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Monday, August 31. 2009Wood Shop Update August 30, 2009 Paper Pulley Yes, this is a paper pulley, a technology which was once common, say 80 years ago or so. This one is brand new from the one remaining company that makes these. It was later mounted to the motor for our restoration of an American Wood Working Company tilt top table saw.  Tenoner Drive Belts Earlier this week I mentioned that our restoration of an H B Smith tenoner has moved to the stage where we can run it a bit. This is the end where all the drive belts reside. Note that we have 'derailed' the belts for the cope head and cut off saw, so the tests can focus on the other shafting and operations.  Outfeed End At the outfeed end, you can see the cutoff saw, and sharp eyed viewers will spot the lower cope head.  Infeed End At the infeed end are the cutters for the tenons themselves and scoring blades for the cheek cuts. Monday, August 31. 2009STEAM'S UPMany of you have heard or looked at the myriad of photos already posted on the web, but for those of you who have not heard, the UP 428 2-8-0 was test fired on August 29, 2009. This is the first time it has had a fire in its belly in 51 years and represents a MAJOR milestone in the restoration program  Front End Jason Maxwell stands in front of the engine, trying to grab a lunch break as there is SMOKE OVER THE PRAIRIE. I actually parked my car downwind and basked in and breathed the wonderful coal smoke.  Backhead The crew fills the deck plate between engine and tender. You will note no cab or lagging, this was intentional at this test firing to allow for close inspection and access. Monday, August 31. 2009URTX 26640 Update August 30, 2009Lettering work continued on the door, which must have been a new development for railroads. They covered it with instructions.  The First Two Groups These are the first two door groups applied earlier this week.  And Next Another stencil is measured and placed for painting.  With the Result And paint applied. Amazing how a few details like this bring the car to life, in this case what was a bland and plain plug door.  B End John Baletto has contributed a lot of work on this restoration project and this weekend he returned to work the needle chipper on the B end. Thanks John! The paint chips are fairly flying off!  Left Side Kirk Warner toiled all day, installing the last two long siding boards and most of the short stubby ones below the door opening. When all the siding has been placed in position, a line will be stretched and all the tails cut off in a straight line. Monday, August 31. 2009ATSF 1400 Update August 29, 2009Buzz Morisette continues to work on this wood caboose, and has supplied several images and the 'back story' for recent work.  Roof Leak  Rotten Floorboards Removed  Repairs to Beams  New Subfloor From Buzz: Late last fall I completed repairs and a fresh coat of paint to the East door and windows. The trim was replaced and the door lock, weather strip, screen, sill, etc. was also fixed up. The sides have also been caulked and painted but will eventually need to be replaced. The big job this summer is to fix the floor. A one-inch bolthole for the roofwalk must have leaked for years. The finish floor had a two-foot hole but the sub floor was rotted out in a four-foot radius. The 6 x 12 southern pine floor beams were mostly OK but the tops lost an inch here and there. Photos show repairs to the sub floor that included shims and appliqués to the floor beams. I should have the finish floor back in soon. However, another foot or so of bad sub floor is under the stove. I’ll fix the hole and aisle before I move on to that.  End Repairs Not ignoring the exterior, Buzz rebuilt the end door and cleaned and repainted the end.  North Side And the north side has been caulked, primed, and re-painted. This will buy us time and looks really good. But it is a wood car 'living' outdoors. We are lucky to have a skilled volunteer giving his time and effort so generously. Can we respond and donate funds to the R1400 fund to help get this indoors? Please help. Thursday, August 27. 2009URTX 26640 Update August 26, 2009 Cleaning the B end Needlechipping is proceeding on the B end. Not devasting hard labor but the noise and vibration get to you. And many coats of paint or cement on these ends make for slow work  1/3 done Despite intermittent showers, about 1/3 of the end is clean and primed. Ladder work next.  Upper Door Track The upper door track on the right side has been re-installed. Later in the day milling and checking of the remaining wood siding continued, pieces fit and primed. Thursday, August 27. 2009Wood Shop Update August 26, 2009 Tenoner Here is a pic from Kirk Warner of me in the cage and Jim Griffith working on the HB Smith tenoner we obtained last fall. Trolley fans will remember this in use at the Illinois Terminal main shops at Decatur about 1910. A lot of work in the meantime, and late yesterday we were able to run the motor and machine for very short periods, proceeding to fine tune or fix each problem as they were discovered. Thursday, August 27. 2009Chicago Surface Lines 3142 Progress August 26, 2009 Shrink Wrapped? No, not a prime rib from the meat department, although a bit more expensive. Recall the news that a motor failed on our workhorse 3142 in mid summer. The offending motor has been to the motor shop and repaired/rebuilt and was delivered yesterday. Just pulling a motor from a car without the use of an overhead crane shows how resourceful our volunteers are. Now to reverse the process and test it out. Yes, donations are needed. |
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Comments
Sun, 05-20-2012 17:31
I would like to make a note of a couple of things. The sandblasting process involves taking the sand like material, called blackblast, and smashing it [...]
Fri, 05-18-2012 22:48
This is one interesting freight car. I've been browsing images on-line of these B&O wagon-top cars lately, and noticed a variety of lettering and [...]
Fri, 05-18-2012 12:03
Mark, Its hard to say if 760 will be running in early July. It will be for Diesel Days, but I can't answer yet if we'll have it ready sooner than [...]
Thu, 05-17-2012 13:13
Im going to drive from California to the Chicago area in early July and staying for about 3 weeks. Im a big fan of FM units. Any chance the MILW 760 [...]
Sun, 05-13-2012 11:44
Line sidewalks and steets with rail ties and fill with small pea gravel. Similar to construction near Lincoln Home in Springfield, IL.
Fri, 05-11-2012 10:45
Thank you. If you are send pics to Irm in mail,Please make it attention Roger Kramer. Thanks..
Thu, 05-10-2012 17:08
I will be sending some color photos of the CGW 285 shortly after rebuilding by the CGW. And yes, they had chrome grabs and the end gate. I had been [...]
Thu, 05-10-2012 12:58
Yes there are some chrome plated partsespecially on the sissors gate. Unfortunately, they were recently taken off, and left in the gravel. I have [...]
Thu, 05-10-2012 00:46
The book "Chicago Great Western Color Guide" (Morning Sun) has some interesting notes about these CGW combines: [BEGIN QUOTE] "In 1954 the CGW bought [...]
Sun, 05-06-2012 21:42
Nigel, What you just told me is great news. YOU clarified things for me.
Sun, 05-06-2012 20:34
Wally, I must say that I am puzzled by this comment. The whole driver for the current work is the major FRA mandated inspection (15 year 1472 [...]
Sun, 05-06-2012 16:39
I am just afraid that by the time 1630 is up and ready to run, it will have to be dismantled again to do the Federally mandated inspection. I am [...]