Wood Shop

This will only be short look around the shop yesterday, and with a number of different topics.

 

Victor Humphreys and behind him, John Faulhaber. are cutting some small beading for retaining the glazing in the new windows we are making for IC 3996.  It looks at first like a small quarter round but in this case it is assymetrical with one 1/4 inch leg and one 5/16 inch leg, just to make it interesting.  And of course we are making this custom molding out of mahogany, to match the frames.

Lorne Tweed is fitting the last of eleven new frames for this 'order', and before the day is over it will be glued up and in the press.  The next steps will include finish sanding all the frames smooth, cutting off the 'ears' on the stiles, and milling the bottom edges of each frame bottom rail.

Not never again in a bad way, but likely we will never again see the shop space addition so empty and clean.  It is now complete enough to be ready for final inspection.  Pete Galayda is at the far end, looking over the progress - and it really seems like a big space right now.

From the passenger car department, Roger Kramer has been working to locate and clean up Pullman Company shades for the DOVER STRAIT.  Won't that look nice hanging in the windows?

Lorne Tweed adds one more glued up window frame to the growing stack on the workbench behind him.  He and Rich Witt continued work on this project, gluing up two more frames, dry fitting another frame and machining parts to complete the job.

Victor Humphreys works to complete metal repairs on another of the step well end plates for caboose ATSF 1400.  He also helped to load an old planer being removed from the wood shop and sort and pack away an assortment of wood shop machine parts located and delivered by the Signal Department.  Thanks, Mike.

Buzz Morisette continued making the new patterns for the steam shop, to be used to cast shoes and wedges for the UP 428.  If you look closely you will see vertical surfaces tapered a few degrees from square.  This is the DRAFT ANGLE needed to make the sand molds and cast the metal.

Tim Peters was toiling on restoration tasks for the CRT 1797 and there was a lot of other activity.  Come on out and look around - Watchers Welcome.  Maybe we can coax you into helping if you like the smell of sawdust in the morning!

Let's start off with window work, what else?

Rich Witt has his hands full trimming one of the Villa Falls windows using our table mounted router.

And next, he doing the final finish work and sanding to complete the 'order' for two new frames for this Pullman passenger car.

Lorne Tweed continues the task of custom fitting sets of rails and stiles together for each new frame destined for the IC 3996.  In this photo he is donning the role of chemist, mixing two part waterproof glue for the next frame.  Two more frames were finished, glued up, and placed in the press.

Buzz Morisette is also the talented guy doing a lot of the artwork for lettering cars that are being restored.  Here is one of the new Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee vinyl 'decals' that were produced.  He brought along some other finished decals for the North Shore cars, and for CRT 1268.

Henry Vincent was assembling some new steel cabinets in the relatively open space of the new shop space annex.  I do not understand - I thought I was taking a good photo but Henry claims this is NOT his best side.

Victor Humphreys continued with repair and restoration of step wells for the ATSF 1400 caboose, and also did the first maintenance and inspection work of 2011 for the Freight Car Department.  He managed to drag out the air lines and test set, and exercised the brakes on caboose IT 988

Not a fitting end but fitting progress.  Lorne Tweed continues to custom fit stiles and rails for new IC 3996 windows.  There is a lot of fussy work involved for eleven new frames.

Lorne makes the final checks and adjustments on two more frames assembled and glued, now clamped in the press.  Four new frames glued, seven to go, for those of you at home keeping score.

Roger Kramer is making a close check on some tricky cuts at the bottom of the new windows for the Villa Falls, to accommodate the weatherstipping and rub strips.  Behind him, Rich Witt sets up the router for another cut on these frames.

One new frame was ready to go home for finish work but the second one requires another step or two to make it nearly perfect.  Roger and Rich discuss the work.  Roger is holding one of the badly rotted and deteriorated original bottom rails to demonstrate where and how the brass finger lifts will be installed.

We have been asked to produce a number of new wood armrests for a passenger car.  Roger is examining a provided sample as we puzzle out the best way to make these, and the materials needed.  Looks simple - right?  Maybe not so simple as you might think.

Saving the best till last?  Max Tyms is making good progress with the electrical work needed to complete the new shop space.  Here you see one of the rows of new flourescent lights energized!

Greg Ceurvorst, John Faulhaber, and Fred Zimmerman are discussing the days work - what else - more windows!

Greg was doing some finish sanding on the new Villa Falls windows.  Earlier, he, Fred and Victor Humphreys moved some structural steel from the Barn 4 floor to inside the B&O boxcar.

Fred and Victor were repairing another step well for the ATSF caboose.  Fred is all suited up and the sparks are flying!

Randy Hicks has just completed some tricky notches for a new poplar window sill for the IT cars undergoing repairs in Barn 4.

Earlier, Randy completed post repairs on the IT 277.  There was a lot of woodwork and tricky parts to replace rotted members, under that wide window post steel plate.

Or rather - sign box of the times.  Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek have removed the front signbox from the Kansas City PCC and they had it in the shop.  Disassembly, cleanup and repairs ensued.  Done with that stage, it is ready for primer and repainting.

This has been a challenging winter season, weather wise, but here is an opportunity to place names with faces.  These hardworking volunteers have worked in the Barn 4 shops, on projects, regularly on Wednesdays over the winter.  Those who do not have the opportunity to visit the shop often may not have met them, and the same goes for readers here who are not located in our area.  But here is a chance to notice their work and congratulate and thank them for the work.

Rich Witt was instrumental in helping to take the images and load them.  And of course you may go back to the BLOG entries to see specific projects that are active and perhaps consider a donation to help keep them moving forward.  So, here in alphabetical order, are the ROGUES.  Thanks guys!

It seemed to be a WINDOWS WORLD in the shop this week, with a lot done on many projects.  Windows are one of those car parts that take a lot of use and abuse on the cars when in service, and are one of the first things to rot out.  So, for the cars in our trolley car and passenger car collection, I seem to have lost count.  But so far this year it is something like 43 down, 9,751 to go.

Rich Witt created a special jig for two new Villa Falls windows and plowed out recesses for the window lift hardware.

Lorne Tweed is doing the final checking on two new frames which were in the glue press clamp, destined for IC 3996 diner.  He and John Faulhaber did the dry fit work and these are ONLY the first two.

And Tim Peters continued on his current batch of 18 new windows for his wood L car restoration.  Just building and milling the parts to glue one frame can seem daunting, and after that is done and sanded, a lot more woodwork is needed for hardware, lifts, etc.  Here he is working with a hand chisel to clean up some of those cuts.

Pete Galayda has been quietly working on making some 50 new parts for decking on the Charles City Western 300 locomotive, and they are mostly done and now receiving finishes to ready them for installation and mounting.

Henry Vincent was seen doing some rebuild of electrical items for the TM D 13 work motor, work is progressing on electrical in our new shop space addition, and a handful of other projects continued.

In what must be considered that it is now officially spring, Jack Biesterfeld was out to do more work on the B&M 1094 passenger car.  He brought along a beautiful one inch scale mockup of the kitchen area, complete down to cups and saucers, dirty dishes in the sink.  Rich Witt takes a photo as Jack points out some of the detail.