Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Time to give all you anxious readers (AND DONORS?) an update.

Engineering and design work has been proceeding.  Right now we think the best and most cost effective long range solution is to put tires on the existing wheels.  Tires you say?  Well, that is a long proven solution to preserving the existing wheel centers, axles, and in this case bull gears, without damaging or disturbing that system or structure.

Tire

Passenger cars often had wheels designed to have tires shrunk on with heating, as a wear surface.  And many of you fans will recognize the process as more or less standard on steam locomotive drivers, and well into the modern era on some diesel locomotives.

We have found a manufacturer that will roll new tires according to the above drawing.  And have his price and delivery time in hand.

Mounting Details

The next steps in the process involve sending the existing wheelsets to a shop to have the existing wheels turned down on a lathe to remove the flanges and yield cylindrical wheels about two and one half inches smaller in diameter.  These become the new wheel hubs and the work on them this far is a one time only expense.  (If the tires need to be replaced decades into the future, the wheel centers remain ready for a new tire).

The final step is to have the new tires heated to several hundred degrees F to expand them and allow them to fit over the wheel hubs,.  As they cool they shrink and grip the hubs TIGHTLY.  We have one set of pricing quoted for this work, so far.

Members and friends have shown great interest and support for the project to get these two cars operational again.  A long list of donors exist, but we need your continued support.  We are nearing the HALFWAY point to a goal of having the project funded for BOTH CARS.  Matching funds are still available so every dollar you donate goes twice as far.  The restricted fund is RTMS at Illinois Railway Museum, Box 427, Union IL 60180.

We started out thinking we could make this happen, and all of you are proving that correct.  We appreciate and need your continued support.  We will keep you informed of progress.