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Sunday, December 5. 2010Track Department Report, December 5, 2010
Again, today's primary function is to protect the Santa Trains. Again, Today's cast of track department characters, was again, Me, Myself, and I. Tom Arrived around 1400 but was engaged in conversation for the duration of his visit.
Since mother nature finished with the white stuff yesterday, and the snow wasn't really drifting. So a quick sweep of the snow, and the switches were in service. Since there wasn't much to keeping the trains running, it was off to the barn where, as always, there is a plethora of work to do. This wasn't such a bad thing as the temps were hovering in the teens for the duration of the day. To start with, I replaced handles on a couple of spike mauls, and a sledge that all had met an untimely fate. Next up was to continue working on our hanger queen - the switch tamper. When last we left our heroes the switch tamper had a motor fail, as well as a power cable to another motor. There was also a hydraulic leak due to a failed crimp on one of the new hoses. Only on track machines can you do a 100% hose replacement, and still get failed hoses!!!!! So I found the old hose,and re-installed it to take care of the leak. Next up, was to re-wire the cable. The old cable was held into it's mount with some caulk and some press fittings. Fortunately we had replacement SOOW cable on the shelf, as well as the mounting lugs, so a repair was in order. All was going well until I went to wire the cable back on the machine. Apparently when the cable was taken off, one of the screws was lost. A small search was mounted and a suitable replacement was found. Next up was to remove the failed motor. Four bolts and a few minutes later, a small push and the motor was on the ground. About this time, it was time for a thaw break. Off towards the silver cars I went, when I was told of the festivities in barn 4. So some chit chat, some food and some awesome apple cider. Of course that about did it for work for the day. A tour of the KC PCC car by Frank S., one last throw of the switch for the winter trains, and it was time to call it a day. All that is left on the Switch tamper is to mount a replacement motor on the machine, and we should (again) be ready to work. Another big project for this winter is to "ring out" the wiring on the 6000 tamper and verify we don't have a wiring problem on that machine. Frank D. Sunday, December 5. 2010Wood Shop Update - December 4, 2010The day started as usual with a short meeting to review project work and address any safety or shop issues. Before I knew it, Rich Witt had picked up my camera and started snapping pictures. So, here are some of the 'usual suspects' for you to place names and faces. It turned out I was not immune from the rampage.  Gwyn Stupar  Greg Ceurvorst  Bob Kutella - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Tooling Moving on to some of the work at hand, we started setting up our very old Delta Heavy Duty shaper with tooling and guides to be able to start milling matching tongue and groove roof boards for the ETB Department.  First One Later on, the arrangement had progressed to the point where we managed to run the first piece, complete with fences, featherboards, guards, power feeder, and dust pickup. I am feeding the stock and Rich Witt is acting as the catcher.  A Frame Up More accurately, window frames for the B&M 1094. In the morning we cut all the tenons for these windows, and by day's end Rich Witt had completed the work to allow the first dry fit of the first frame. No matter how well we are able to use machines to do the heavy cutting, there is always the craftsmanship element of fitting and trimming the parts.  CRT 1797 Side Doors As you might expect on a cold snowy day, Tim Peters continued his work on CRT 1797, and the rebuilding and repair of the four sliding side doors.  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Tim himself suggested this caption for the picture. The end or train doors of the 1797 have small double hung (after a fashion) windows and Tim is nearly complete with making two new frames this week. The new frame is THE GOOD, the older frame is THE BAD, and, well, the UGLY - - - -  Rapid Transit Accessories We rarely capture an image of Bill Wulfert although he works tirelessly on the el car collection. Here he has completed stripping and cleaning four pamphlet racks in gleaming brass, has more restored paddles for train markers in progress, and has one of the hang on end signs for our early cars. |
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Comments
Mon, 06-17-2013 09:50
Wish I could be there to help.
Fri, 06-14-2013 16:50
Matthew, Any special event is the decision of the museum Board. My personal opinion is that it is likely that there would be a special event to [...]
Thu, 06-13-2013 18:33
Hi, I have a question, if or when she is restored and back up and running this or next year. Will their be a special event set up for the return of [...]
Tue, 06-11-2013 22:36
The whistle 1630 wore for a while that you're thinking of was a Frisco 6 chime donated by a former member of the steam shop. It was on it a few times [...]
Tue, 06-11-2013 18:03
You are talking here about something well before my time !. I have not seen her with anything other than the whistle she now carries. If she [...]
Mon, 06-10-2013 16:17
i'm curious here. Will 1630 ever wear the ATSF 6 chime she had on for a while? Better defines her, I love the deep whistle she has now but the higher [...]
Sat, 06-08-2013 15:15
Many many many many many thanks for getting the Spaulding webcam working!!!!!
Fri, 06-07-2013 16:55
The donation was to the museum as a whole. How it is used and whether any comes to steam department projects will be the decision of the museum [...]
Fri, 06-07-2013 16:53
Basically the plan is "ONLY" reassembly. As far as we know she is is reasonable mechanical shape. The big mechanical problem that stopped her (slack [...]
Fri, 06-07-2013 16:28
Nigel I read you guys got a one million dollar check donation!!! Will this be used to finish 1630 ,428, 5 and get started on the others next in line?
Fri, 06-07-2013 16:16
So does 1630 basically only need reassembly? With the boiler in particular. Does her tender or running gear need any work before she's ready for the [...]
Fri, 06-07-2013 12:00
Hello.. The voltage we are using and presumed the RR also used is 120 vac. The system is a little unique because the lite bulbs are each 60 volts. [...]