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Thursday, September 23. 2010Wood Shop and other Views - September 22, 2010 A Clean Shop John Faulhaber is one of several folks who have worked in the past few weeks to help REALLY clean the wood shop area. As a reminder, the wood shop is closed to restoration work this coming weekend as we are hosting an annual event for us - this time about 100 folks from coast to coast all interested in old woodworking machines. And we have them!  Patching Steel Gerry Dettloff is working to piece in new steel and weld it all up on CRT 1797, the next wood L car restoration being done by Tim Peters. That end plate was pretty much like a lace doily - I suppose you can expect that on a car over a century old!  Another Silver Car Many of you have read of the exploits of our Wednesday Warriors, a group of fellows who volunteer on Special Projects. They are largely invisible since they do not attend IRM on weekends, but their work is certainly NOT invisible. This season they have been laboring on a lightweight smoothside baggage car from the CB&Q. I think I will go with 983 although there has been some confusion with the number 963. In this Photo, Paul Gasiorowski has been applying new silver to the north side of the car. This is a rare photo with the other cars stored in yard five out for last week's showcase operations, leaving us an empty track.  More Paint Wayne Bates is working on one of the sliding doors as Paul continues east with the paint roller.  Corner Repairs Meanwhile, Neal Schwingbeck is welding in new steel to repair some wrinkles sustained to the corner. If any of you saw this car a scant six months ago you would not believe it to be the same piece of equipment now! Monday, September 20. 2010Trolley Bus Dept. Members Day Update
Richard Schauer provided service throughout the day Saturday, bringing out several coaches. We started the day with the Edmonton 181, followed by Chicago Marmon 9553, then Seattle MAN 4020. Once Charlie King arrived, they pulled “his baby”, the CSL 84, out of the garage. They parked it at Central and Depot where it immediately drew a crowd. For about an hour, Charlie greeted the steady stream of visitors and treated them to tours of the coach and stories about the coach in service and ongoing restoration. I spent the day working the Cash & Cary Chicago Sign table to raise money for the restoration of the many signs around the property. It was our best day ever! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and made a purchase/donation. Many of the signs already restored (North Shore, South Shore, CA&E, IC…) were lit up all day and looked fantastic. You can help by visiting the “Signs For Sale” button on the home page and purchasing your very own piece of Chicago history. Overall it was a great day. Kudos to the volunteers in all the departments who made this year’s event a success.
Monday, September 20. 2010Car Work - September 19, 2010I usually post more about work in the wood shop and freight car department, where I work, and to be sure, this weekend saw us in the shop. In this case, many folks participated in our annual spring cleanup. Well, no, I guess spring is past, but next weekend the shop will be closed to Museum work, as we host over 100 woodworkers from around the country in a four day event. So, when I had enough cleaning under my belt, I walked around the barn and caught a few pics, to share here.  Panel Prep Ed Waytula is working on a new panel for the Cleveland PCC 4223. You will have noticed that the car is now in primer, getting ready for finish colors.  Latch Eric Lorenz was installing a lot of odds and ends that should be mounted on the car before the final coats are sprayed on. This is a latch and pocket to hold the off side battery door in the raised position.  Doors In the last few weeks the rush has been on to add all the above mentioned parts and trim. Here, Eric has completed installing and priming the set of new front doors, post trim and gutter. Those and the mid car exit doors were also primed to be ready for color. I hate to look in my crystal ball and jinx the project by making a prediction, but it is looking like the roof and upper body are may see color SOON!  Roof Panels For you guys and gals out there wondering about the Michigan Electric 28, here is the progress on the roof. The guys were on break so I snuck up on the scaffold to give you an idea of the progress. The roof is perhaps over 50% covered with the new custom bent panels, and it makes a big difference in appearance covering up the skeleton of the roof framing. Sunday, September 19. 2010Showcase Weekend - September 18, 2010The weather forecast was bleak. By 9:30 AM it was heavy rain, with water pouring off the building roofs. Thankfully, the rain stopped, although we did not see the sun the rest of the day. The Freight Department held a brief Dedication Event for the UP 3786 caboose. Restoration is complete and the car is released for regular service in operations.  The Team The restoration team was represented by Project Manager Joe Luciani and crew member Lee Regione. There were a few remarks, then the public was invited for a walk-through of the restored interior, prior to the three car train departing for a full mainline trip. Every seat was filled in all three cars, and some potential riders had to be turned away to await the next trip.  The Train Here is the train on Station Track One between trips. It looked good and there was a lot of interest from visitors and members alike. The train was pulled by electric locomotive L4 from the TMER&L, crewed by Ray Weart.  At Wheaton I could not resist adding another shot for all you trolley fans out there. Julie Johnson is in the cab, getting ready to operate a three car steel CA&E train. These cars were looking better than they probably did departing Wheaton for the Loop over a half century ago. In order, cars 409, 431, and 460. WOW! Friday, September 17. 2010Friday, September 10. 2010Thursday, September 9. 2010Progress Report - September, 2010The days are getting shorter and there is a noticeable chill in morning air. Each year at this time the Freight Car Department, and I am sure others at IRM, begin to scramble around to finish up things before winter really sets in. But this year we are feeling pretty good. Overall, I would say we had a lesser level of volunteer participation in our department, but seemingly accomplished a lot. Maybe we just did not bite off as much in our hopes and plans.  URTX 26640 As of yesterday we can say that the 2 year long restoration work is completely finished for this car. The last of the lettering (a lot!) was applied along with some trim and touch up painting. The UP 3786 caboose has been completed and ran in train service for the first time over the Labor Day weekend. The CGW 601 caboose has had a difficult air brake problem and has not operated for several years. The repairs were diagnosed and completed, it also joined the caboose train and ran Labor Day weekend. New windows were made and installed, and the roof painted on caboose IC 9792, and if we can complete the inspection and oiling, it will join five others in operation for Members Showcase. Our small group also did a lot of work in other areas. Notable was the complete re-upholstering of all seats in our TM 972 streetcar. (Well almost, the last four cushions are being picked up today.) On a more personal note I completed two new windows and finished installing them yesterday in the Sand Springs 68 (one had been destroyed by an energetic visitor last September.) This was pursued as sort of a fill in job, but got done nevertheless. A myriad of other projects included making about a third of a mile of new battens for our depot, purchasing a new planer for the wood shop, and seeing and helping in a great increase of work through the wood shop over the last 12 months. All in all, as I said, we are feeling pretty good. But I guess everything cannot be done as planned. We REALLY HOPED to have our hopper GN 70104 repainted this season. In March we were notified that a company would donate the needed primer and paint. In June we received notification that it would be shipped in one or two days. Three months later and no paint, and the weather will not be very good from here on out for an outdoor project. The option is to buy the needed materials and supplies, but we are about $3000 short for that. If you also would like to see another car completed, please send a donation in any amount to fund R70104. And now it is time to look forward into the future. What car or piece of equipment would you like to see us tackle and restore? Our B&O wagon top boxcar has been mentioned and I am sure it would be a fan favorite running in one of our freight trains. There is a lot of rusted out steel needing repair on the body, and this MAY mean hiring a welder and buying steel. But we have done a lot of the research and have drawings and diagrams. Next might be to consider our other insulated boxcar, the one with CRIX reporting marks decorated with North American Car "Insulcar". We have a lot of material already on hand for one of my favorites, a Fowler boxcar, NP 49444. What would be your choice (anything can be nominated)? Please realize our prime outdoor season is six months at best, as we have no shop space for freight car projects. That does not mean we would sit idle until next spring as many needed parts are fabricated and produced in the wood shop over the winter. If you would wish to support the effort no matter the ultimate choice, donations are sorely needed and can be sent to the department fund RFRTCR. Mark that fund on your check and it will be handled as a restricted donation, and of course, tax deductible per IRS regulations. I would be remiss to presume you would think this was the work of one or two folks as many, many members and friends pitched in and made the above 'completed' list possible. I hope to hear back from you and appreciate the support. |
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Comments
Sun, 07-27-2014 23:15
In looking at the general exterior condition of the Dynamometer Car you would think that it was a total wreck. It is wonderful that it is operational [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 20:14
I had a blast riding in X-5000 on Sunday during Diesel Days. Brian was great to talk to. It was cool seeing the comntrol board work. I can't wait for [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:47
Shane, Clean rain water is certainly possible. The snag is that you would need a BIG collection and storage system. We are using around 8000 [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:42
John, Yes. Sadly the tender is in poor shape. She should go under cover as part of the new barn project. There will be much discussion around [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 21:38
Hello Richard In reply to your question concerning RI 2702. The museum is studying the acquisition but no decision has been yet made.
Thu, 07-24-2014 21:29
Hello Chris The 2702 is under study by those interested at Irm. Unfortunately, the possible acquisition boils down to $. First ,who will support [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 13:01
Hello, is there anyone that I can contact in the Diesel Department about volunteering? I am studying mechanical engineering and I would love to get [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 00:01
I will commit something to 2702 if I see a specific fund for it. Supposedly the owners made an effort to keep it original, other than removing seats. [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 19:54
Hi Nigel, I have some suggestions to enhance the experience of steam railroading for museum visitors: 1) In September 2002, I visited on the [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 00:17
while watching the Diesel Days parade, i noticed a detail on UP 1848 that stood out to me. it was its cab number, i could tell it had a previous [...]
Mon, 07-21-2014 17:48
The hydraulic drawbar on X-5000 works. Its operation was determined Saturday evening and successfully used all day Sunday. The car measured up to a [...]
Sun, 07-20-2014 13:56
2702 would definitely be a project of a massive effort. It has some sort of giant roadside casino sign installed on it. The interior is completely [...]