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Sunday, November 1. 2009TB Dept. - 10/31/2009We did more work on the Edmonton BBC 181 today.  Edmonton BBC 181 at Railroad Av & Richard Schauer reinstalled the suspension levelers and with Warren Lloyd’s help, the spare parts sent along with the coach were unloaded and stored.
We also did a few shake-down runs and the coach performed wonderfully!
You tube video of the coach traveling westbound on Central Avenue is available via this link:
Friday, October 30. 2009Barn 4 Addition Update - October 30, 2009With thanks to Phil Stepek who has supplied many images which I will display below. He not only made the effort to record the progress, but burned a disk and delivered it to MY HOUSE! I guess I will have to change my address:>). Without further ado, here is what amounts to an entire album of the work over the last two weeks.  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/21/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09  Phil Stepek Photo, 10/28/09 You will note two freshly poured concrete 'runners' which I believe will serve as footings to next receive railroad rails to allow a truck to be rolled into the new shop. The floor is scheduled to be poured next week. Saturday, October 24. 2009Trolley Bus Dept Update 10/24/2009
Another exciting day in the Trolley Bus Department. By the time I arrived today, Richard Schauer and Wally Unglaub were already taking the roof equipment out of our Edmonton BBC coach 181. The roof equipment had to be removed by Edmonton due to height restrictions for shipment and was stored inside the coach. We continued emptying out the coach and hauled the stuff onto the roof. We were able to get everything up there except one very heavy item. Luckily Warren Lloyd stopped by so we “Nicked” him into helping. Actually he was glad to lend a hand (as usual).
Once everything was on the roof, we proceeded to attach everything, tie the ropes to the poles, and at exactly 5:00pm, Richard had the honor of operating the coach for the first time at IRM. We traveled around the loop in front of the Andersen Garage once, then two trips down Central Avenue. The coach performed flawlessly and is in unbelievable condition! Although we have don an inspection, there will surely be a break-in period when we will discover and work out any bugs, but if today was any indication, we have a fantastic addition to our fleet. There are a couple YouTube videos of the first trip around the loop (links below). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpmThH96zG0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=357o1TguDE0
Thursday, October 22. 2009Milwaukee Streetcar 972 Update - October 21, 2009The following two images win the award for the WOW FACTOR this week!! Most of you have been following this project and seen the endless hours of preparing and painting the car.  Herald The correct style and arrangement of the herald was applied to the car by Buzz Morissette.  Numbers Too Buzz also supplied and applied the numbers. One can hardly believe the impact of these touches to a glistening, freshly painted car. Thursday, October 22. 2009URTX 26640 Update - October 21, 2009 A End The A end ladders are now mounted back on the car, the work done last Sunday.  More Painting Victor Humphreys continues with touch up painting of finished areas. He also applied black paint to the left side sill, located below the wood siding boards. Thursday, October 22. 2009CRT 'Baldy' Update - October 21, 2009 Cab Door Bruce Plaxton is into his second day in the work to remove MANY layers of paint from this cab door. Thursday, October 22. 2009UP 3786 Caboose Update - October 21, 2009All the comforts of home department - -  Lamp and Sink The kerosene lamp and wash basin grace one end. Another lamp has been installed for lighting the other end.  Flares and Fusees The original boxes have been replaced for these items.  Hot Box? Instructions are thoughtfully provided for action in the case of an overheated journal bearing.  Cupola Brakes The cupola area has a brake valve and controls for the crewman to stop the train if a problem is noted form his lofty observation post. Thursday, October 22. 2009Barn 4 Addition - October 21, 2009Work continues to show progress on the new addition to Barn 4. Amazing how fast things go when you can throw some money at a project!  Framing The framing is taking shape quickly.  West End The west end is being framed in showing the opening for the planned large door. Thursday, October 22. 2009CRT 1268 Update - October 21, 2009Many thanks to Kirk Warner for supplying pictures taken showing progress on several different projects as of this date. These may be the last for a while as Kirk should now be on his way to sunny Florida for the winter!  New Canvas Tim Peters continues to show remarkable perseverance and progress on a difficult job. Here you see new canvas being draped over one of the hip roof sections.  Installation Finished Now the canvas has been stretched, trimmed, and tacked down. Painting it will likely wait for the return of warmer weather. Monday, October 19. 2009Possible New Boxcar - Decoding the MysteryMore information is being developed due to the research by IRM and CNWHS member Erich Russ. It appears that the car in question for possible acquisition is CNW 284!! The car was part of a series numbered 1-625 built in 1953. It was listed as (AAR) type 110XM, capacity of 3898 cu ft. Inside length is 40'-5", inside width is 9'-2", inside height is 10'-6"; and the car was equipped with a 6 foot door. For those not familiar with the paint scheme, and not able to visualize it through the rust of the pics I previously posted, Erich has furnished a photo of sister car 209.  CNW 209 Wouldn't that scheme look nice in one of our freight trains? It appears to be painted boxcar red with black ends (and roof?). But there looks to be an awful LOT of lettering on that car, I wonder what I might be getting into? Saturday, October 17. 2009Do We Want This Car? October, 2009I thought I would take advantage of the blog format to pose a question to the "Court of Public Opinion". In many cases members and friends do not understand the acquisition process or how decisions are made. First, the car or locomotive must be 'available'. Then, funding must be secured; REMEMBER even a free car is not free of expenses. With those elements in place, a proposal is submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration. So, here we are at the beginning. The following images are by Andrew Cornillie taken in 2005.  The Car! Here is the car. It has been on our Museum 'watch list' for maybe 10 years and word has filtered down that it is now available. An all steel Pullman Standard iconic boxcar from the Chicago & North Western.  Traces of the Lettering The car carried the classy 'Route of the Streamliners' billboard legend on its right side, here still faintly visible.  The Site Here is an overview of the site, in the Chicago area. You will see two additional CNW boxcars at this location but they are not available at this time - and the Streamliner car is the one we previously selected for our want list. It is the far car in this view so is also the most accessable for loading on a truck to transport it to Union. THE PITCH - Neither the Freight Department, nor the Museum General Fund, have the money to make this happen. Yet it would appear to be a fan favorite fallen flag and a good fit into our Museum roster of freight cars. We do not know how imminent the disposition of this jewel might be, but we have lost many possible acquisitions over the years waiting for funding or other pieces to fall into place. So some response and feedback is needed fairly quickly if we are to pursue this. Of course that means donations from members and friends. But perhaps the CNW Historical Society might want to help. Fellow Historical Societies have made donations or grants to help preserve IRM equipment - most notably the Milwaukee Road and the Great Northern. We would not want the CNW left out!! So, it is estimated we would need about $5000 to load and ship the car and have it safe on IRM track. That does not include the beginning of any work to stabilize it, restore it, use it in freight trains, or place it under protection in a Barn. First we have to acquire it, but that implies a longer term commitment to its preservation. What say you all? Bob Kutella Thursday, October 15. 2009Time OutMany of you have commented that they enjoy my efforts to post current news and photos of IRM on this series of blogs. I rely heavily on images submitted to me, especially by Kirk Warner. Kirk becomes a snowbird every winter and flees to warmer weather, so in a week he will be gone. And I am faced with some committments which will prevent my attendance at IRM for a month or more. So these twice a week (or more) updates will disappear for a while, unless some brave soul wants to send the images to me via e mail. I will plan on checking the home computer regularly and will not be totally out of touch. Thanks, everyone, for your help and support. Bob Kutella Thursday, October 15. 2009New Barn 4 Construction, October 2009 Barn 4 Addition On October 12, materials began arriving and the contractors set up to build the addition on Barn 4. (See my previous post showing grading work). By Wednesday this week, they were digging the holes for the building support posts, despite light rain, and you can see some of the materials and supplies staged on the ground surrounding the work site. Wednesday, October 14. 2009Juice Fans Delight Showcase Weekend Here is a nice photo taken by and forwarded by Andrew Cornillie. Fans will immediately recognize the South Shore 803, all spiffed up with lights, number boards and markers working. I believe I saw Charlie Strong putting in some time earlier, so that this night shot would be possible. Monday, October 12. 2009Track Dept Updates Oct 12, 2009
SEPTEMBER 26-27, 2009
Last weekend was a big weekend in Yard 11. Our dept was joined by three volunteers from the Minnesota Transportation Museum, Andy Inserra, Phil Wellman and Eric Hopp in addition to our IRM gang Frank D, Tom H, Adam R and our most recent addition, Mike Weber. The task was to do as much work in Yard 11 as possible with two full days and a good group of guys ready to work. In previous weeks we have been actively loading ballast into our two C&NW ballast cars and dumping them on yard tracks as needed as well as repairing the 6000 tamper. Saturday we split into numerous gangs throughout the day while we ran our "production surfacing gang" in the Barn. While tracks were being tamped with the 6000 tamper, other crews were busy loading ballast cars with the Model 30 Burro crane, regulating stone on the yard tracks and dumping stone with the Model 50 Burro crane. At one point it was truly an impressive scene with three work gangs working on seperate tracks at once! The crew from Minnesota did a great job learning the machines and jumping into the jobs. (Some of them have backgrounds in track and signals and are also the MTM's track dept...) Saturday night we all worked well past dark which was possible due to the ceiling lights inside of the Barn. We called it quits for the night and made it to the Truck Stop for dinner a bit after midnight.  Tamping and Ballasting at once Sunday most of us returned for another day of tamping and regulating in the Barn. Like all track machines a few problems came up with the 6000 tamper later in the day shutting down the operation. A few parts failed 'inside' of the machine and for anyone who knows the machine also knows how dirty it is to get under, in between and 'inside' of the it for any reason... We had a few spare parts which we reinstalled and helped us get through the evening but more parts are on order which will complete this round of repairs and get us rolling again. The work didn't stop there as another track was regulated and the west end of 11-4 track was lined with the assistance of Nick K in the Bobcat. By the end of the weekend we had finished tamping 11-4 track, nearly finished 11-3 and made the first lift on 11-2 track. Each track requires 3-5 lifts with the tamper for their entire lengths to get the track upto the proper height and alignment. Ballast was dumped on 11-3 and 11-4 tracks and both tracks regulated. It was a VERY successful weekend and proves how much we can accomplish when the machines work properly and most importantly when we have many hands helping out. Track work is not an easy activity to say the least... Thanks to the gang from Minnesota again, we really apprectiate your help! Adam Robillard lzeje657@msn.com -------------------- OCTOBER 3-4, 2009 This past weekend, Tom H, Frank D and Adam R were out Sunday to continue repairs on the tamper, load ballast and pick up material on the mainline. An urgent request was made to clean up some Track and Line Dept material near the interchange track for the unloading the the new Santa Fe loco in the coming weeks. Frank was the first one out this morning and fired up the Model 50 Burro crane. I arrived shortly after and we picked up the C&NW flatcar and headed West toward the interchange.  Tom watches the wheels as we lift the
Diamond into the air.  Frank guides the 8000lb diamond onto the
flatcar Adam Robillard lzeje657@msn.com ----------------------------- OCTOBER 10-11, 2009 Saturday's crew consisted of Frank D, Tom H, Steve L, Steve's friend Josh Gould, and Adam R. As in previous weeks the big project is finishing Yard 11. The day started early for Frank who was able to get the tamper temporarily fixed making it operable once again. With things looking positive we fired up the tamper and got to work... Thankfully Nick showed up shortly after and gave us a little pep talk. My favorite quote from the conversation- "Get as much done before the tamper breaks again, it's already past due for a break down..." Mind you we hadn't been tamping for more than 15 minutes at this point. More on that later... We all focused the next few hours tamping 11-2 track and 11-3 track. By 12:30 we had 2 track and 3 tracks completely raised and ready for stone. But as expected the tamper failed just as we were finishing 3 track. The pin which holds the entire workhead assembly to the hydraulic cylinder snapped, the workhead fell to the ground and busted the hydraulic cylinder and hoses.... Sigh. Well all hope wasn't lost and the next few hours were spent working on the current failure and replacing parts from last weekend's failures... Needless to say we got a lot done on the machine and we'll be up and running this weekend.I left early but the rest of the gang stayed late Saturday dumping another round of ballast on the finished tracks. The majority of the work inside of the barn is done. Three passes with the tamper on one track and the tamping will be done. We need to manually lift the last 20' on each of the yard tracks, finish ballasting (including loading one more car of stone), regulating, and we will be finished with the track portion of the project indoors. IF all goes well next weekend I can see us being out of the Barn within the next 2-3 weeks.  COMPLETED Yard tracks in Barn 11 Sunday was very low key in comparison. I was the only one out and spent a few hours sorting the recently arrived switch timbers near the connector track. Next month Volkmann, our track contractor, will be out replacing switch ties on a number of mainline and carline switches.  Switch timbers stacked near the Connector Track Adam Robillard Roadmaster - Track |
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Comments
Tue, 11-03-2009 05:07
I was involved in the potential acquisition of the boxcar in Arlington Heights. We thought we had a deal struck with the owner, after having kept [...]
Mon, 11-02-2009 20:35
Thank you for the info, I too wondering the IRM Board thought about it. I haven't gone the IRM board in ages,(flashback) twenty two years or so, I [...]
Sun, 11-01-2009 19:16
Hi Peter, Bob Kutella asked me to reply. There is interest within the CNWHS board to promote the preservation of this car. IRM's goal to acquire and [...]
Fri, 10-30-2009 10:00
Good comment, Peter. It would seem to be a gathering that would be interested in preservation of CNW equipment. You can help to spread the word (and [...]
Thu, 10-29-2009 22:37
It would be neat to get it as it is a block from my work at CEVA Logistics and i pass it everyday on the way to work. Is someone going to promote [...]
Wed, 10-28-2009 14:51
Good day Phil, I'm Doug and I took many photos during the Anzio Reenactment. The day was great, everyone did a wonderful job. If the IL Railroad [...]
Tue, 10-27-2009 16:46
Thanks for the kind remarks, that crew deserves HIGH MARKS. But note that the car is not ready for service yet. For some time we have been working [...]
Tue, 10-27-2009 11:01
COOL!!!!! Looks great! I can't wait to see 972 roll under its own power around the streetcar loop!!! I would be waiting in line to learn to operate [...]
Wed, 10-14-2009 19:50
A hard few days of work gentlemen (and any ladies who might have helped)congradurations on beating "the Clock" before the cranes failed. No doubt it [...]
Wed, 10-14-2009 11:37
Nick, Since my first day as an IRM member in 1968 I have lived the dream of obtaining at least one of the 450's and the Pullman 409. Now we will have [...]