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Sunday, March 21. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 20, 2010It was a very busy day with a large volunteer crew in the wood shop, as well as many hands on deck in the Electric Car Department. I took some time out to unlimber the camera a few times. We started out making arrangements for an upcoming tour for the Woodstock Woodworkers club and shifted into high gear making sawdust.  The Shop Cart Henry Vincent has been working earlier this week to add new wheels to one of our shop carts, and new timber to act as sides/push arms. Before he could complete the job we were already stacking parts on it.  The Feeder Henry switched over to the shaper crew for testing the final setup on the shaper being used to mill new battens for the depot. The fifty some pieces of stock had been planed to thickness by this time. We are using a power feeder on the machine, but here Henry was in training to start each piece of stock and keep it on track.  Getting in Shape Buzz Morisette was doing more trim and fitting on the new windwos for the MILW 01984 caboose while the shaping was in full swing. The batten crew included (l to r) Dan Fenlaciki, Henry VIncent, and Rich Witt. Victor Humphreys was not in this pic but was invaluable as usual.  Rabbets Buzz needed to make several small rabbets and grooves for tracking the sliding bay windows and here he is making use of a custom jig that has served us well for such work.  Wow By the end of the day Rich Witt was stacking off several hundred feet of finshed depot battens, I think five layers deep in this pic. Lots more to go, come on out. Monday, March 15. 2010Track Dept Weekend Report. March 14, 15Saturday Report from Adam Robillard and Sunday Report from Frank Devries: --------------- Today was just one of those days things just seemed to go right. It's about time I'd say. The day started early with Frank and myself and the first order of business was to make a run to Farm & Fleet for some hydraulic oil and parts. While we were away, JD Marzec and Greg Frech both showed up willing to work! They did some invaluable work 'derusting' and lubing track bolts in the shop and did a fine job. Upon our return we hit the machine maint. work. Frank filled the hydraulic on the switch tamper and began testing the new pump he had installed previously. Unfortunately it turns out the pump is pumping the wrong direction... a bit more trouble shooting and adjusting will be needed to hopefully get the machine back to 100% soon. JD, Greg and I topped off the hydraulic on the 6000 tamper and about that time Tom Hunter joined the gang. We did some QC bolt work on the 6000 and cleaned up the tool boxes and prepared to tamp.. The original plan was to do a walking inspection of the main line but the hit or miss weather was enough to keep us close to home. Tom and Adam sorting tool boxes During lunch we formulated a plan for the rest of the day. Frank, JD and Greg set to do an oil/ filter change on the Amtrak Ballast regulator which desperately needed it. The air filter is the color of dirt and as Frank put it "hasn't seen daylight since the Carter Administration..." Tom and I ran to Napa for oil and filters and Frank, JD and Greg prepped the machines in Yard 11. While that gang was doing the oil, Tom and I switched out the 6000 tamper and began tamping the Streetcar line between Electric Park and the S-Curves. The initial goal was to test the machine from its winter work and break it back in. Amazingly everything seemed to work well and only a few minor adjustments will have to be made. We spent the next four hours tamping the carline and after the Regulator was finished Frank, JD and Greg ran it around to our work area and began regulating the freshly tamped track.  Electric Park Regulated -------------------------------- More of the same......  Brooming The first task was to determine the electrical short on the regulator. When the lights were knocked off during the barn 11 project, the one light was hanging by the wire. Seems during our work on Saturday, it came in contact with the muffler, burned through the insulation and shorted. Jeron had noticed the high amp readings Saturday night. A quick clip of the wire resolved the short. The light bulb was broken in that light anyway. I noticed most of the lights are burned out on the machine. Next trip out I will pick up some spares from Napa. We fired up the regulator and resumed the plowing and brooming of the carline between Electric park and the S curve. After a short period of time Jeron noticed a hydraulic leak. I sent him back to yard 11 to put the machine away. Jeron found the leak was a loose hydraulic hose, and with quite a bit of trouble, tightened up the loose connection. Apparently like all track machines it was not as easy as putting a wrench on and tightening. From what I understand it involved a hydraulic power pack unit, and a lot of contortionist like moves. Once fixed, it was back to work. Brooming and plowing continued until another leak was noticed. Seems the valve for the oil pan had worked itself loose. When the leak was noticed we shut down quick, and resolved the leak. So that machine had it's second oil change this weekend. I will hit up the hardware store to get a plug for that valve to avoid a similar issue from happening again!!! By the end of the day the track looks really good. There is still a bit of box work to be done, but it is a huge improvement.  Tamped and Regulated  Tamped and Regulated While Jeron was fixing the hydraulic leak, I went for a walk. Track walking that is... I was able to inspect from East Station switch to Signal 251. During that walk, I found several loose joints, a couple of hanging joints that will get fixed when we tamp, but no breaks, no other defects that will affect opening day. I also marked several piles of OTM and scrap along the main for pick up with the 50. Brush through this stretch looks good. A touch up could be in order around Karsten's, but that's about it. I also marked ties for replacement between E. Station and Karsten's. I think the total was around 140 ties. I marked 5 ties off the bridge to ensure we have good support going into the bridge. Photos have been posted of the Carline results in the gallery below. A few shots of things from barn 10 as well. http://www.irm. Frank D. Monday, March 15. 2010Library Update - March 14, 2010One of our important elements in providing services to our members and in fulfilling our educational mission is the operation of the Strahorn Memorial Library, off campus, in nearby Marengo, IL. There you will find a dedicated group of volunteers and an AMAZING collection of railroad related items. Here is a short photo tour courtesy of images from Gwyn Stupar.  Main Entrance Here is the main entrance. The building was constructed as the local public library and later the Museum was able to purchase the building.  Magazines Some of the magazines reside on shelves that we salvaged from the Mount Prospect High School library. They have been refinished, restored, and assembled to provide additional space for the collection.  Official Guides The Strahorn has a comprehensive collection of Official Guides, as well as many Official Railway Equipment Registers.  Art You will find some rare examples of paintings and railway art, some museum quality models, thousands of archived photos and negatives, and well over 15,000 railway and technical books. This is not a lending library, but has regular hours two days per week for walk-in visitors and other times by appointment. It is wise to call ahead as they depend on volunteer staffing, and at least during the winter, really bad weather can cause the open hours to be changed. If you have not been to this IRM operation, you owe it to yourself to visit, help out, or both of the above. Monday, March 15. 2010Line Department - March 14, 2010 Gwyn Stupar Photo A nice portrait of Max Tyms Sunday afternoon after the weather cleared out for a few hours. Shortly, Max will be up in the bucket truck working on revisions to upgrade the DC overhead at the east end of Barn 7. Monday, March 15. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 14, 2020 Ray Schmid Photo I did not get a chance to snap any pics Sunday but here is shot shared by Ray Schmid. Bob Sundelin is removing some new batten molding from the shaper while I am at the power feeder controls. Sunday was spent fine tuning the fences and guides for producing this stock as one of the next shop projects. Next, here are some photos submitted by Gwyn Stupar.  Batten Here is a side by side comparison of the new molding manufactured in our wood shop compared to the circa late 1800's stock found on our depot.  Fencing We have an amazing collection of restored and working machines in the wood shop. But the key is to 'outsmart' them using fences, jigs, and other aids. We ran off some test battens on Saturday and decided we could do better. So, here I am hoveling out some wood on the back of the shaper fence (also made by us) to be able to tweak it just a bit.  Hardware Not exactly a picture of anyone making sawdust, but Tim Peters is continuing the restoration work on CRT 1268. Here, he is cleaning some hardware and linkage for operating the clerestory windows. Sunday, March 14. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 13, 2010 Fitting the Beading To start this entry, here is Rich Witt with the woodwork about done for the new sash for CA&E 409, the frame in primer, and a slew of new window beading to retain the glazing.  Getting in Shape Next a shot of Victor Humphreys removing molded stock from the shaper. This is the test piece for new battens for our depot, the east end. Custom knives were produced to be able to accurately reproduce the profile of these pieces. Needless to say, nothing today is commercially available, even close, so it is the Wood Shop to the rescue. We spent much of the day on set up to run this stock, and were fairly successful - one more revision to the fence today is needed. When the lumber arrives, we will be off to the races.  It Is a Pane Finally, here is Bill Moran taking a turn on window work for the CA&E 319. A good man who is ready and willing to take on almost any task. Sunday, March 14. 2010Cleveland 4223 - March 13, 2010 It Does a Body Good Just a quick note in this category to show a pic of Eric Lorenz working on the front end of our Cleveland PCC. With the 'summerlike' 40F temps, Eric was sanding down the current primer coat in spots and adding more filler to make the contours more perfect. Of course that will mean paint touch up later. Saturday, March 13. 2010Thursday, March 11. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 10, 2010 The DOOR Rich Witt and Victor Humphreys are assembling "THE DOOR" one more time as a dry fit, this time with the raised panels in place. A little tweaking followed and we should be ready for glue up in a few weeks and then move on to a similar door needed for the station building.  Turning We do not usually need much use of a lathe for turning parts, but here is Bill Leiter spinning out some knobs for the crew doing the work on CB&Q 993. He just returned from a trip to Florida and remarked that it was warmer up here! The way the snow was melting at 62 F we may be going directly from snow skiing on the campus to water skiing. Thursday, March 11. 2010CCW 300 Update - March10, 2010 HMMMM Work is resuming at a faster rate on the CCW 300 locomotive. Remember that most of the heart and soul of that crew essentially took a year off to repaint the TM 972. So, here is John Nelligan studying the electrical circuits diagram. There are a lot of loose cables on the engine, dismantled during early work years ago. If these were marked or tagged, such has largely disappeared, so we may need to call in Sherlock Holmes to unravel some of the mysteries. Monday, March 8. 2010Michigan Electric 28 Update - March 7, 2010 Fitting Work Yes appropriate as Jeff Brady is doing the final fitting of parts for the first new baggage door for the ME 28.  Assembly The glue has been applied to the joints and Bob Sundelin assists Jeff in getting all the parts together in one unit.  A Pressing Engagement The results speak for themselves with the assembled door securely held in the glue press, Jeff Brady breathing a sigh of relief as he inspects the finished product. Monday, March 8. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 7, 2010 Orange Paint Tim Peters was back form a weekend trip to St. Louis and was continuing repairs and restoration to the CRT 1268 wooden el car. Here he is applying the signature orange paint to a rebuilt end door. Monday, March 8. 2010Wood Shop Update (Added Material)- March 6, 2010Here is the Saturday report now, with a short Sunday report in the planning as a coming attraction.  Frames Buzz Morisette has all ten new caboose windows glued up. They look enough in this image like picture frames, so maybe we should start a small side business. We ran all ten through the Berlin sander for finish sanding, cut the stile extensions, and then Buzz was fussing with edge and details of the finished sash.  Infeed End To get the caboose windows to that stage, and the sash for the 409, here are four late arriving photos form Greg Cuevorst (thanks Greg). First, a shot of me feeding a sash into the Berlin sander.  Outfeed Victor Humphreys was the 'catcher' removing sanded frames from the discharge.  Inspector General Buzz M. inspected each frame after each pass and returned them to me as needed for another pass.  Framed Rich Witt has his completed CA&E 409 frame and was doing the touch up and final trimming. Earlier, we removed this from the glue press, finish sanded it through the Berlin sander, cut the stiles, rabbetted three sides, and added a 45 degree bevel - all to reproduce the original deteriorated sample.  Rare Shot A rare shot of Randy Hicks giving more CA&E 319 windows some tlc. Not rare that he is actually working, but he is usually the one behind the camera!  Tenon Trimming Victor Humphreys is trimming the tenons to fit on our very old Delta 14 inch bandsaw.  Near Days End Rich Witt puts some finishing touches on the new sash for the CA&E 409. Behind him you can spy out Victor Humphreys working on the first dry assembly of the door. Sunday, March 7. 2010Thursday, March 4. 2010Wood Shop Update - March 3, 2010This will be another 'one size fits all' blog entry covering many different projects.  The Crew Some of the crew pitching in today included John Nelligan, Randall Hicks, Victor Humphreys, Jack Beisterfield, and Pete Galayda. John and Pete did some work on the TM 972 to get ready for new upholstery, and then they both moved to work on the Charles City Western 300 trying to decipher some of the cabling and wiring. Randy and Pete were working on windows for the CA&E 319, while Jack was taking 'delivery' of five new windows, completed for the B&M 1094.  Never Ending Window Work Henry Vincent works on a new window frame for North Shore 757 while Rich Witt fusses with the fit for a new sash for CA&E 409.  The Door Victor Humphreys makes progress on the new door. Dave Diamond stopped in and we discussed making a new door for the depot, once the process is perfected and we gain some experience on this type project.  Stand Still Work is not at a standstill but Joe Luciani and Lee Regione wait for no man. That, or I could not hold the camera steady! Here, they stop by the wood shop to cut new floorboards for CB&Q 993.  Rich Witt Photo Rich Witt submitted this - as he said - a RARE image. In this case one with me in it! Bob Kutella, Victor Humphreys, and Pete Galayda discuss a porblem stripping the CA&E 319 windows. |
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Comments
Sun, 03-14-2010 19:03
Olympus is one of two baggage cars built 1947-48 for the Gods and Goddess trainsets, when they were reassigned to the Nebraska Zephyr Route. Explains [...]
Sat, 03-13-2010 21:23
I am not aware of the Olympus. What type of car is it? Where is it currently located? What is it's history?
Mon, 03-08-2010 09:08
HEY GUYS!! WATCH IT!!!! I don't want to be the next victim. I don't want this to be a two down and two to go. Maybe Richard and jerry should [...]
Sun, 03-07-2010 04:09
A number of comments have formed a thread without directly being related to a topic, here. The work in the several IRM shop areas always needs [...]
Sat, 03-06-2010 18:25
Will try to get up there in May. Was shop supervisor on the old KJRY. Is Greg Wolfersheim still around? He and I worked on the Alco's together.
Fri, 03-05-2010 20:00
I used to be locomotive supervisor on the old KJRY, the damage is all too familiar, but mine was caused by a crewman loosing his balance on Hamilton [...]
Sat, 02-27-2010 04:43
A few practical considerations prevent making effective use of your idea. We would LIKE all our restored equipment to be housed in an (unheated) barn [...]
Thu, 02-25-2010 22:15
Where does one get North Shore herald decals? Is it possible to reproduce them, or is there a closely guarded stash of them left over from Harrison [...]
Wed, 02-24-2010 21:18
Dan is checking with Logan Corp, but they are typically on the pricey side, if the parts are even available. He has found a mostly complete, but used [...]
Wed, 02-24-2010 16:40
Are parts for the reverser available or can the existing part have to be rebuilt?