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Sunday, February 27. 2011Wood Shop Update - February 26, 2011Again there was a large turnout of enthusiastic volunteers at the Barn 4 shops today. Here is some of the work - - -  Berlin Woes The BIG JOB in the wood shop was to run a handful - no two handfuls - no, more than two handfuls, of windows for the CRT 1797 through the Berlin sander. Tim Peters has been making these new frames for a few weeks and it was time to get to the the next phase. The machine was set up and some time spent making some fine adjustments based on the last job run through this machine. In short order it was determined that we need to pay some attention to the abrasive media wrapping the third drum. I am on the floor reaching into the end of the drum, Tim is on the deck reaching in, and Bill Moran is turning the drum by hand to get at the needed areas. Of course, an assortment of tools were dropped into the innards of the machine in the process, in places you could not possibly get them into if you tried. Dan Fenlaciki dropped by and helped a lot with a new set of eyes and outlook on how we could get to a particularly stuck dropped screwdriver to remove it.  Production Well, we did some good. Tim snapped this pic with my camera while I was feeding the new frames in, and Bill Moran was acting as the 'catcher'.  Kansas City - - Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek were cleaning off a piece of interior trim from our Kansas City PCC car. In this case, trying to get an unblemished panel for a good color sample for having new paint custom mixed. Look for more work on this car later in the year.  Trim Routing John Faulhaber was busy on the router trimming the profile beading on 22 new stiles for the IC 3996 diner windows. This task is a necessary step to be able to start the final dry fit of the new frames.  Step Boxes Tom Windmeier (and Jim W) were out working on RUN TWO for another six new step boxes.  Diner Trim Tim Peters and Buzz Morisette were routing roundovers on many pieces of new trim for our diner interior. They are using a SPRINGBOARD on the router table, something new for us, and which improves the ease of setup, consistency of the finished molding, and safety when routing small pieces. Buzz made this jig earlier in the day. Max Tyms was out and working on electrical conduit installation in the shop annex area. There were several other familiar faces engaged in their projects, but you get the idea. It was busy and productive. Friday, February 25. 2011Steam Shop ViewsAgain we are indebted to Roger Kramer for sending these images, taken when he visited the steam shop this week. It is a tough environment to get really good images, but I think you may be interested nevertheless.  428 Wheels As reported elsewhere, two driver sets have been removed from UP 428 using our drop pit. Here are the guilty parties!  Naked The locomotive lower portion shows one driver set remaining in this view, and the empty 'pocket' in the frame behind it, with the driver and bearings removed.  Support Equipment Not all the work is on rail equipment solely, as it takes a lot of tools and other stuff to keep the wheels rolling. The shop crew is doing needed maintenance over the winter on this SULLAIR compressor. Friday, February 25. 2011Wood Shop Update - February 16, 2011 PART TWOHere are a few more images sent from the camera of Roger Kramer. I appreciate any info and images from our reporters in the field, and hope all you readers do, also.  Ripping Buzz Morisette was ripping mahogany for new trim pieces to be used in the diner interior restoration. What a shame to cut those wide clear planks into little strips - or is it?  Pieces Here is Roger himself after I had left the shop. Several folks contributed to the progress during the day for new windows for IC 3996. They make quite a stack of wood, gathered on the bench in front of Roger. The next steps are really going to start to show some visible progress. Cut the tenons and then start fitting each frame together. Thursday, February 24. 2011Wood Shop Update - February 23, 2011 Engineering Department Rich Witt served well as our Engineering Department while the crew proceeded to process parts for new windows for IC 3996. There are always a lot of measurements to be made, and double checked before the cuts are made and sawdust is created.  The Slots A new crew was trained and expertly took over operation of the mortising machine. Here, left to right, John Faulhaber, Simon Harrison, and Lorne Tweed. Since this is a fairly large run of windows, we were able to set up our vintage GREENLEE mortiser into more of a production mode for the first time. Stop collars were set, blocks and stops added, and we saved an estimated 90 minutes of marking and lining out locations of the needed mortises. In relatively short order 44 slots (mortises) were cut into the window stiles, two different sizes, all more uniform and consistent than if we were spotting them by eye.  Blocks Henry Vincent made and is prime painting several custom wood block spacer/hangers for the shop air piping which will be extended into the new addition.  More Step Wells Victor Humphreys finished the work on the step well end plate previously posted on these entries, and is now contemplating the badly deteriorated 'next' one to receive attention  Diner Trim Buzz Morisette was sizing, sawing, and planing new mahogany stock to be profiled and used for new trim molding in the O Mahoney diner. Sunday, February 20. 2011Trolley Bus Dept Update 02/20/2011We had a big crew yesterday and accomplished a ton of work. Glenn Andersen’s nephew Gary is heading up the project to stabilize, make safe and presentable the front of the Dayton Flyer 960, which is currently in the front of the Andersen Garage. He brought along his construction expert and neighbor Gary, along with high school art teacher Penny. Gary took measurements and made some preliminary plans for getting the display “visitor-ready”. Penny took pictures inside one of our other Dayton Flyers (925) and will commission some of her students to paint a mural depicting the inside of coach to be placed behind the 960’s front end.
Meanwhile, Richard Schauer, Wally Unglaub, Bill Moran and I got to work on tire mounting. Over the past several weeks, we have been working on removing the tires from Seattle Twin 633 and SF Fageol 614. They were delivered to our tire guy where the rims were rehabbed, painted, and brand new tires mounted. They came back a couple weeks ago and of course we were eager to get them back on. With today’s crew, we were able to just about finish the project. The hubs were very rusty and the wheel wells were coated in crud. We cleaned out all the wheel wells and were able to prime and/or paint all but one hub. We mounted one set of rears on the 614 and with the additional help from Warren and Steve from the Diesel shop, we completed the 633! At the end of the day, we took the 633 out for a couple fantrips to test out the new tires. They make a BIG difference!!! Since we had to pull the Edmonton BBC 181 out to access the 633, we exercised it as well. It performed flawlessly as usual.
Those two sets of tires consist of a discontinued size and have to be special ordered. Needless to say they were not cheap. I’d like to thank EVERYONE who has supported us with donations. YOU made this purchase possible. It is reassuring to know that we will never have to purchase tires for these two coaches again!!! Over the past decade, we have outfitted over a third of the fleet with new tires, and several others have come to us with tires that are in good shape.
Also visiting during the day was Bob Heinlein. He and Richard continue planning for the March 27th Snowflake Special trip. Tickets are NOW ON SALE in the online store. We are planning on a six-car train and due to logistics, this is the maximum size train for this trip. No additional cars will be added, so get your tickets early before they sell out!
Next weekend our goal is to get the remaining tires mounted onto the 614. Once the tires are done, we will turn our attention to cutting the wood carlines and starting to install the wood part of the roof of the LA Brill 8002. In addition to tire duty, Wally loaded all the milled lumber for the roof into the coach in preparation for that next job.
Thanks to everyone who worked with us today. We could not have accomplished as much as we did without each and every one of you. THANKS!!! Thursday, February 17. 2011Wood Shop Update - February 16, 2011 The Diner Of course this is in the wood shop but Buzz Morisette has been working on a B&G project helping to make specialized wood trim and finish work for our O Mahoney Diner.  Give Him the Air Henry Vincent continues to be our 'go to' guy in the wood shop area for almost any project that needs doing. Here he has cut into the compressed air header in the old shop and is adding and extending the line toward the new shop extension. Is there anything he cannot do or is not willing to do?  Profile Work Not the kind of profile work now being done by Homeland Security, but instead adding a roundover profile to stiles and rails for the eleven new windows we are doing for the IC 3996 diner. Simon Harrison inspects the last cut while behind him, new volunteer Lorne Tweed gets the next piece ready.  The Crew There was a good turnout yesterday and here are some of the folks working on the window project. Simon Harrison, Lorne Tweed, John Faulhaber, Richard Witt, and Roger Kramer. Never use two guys when five are available. In summary, some of the pre cut parts were ripped to final dimension, all planed to final thickness, the roundover routed, and a rabbet cut in those pieces. Over 175 operations in total today to move this project forward. Not bad for a Wednesday in winter!  Likely Suspects Here is an image form Roger Kramer showing the crew that was working on the new windows. Rich, Simon, Lorne, John and myself. Those guys look like they are having way too much fun. We would also like to welcome back John Nelligan following recent cataract surgery. He looks good and is looking good.
Monday, February 14. 2011Wood Shop Update - February 9, 2011HUH? Those of you looking at the date on this entry will think I am not using this year's calendar. But one of our volunteers now owns a digital camera and a laptop computer (GASP)! Here is the first image he has sent as he navigates his way into electronic technology. There may be a few more added to this as they come in. So let us welcome Roger Kramer into his new role as cub reporter.  Using the Jointer Rich Witt and Roger are using our jointer to produce a square and straight edge on new mahogany stock. This is in the early stages of making new windows for IC 3996. Any of you prospective volunteers that want to witness all the steps to take rough wood into the finished product are always welcome to come out and watch - or maybe learn a bit about our shop and pitch in. |
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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 [...]