several pieces of museum equipment.
Wrinn’s widow Cate Kratville-Wrinn, the daughter of noted railroad historian and preservationist William Kratville, has set up the Shay It Forward program to support museums and preservation groups, with a particular emphasis on steam locomotives, and especially the geared steam locomotives Jim so dearly loved.
“Multiple times, Jim would say if we won the lottery, what engines are we going to get running first?” said Kratville-Wrinn. “So Shay It Forward is a program to support nonprofit steam programs with Shay locomotives, whether they are running, stuffed and mounted, or are locomotives that are in need of preservation.”
Saturday’s event, the inaugural Shay It Forward fundraiser, was part of a weekend that began with a celebration of life event for Wrinn in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, Wis., and concluded Sunday with a Trains photo charter at the Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad in Freeport, Ill., featuring Heisler No.2.
Some of Wrinn’s ashes were spread through the firebox of the Shay at IRM, the third time some of his ashes have been placed in an operating steam locomotive.
“Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 1309 on Nov. 6 of 2022, at Helmstetter’s Curve, Md., was the first locomotive in which we dropped Jim’s ashes in the firebox,” said Kratville-Wrinn. That locomotive bears a plaque honoring Wrinn for his role in supporting the restoration of the 2-6-6-2. The second time was at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, with Class K-27 2-8-2 No. 463 on June 3, on the trip that featured the inaugural run of Parlor Car Jim Wrinn.
“Jim was in the front of the train and bringing up the rear, which I just love,” said Kratville-Wrinn.
On Saturday, she said, “when I put the shovel into the firebox and turned it over, it was exciting and a bit sad, all at the same time. Operating the Shay coming into the Central was the culmination of the IRM inviting me to run the Shay.”
Illinois Railway Museum steam engineer Ken Ristow also ran Wrinn’s ashes through the firebox of No. 5.
“IRM and I personally chose Kenny because [he and Jim] had known each other for years and they had worked together on steam charters,’’,said Kratville-Wrinn.
The Shay It Forward program will be held at other railroad museums and tourist lines across the country in the future.
How does one get involved in the fundraiser in the future?