Wood Shop

Windows

Tim Peters has started making new windows for the CRT 1797, the next round of window work that seems never to be done.  In this case I probably have the numbers wrong, but the wood Tim is running through the jointer, and the stack seen behind him and to the right in the picture, will produce 18 new upper sash windows, and for 4 combination window assemblies going outside the door pockets on the end of the car.

Drill It

John Faulhaber has set up his drill fixtures and is busily engaged in drilling and countersinking holes in the rough seat handle castings for the Sand Springs 68.

Windows

Windows?  Did I say windows?  Jon Fenlaciki was again on the workbenches, restoring brass sash and windows for the CA&E 451.  I believe he said 13 have been completed and placed back into the carbody.

Windows

Yes, more work on windows.  Eric Lorenz has started installing glass in the door windows on our CTS 4223 PCC car.  It is hard to try to capture an image of something that is transparent, but the first glass is in, working on the four door leafs at the front of the car.

A End

I am going to sneak this image in here rather that make a separate ENTRY for just one photo.  Work continues on our B&O wagon top boxcar.  In the morning the A end is still in the shade, so Victor Humphreys is up on the scaffold, working to clean and prime more surfaces, before the sun comes around and it gets really hot.  He was joined today by Ray Pollice, working around the corner on the north side.

Superheater Blocks

We will start out this entry with a Steam Department report.  Jim Opolony from Steamland joined the wood shop crew today to fabricate new wood blocks to protect the ends of superheaters being removed from the Frisco 1630.  There were not enough previously on hand (from UP 428) to accommodate the number in the decapod.  Jim and Rich Witt have prepared the blocks and are laying out the remaining work.

Drilling

Jim, Rich and Victor Humphreys were boring the last of them by the end of the afternoon.  They are complete and ready for the steam team to continuing pulling the superheaters Saturday.

Upholstery

We have shown a few pics along the way of John McKelvey recovering seats for the North Shore 757.  In case you do not understand the scope of what he has accomplished, working alone, all the seat cushions (bottoms) are done and only nine of the seat backs remain to be worked upon.  This is very specialized work and John is willingly volunteering for this large task.

Seat Handles

As a fill-in job when forces are available, we have been working on the brass trim for the Sand Springs 68.  We are apparently in the monsoon season so many of us were chased indoors to the shop, and Pete Galayda joined in the fray.  Here he has the rough castings to be drilled and countersunk.

Drilling

John Faulhaber constructed a neat fixture to help the seat handle drilling and here, Pete and John are on the large drill press making brass chips.

Finishing Touches

Victor Humphreys is doing the final touch up on primer paint for the new station door completed in recent months.

Hood Running Boards

Earlier in the day Pete applied the first color coat of orange paint to the new running boards destined for the Charles City Western 300 locomotive.

MILW 01984

Here is a Buzz Morisette photo of the newly restored Milwaukee Road caboose.  We all enjoy seeing spanking new clean equipment turned out by the volunteers.  In this case, expenses for supplies and materials went beyond our estimates so we are asking for help to complete paying for them.  (All labor and skilled work was done by our volunteers.)  The fund is R01984 for all you generous supporters of IRM.

Even though there is a wide diversity of subject matter in this post, I am lumping these together in my Wood Shop category since the extreme heat resulted in volunteers looking for work indoors and out of the sun.  But to begin - -

A Baggage Car

NICE!  CB&Q 993 basks in the hot afternoon sun after reaching COMPLETION by the Wednesday Special Projects Group.  This group of midweek warriors have completed restorations on six cars in the last dozen years!

CTA 30

Jerry Saunders continued to lead a team of volunteers preparing CTA 30 for re-painting.  The car body has been scuffed and flaking paint removed and it is nearly ready for the priming.  I do not know how Jerry, Eric Zabelny, and Fred Zimmerman worked in that heat outdoors, in the sun.  But we encouraged them to take frequent breaks and drink a lot of water, which they did.  Tough guys that they are, they claimed the heat did not bother them.

CCW 300

Those of us who are wiser (and older) took refuge in our shops.  Pete Galayda is working on new hood running boards for the Charles City steeple cab locomotive.

Station Door

Victor Humphreys has applied primer to both sides of the new wood door custom made in the shop, for our depot.

CAE 36

Rich Witt was quite content to continue on repairs to a window for CA&E 36, in our cooled shop.  Sanding was completed and then the task of applying white primer began.

Brass Polishing

Simon Harrison and John Faulhaber took some more turns at restoring brass hardware for the Sand Springs 68.  Here they are seen working on the first two seat handles for the car.  These are new castings which need to be smoothed and worked through the polishing and finishing steps.  We ordered new felt 'bobs' and these were quite effective at getting to the interior surfaces.

Production

Production at the end of the day included two seat handles and another four of the window lift assemblies.  These were then cleaned and clear lacquer applied for protection.

This is another example where volunteers can learn and master old crafts and techniques.  Our shops have a collective experience not matched and which are not found in commerce today, in many cases.  What would you like to learn?

Windows

Rich Witt was at work in the wood shop repairing a window from the CA&E 36.  Several steps are needed in this process.  Odd that the code string needed for this post identifies this image as "CIA" - hmmmm.

Also in the wood shop, Rich worked on a new project for the Frisco 1630 decapod, George Clark continued on the LSE 810, getting ready to install the new siding on the north face of the car, we noted more progress by Tim Peters on CRT 1797, Henry Vincent worked on shop facilities, and John Nelligan continued on the CCW 300.

I got no pics of this work on the B&O wagon top boxcar due to spending a few hours in the sun on the roof of the car.  But we cleaned more of the old steel, and I was joined by Victor Humphreys and Simon Harrison.  One of the side ladders from the No 1 end is now complete - cleaned, primed and finish painted.

CTA 30

And on adjacent Track 41 there was a six car elevated train!  Jerry Saunders is leading a team to re-paint single car CTA 30.  The pic shows Jerry removing old paint from the aluminum roof area of the carbody, joined by Fred Zimmerman up on the roof.  Jeron Glander also spent an entire day helping on the project, and I believe they also labored on CTA 30 Tuesday this week.

Standee Windows

For me, the biggest eye opener of the afternoon came when I walked by the Cleveland 4223 PCC and saw four new standee windows already installed!  Eric Lorenz is doing a very classy job and these windows make a huge visual difference to the car.

Brick Mold

Lorne Tweed has completed the work to make a new mold for a specialty refractory brick for the steam shop.  Primer is being applied to seal the mold surfaces, and then two coats of enamel will finish the job, ready to pour.  We also saw Tom Schneider drop by and supplied some material for making a new pattern for a cast iron item that has worn out and broken.

Turbine Paint

Buzz Morisette spends several 'extra' days at IRM during each week, and he has been doing a lot of prep work on the UP 18 turbine.  Today he is mixing aluminum colored paint and loading it into the spray gun for application to the trucks and underbody equipment.  This project is a lot of work, let alone to be accomplished working alone.

Brass Sash

If it seems to you like Jon Fenlaciki has been working a long time restoring windows for CA&E 451, it must seem like FOREVER to him.  But he has made the personal commitment to do these and he was at work again in the shop.

There was a lot of other activity including more cleaning and paint work on our B&O boxcar, removing the A end tackboards, Tim Peters continuing on the CRT 1797, brass polishing, work for new CSL 3142 brake shoes, and a host of other items I could not cover.

Brick Mold

Lorne Tweed is making some progress on the project for the Steam Shop.  This is to be a mold to cast a specialized piece of refractory firebrick to serve as the arch or top piece in a rivet forge.

Running Boards

Pete Galayda is now making running boards which mount to the top of the hoods on the Charles City Western 300 steeple cab.

Window Work

Randy Hicks is involved in repainting and repairing one of the cars acquired from the Trolleyville Collection.  In this case it is Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  While he is working on the body in one of our Barns, he was very considerate to bring over a window for the Wood Shop to attack.  Most of the windows are in good enough shape that replacements will not have to be made.  Here, Rich Witt makes short work of sanding and removing the old layers of paint from both sides.  This is good work in our air conditioned shop if any of you wish to volunteer.  Next steps on this frame are to repair it with epoxy filler, and then sand again and prime paint it.

Plane Progress

Victor Humphreys examines new stock fresh from the planer.  That is a machine that planes thin layers of wood from thicker stock, to produce a custom thickness, as needed for almost every project.