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Thursday, December 31. 2009Wood Shop UpdateBuzz Morisette was taking advantage of the Christmas time off at his job and here he is starting on new windows for the MILW 01984 caboose. I know he is going to do this the 'right way', but it might be easier to take that slab of wood and just drill and saw out a hole in the middle of it. Some other work was continuing in the shop, including Tim Peters working on new windows for the CRT 1268, and more machining of stock for the new windows for the N&W 2050. Behind the scenes we constantly have to maintain and repair our machines and tooling and yesterday the Berlin Sander and our table mounted router saw some attention. Thursday, December 31. 2009Trolleyville CarsFive down and four to go! The snow was snowing and the wind was blowing - - - Not fit weather for man or beast, and my digital camera apparently does not like the cold either. This was the only image I was able to salvage and it is not the best. But perhaps you can get a sense of what the volunteers went through as they are here unloading and re-trucking the 319. BRRR! Wednesday, December 23. 2009Wood Shop UpdateAs you may have guessed form the previous two entries today, Kirk Warner was back in town for the Holidays. He was able to use a camera to capture a lot of work and in the sharing spirit of the month, you are getting to see a lot of them posted. The volunteers at the Wood Shop and in the Freight Car Department would like to extend best Holiday Wishes to one and all! The project here is making new windows for the cab of N&W 2050. Today we jointed all the rough lumber, cut it to rough length, and here, John Faulhaber is ripping the stock to the needed width. The picture caption? Yes, you see my bandaged hand grabbing wood just fourteen days after the surgery. Promise me you will not tell anyone. Still at the saw, Bob Kutella and John Faulhaber are addressing the need to make 48 pieces of stock for the planned windows, not counting the custom beading and moldings. Dick Cubbage joins us in the fun as the pile of pieces grows larger and larger. So here are the rough sized parts labeled with a secret code so we hope they do not get mixed up. But they are still too thick. Dick Cubbage is catching the planed parts while John Faulhaber keeps them coming at the infeed end. Well out of the way, I am measuring and setting up the next cuts and adjustments for thickness. Wednesday, December 23. 2009CRT 1268 UpdateA candid shot of Tim Peters concentrating on a new window. Almost the same shot with Tim posing for the camera. What he is doing here is glazing the windows which have been made and primed. The windows require some custom made molding to act as retainers for each pane of glass. Complicating the situation here is that one corner of each window is curved! Each piece is custom fitted and sanded to suit. Dick Cubbage supervises while Tim Peters uses a paper tmeplate to mark the screw locations. Wednesday, December 23. 2009Monday, December 21. 2009CA&E 36 & 319 Update
Nick, Joe, Charlie and I went to Cleveland to prepare the 36 & 319 for
Silk Road which will load the cars on Monday. The trucks come mid week and
the cars will not be shipped until next week due to permits and Christmas.
This trip was short notice and that's an understatement, Nick called me at one thirty in the afternoon Friday the 18th and said that the cars will be loaded on Monday the 21st, then I called Charlie and Joe, within a few hours of finding out we were on the way to Cleveland. We arrived in Cleveland around two am Saturday morning, got a few hours sleep at the Red Roof in and unwillingly woke up at seven thirty am Saturday. Grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to Brookpark to meet with Tim and Ken which already had the 303 pumped up and ready to do some switching. Thankfully Tim is a fan of IRM and allowed us to work in the shop which was heated, well lit and had a full length pit. The plan was made and we quickly got to work knowing that we only had till two pm to get this done and if not finished we were going to work outside in the snow. Charlie and Nick went to the roof and removed bases and poles along with Tim. Joe and I went deep and removed brake rigging and motor leads along with labeling everything. Once this was done Nick, Charlie, Tim and Joe removed pilots and steps from one end of each car. We also took down the globes and secured anything that may break while in transit. We got done around three pm and cleaned up, put tools away and washed up, then went to lunch with Tim. After lunch we hit the road and headed west toward Chicago and when I got home I passed out and woke up Sunday afternoon. This is one of two trips to Cleveland for preparing the cars to ship and the next time will involve much more work. Three cars which are all complete and one even has a pan to remove. This again will be extremely short notice and I hope to get one or two more guys to come and help. Tim will attempt to move the 451/460 to Central Rail this week to install the rebuilt DH25 onto the 451. Once that happens he will bring both cars to the terminal and get the remaining steel cars. The 451/460 and 409 as a half motor will pull the two dead cars all the way to Brookpark and round two begins. Here are some photos taken this weekend. IRM is soliciting donations to cover the costs of transportation of these cars from Cleveland, Ohio to Union, Illinois, please consider a donation today. Stan Wdowikowski Thursday, December 17. 2009New Volunteer RecruitmentThe Illinois Railway Museum is recruiting new volunteers at this time. The museum is growing and continues to strive to be the largest railway museum in the country. We are seeking an unlimited amount of people at this time. We are seeking interested individuals for all our departments and museum support positions. Experience is not necessary in order to volunteer at the museum. The museum will train you to the best of our abilities in the area of interest. Individuals with railroad and or skilled trades experience are strongly encouraged in becoming a new volunteer. Individuals without any experience are equally beneficial to the museum as those with experience. There is no set time requirement for volunteers. Current volunteer time ranges from one day a year to multiple days a week. Please don't hesitate in signing up thinking you don't have enough time to put into volunteering. ANY time is beneficial to the museum and will contribute to the growth of the museum. Interested individuals can contact me at: volunteer@irm.org I will respond to you as quickly as possible to get you started. Please note, in order to volunteer, you MUST be in good standing with your museum membership. All volunteers are required to be current members of any level. The Illinois Railway Museum thanks you in advance for your interest in volunteering. We look forward to working with you soon. Pete Pedersen Volunteer Coordinator Illinois Railway Museum
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Comments
Sun, 05-19-2013 22:13
Hello again. I had an idea that was (somewhat rudely, mid-sentence) dismissed in talking to a museum volunteer a few years back, but here it goes [...]
Thu, 05-16-2013 21:52
Looking good Bob! I hope to come out soon once I'm done with school.
Wed, 05-15-2013 21:28
I was not around at the time. General discussion suggests that it was "pretty marginal" in a number of areas. Nigel
Mon, 05-13-2013 11:08
"THUMBS UP!"
Fri, 05-10-2013 02:15
No, it will not be necessary to hold any of the work waiting for the plow to be turned, end for end. Weather will be the major factor, but there will [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 19:54
The CGW X-38 plow is really coming to life. Bob Kutella and Vic and crew need to be very proud of your collective efforts. I am very appreciative of [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 15:20
The snowplow looks great! Are you going to apply the door and upper windows befor it is turned to continue work?
Thu, 05-09-2013 09:09
Max, Is there any progress to report yet, in regards to the installation of the poles and overhead wires? Have a good day, sir.
Wed, 05-08-2013 18:40
Thanks for the update! I still don't understand why Commonwealth #5 was removed from service. Do you know why?
Tue, 05-07-2013 09:28
Mr. Kolanowski.....I was just wondering if the Spaulding webcam will be up and running soon for us stay-at-homes. Thanks!2FP
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:04
Max, Has work begun yet on the construction phase of erecting the poles and putting up the wire? Wish I could be there to watch it happen.
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:02
Keep up the good work, Bob. Wish I could be there to help!!!!!!!