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Thursday, August 25. 2011
Equipment scheduled to operate on ... Posted by James Kolanowski
in News and Publicity at
11:00
Comments (3) Equipment scheduled to operate on Labor Day WeekendCelebrate the end of summer by joining us for three days of fun! Pack a picnic, ride the trains, and enjoy! "Music at the Museum"--the West End Jazz Band will entertain on Monday. Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
Thursday, August 25. 2011News and Views - August 24, 2011Lorne Tweed continues to contribute progress on this car. It was oppressively hot with a heat index over 100, and hotter still perhaps in the still air inside the barn. This week he attacked the interior frames and trim on the front windows of CTS 4223. Inside the CTS 4223, on the front dash there was a rail fan. What else would you call it? Anyhow, Lorne also carefully removed that as the paint and years of crud are removed and the clean metal primed. I could not argue with folks looking for work inside the shop to escape the outside heat. John Faulhaber was cleaning a rough casting for new seat handles for the Sand Springs 68. That is the first step in the process. Simon Harrison has returned from an exciting trip overseas, and here he is continuing the work on the handles, this representing the final buffing and polishing. The completed work is sprayed with clear lacquer to help protect them and diminish tarnishing and corrosion. Rich Witt is examining the shaft for the cut off saw in our old tenoning machine. This is the one originally purchased by the Illinois Terminal Railroad and used in their Decatur shops. Rod Turner has cleaned it up on the lathe in preparation for new babbit bearings to be poured and fitted in a month from now. Prep work for more window restoration continued (CA&E 36) and then Rich turned to design and fabrication of a die and jig to bend new sheet metal for repairs on our B&O wagon top boxcar. Speaking of which, the heat did not discourage Victor Humphreys from working outdoors on that all day. Rod Turner assisted and more rust out areas on the side were cut out and prepped for new patches. I was busy with two contractor meetings most of the day, and Henry Vincent helped where needed on several items. Pete Galayda and John Nelligan were seen working on the Charles City Western 300 locomotive.
Tuesday, August 23. 2011
Steam Report - August 13 -20, 2011 * ... Posted by Robert Kutella
in Steam Department at
14:50
Comments (3) Steam Report - August 13 -20, 2011 * PICTURES ADDEDAgain, many thanks to Jim Opolony for submitting this report. Maybe we should upgrade his status from "cub reporter". August 13: On the Frisco 1630 - - - Work started with the steam team setting up to cut the ends of the tubes that are attached to the firebox tube sheet. A torch had to be used to do this since the pneumatic tube cutter cannot be set up inside the firebox. Collin did this with ease. The flue for one of the superheaters was the first to be cut out. To our surprise, with the use a 2x4 we were able to get the flue through its hole in the tube sheet. By the end of the day, we had six of the two inch tubes out of the locomotive. In addition, work continued on firebox repairs. A third rivet was removed. To do this, David, our machinist, made an extension from a bolt so that the rivet gun's reach would be lengthened. We also put bolts in some of the now empty rivet holes to prevent the sheet form vibrating as we continued to hammer away with the gun. Machining also continued on the bearing boxes for UP 428 and in the production of new parts. August 20: We once again continued to cut the tubes of the 1630. Another flue was cut, and after a bit of difficulty, was removed. By the end of the day, almost all of the tubes that needed to come out from the engineer's side of the boiler were removed. We still have two flues to remove on that side. Then the process will be repeated to remove flues and tubes on the fireman's side of the engine. In case anyone is wondering why this approach is being used, this needs to be done so a boiler inspection can be done, which involves climbing down inside the boiler. Lenny Halter came out and cut the rivets, with a torch, that need to come out of the firebox. [ED: or farebox as I typed it the first time] He next ground off the waste so that the rivets can come out of the sheet much easier. It should be pointed out that Lenny is a certified boiler welder.
Thursday, August 18. 2011News and Views - August 17, 2011Lorne Tweed is providing some needed help to complete window installation on CTS 4223, our PCC car form Cleveland. He is working inside the car to clean old paint from the frame areas, and prime the raw metal, prior to fitting glass. Mike Alterio is welding new steel repair patches to the sides of the B&0 wagontop boxcar. Victor Humphreys cut and prepared the new metal, but installing them proved to be a challenge. Tim Peters is installing new tongue and groove siding near one end of CRT 1797, the wood L car he is restoring. I suppose you could say this was exsiding (exciting) to see. It is always amazing to see the fast progress and careful work on this car. Pete Galayda has completed installing the new hood running boards on the west end of Charles City Western 300, one of our steeple car electric locomotives. Meanwhile, by Barn 3 the Dover Strait is sunning itself outdoors. All of the equipment on Track 31 has been pulled from the Barn to allow for replacement of track. Gene Mackowiak is needlechipping decades of dried gunk and rust from the truck frames, while Bob Hunter follows closely behind applying new black paint. Tuesday, August 16. 2011
Michigan Electric 28 Update - August ... Posted by Ray Schmid
in Michigan Electric 28 at
13:10
Comments (2) Michigan Electric 28 Update - August 14, 2011Final Roof Panel Installed and All Roof Slats Cut!!! A major roof milestone has been achieved this week. The final roof panel was installed by Ray Schmid. A mini-celebration was held on the ME 28’s roof last Sunday afternoon to commemorate the installation of the final roof panel. Pictured below: Ray Schmid and Nancy Ring celebrate the driving of the last roof panel screw. (A Jeff Brady picture.) Nancy Ring travelled from Milwaukee and assisted Jeff Brady with cutting the remainder of the roof slats in the woodshop. Now work can begin on the roof ends where the basswood slats will be bent and nailed over the carlines. Pictured below: Ray Schmid holds the first roof slat showing it’s size. Two layers will be bent and nailed down to cover the car ends. Nancy Ring is also pictured. (Again, Jeff Brady is our cameraman.) Sunday, August 14. 2011Shop News - August 13, 2011Victor Humphreys is cutting and fitting metal plates to work as patches on rusted out areas of our B&O wagontop boxcar. Earlier in the day, Victor, John Faulhaber, and Lorne Tweed worked on cleaning and priming another side panel on the car, and completing cleanup and priming on the A end. After a shower chased us indoors, Lorne finished work on preparations to secure tarps on the roof of the car. That dratted polypropylene rope needs to have the ends 'burned' or it will quickly fray and unravel. Frank Sirinek and Mike Stauber continue to strip and refinish seats for the Vera Cruz open car. One at a time, they have remained under the radar and have now nearly completed the seats for the entire car! Eric Lorenz soldiers on, essentially without any additional help, on the CTS 4223 PCC car. He is making good progress installing the standee windows on the south side, despite being under the weather in recent weeks. This is not a "closed project" so if any of you fans have the desire to help out in this restoration, contact me or Eric. The immediate plan and goal is to complete the body painting, paint and install the various trim pieces, anticlimbers and side bumpers, and install all the windows. You can help. Tim Peters was again at work on the CRT 1797, sanding and trimming out the window openings. Note the panels between the windows, made last week, and already primed and installed! |
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Comments
Wed, 04-11-2018 11:28
You mention in the header that you would like to have the Electroliner operational by its birthday. Was it?
Sun, 04-08-2018 20:03
As a child, IRM was always my favorite place to visit. Well, other than grandma's house next to the Geneva Sub. It's been many years since I now [...]
Wed, 04-04-2018 16:01
Those temporary walls could be constructed in a way that allows their reuse after the phase is done to close off the new phases.
Tue, 03-27-2018 03:08
Why did the smoke box cover on the shay need to be replace Do?
Mon, 03-26-2018 16:29
It never ceases to amaze me of the diligence and passion of the current mix of volunteers associated with IRM in 2018. Back when I was a active [...]
Mon, 03-26-2018 11:10
Awesome paint job Jamie!!! I never would of thought with the Rock Island history this locomotive in this scheme would of been preserved. Thanks for [...]
Sun, 03-25-2018 23:56
The Hick's blog lists it as Fruit Grower's Express FGEX #55407. Arrived in Union June 2016.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:51
Good job on the diesel update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:45
Good job on the steam update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 00:12
Bill, The 1990 Roster has the PFE #68428; this may be the reefer that we saw moved. It is a rare car and deserves a paint job. Ted Miles, [...]
Fri, 03-16-2018 11:10
It would be rather difficult to operate an 11,000 Volt AC locomotive on our 600 Volt DC wire.
Thu, 03-15-2018 05:57
Good job steam update. Sincerely, Ethan A.