Wood Shop

More Windows

Rich Witt is putting the finishing touches on the fourth CA&E window he has reconditioned.  Next job?  Bring it on!

More Windows

Tim Peters completed the planned window change out for CRT 1268.  Here he going through the process of fitting and trimming each sash to the opening.

Steam at IRM

Ray Schmid and Jeff Brady are manning a home made steam generator as Ray slides in a wood slat for the end roof of Michigan Electric 28.  Some of the curves on the end cannot be bent without this additional step.

Needle Chipping

Frank Sirinek has gone quietly about his business; largely staying beneath the radar as he restores Kansas City Public Service 755.  A lot of the windows have recently been changed out, and there is remarkable progress on the interior painting and finish work.  Cold temperatures, strong winds, and a steady drizzle which became a downpour did not discourage Frank from using a needle chipper to remove paint from two more interior panels.

End Gate

Roger Kramer was on hand in the shop, cleaning up a passenger car end gate for the Pullman Car John Mc Loughlin, to be primed and painted.

Display

Henry Vincent continues to work on the display for a vintage Pennsylvania Railroad sign/mural.  Rich Witt was helping Henry trim the large item.  The rest of the day, Rich worked on priming several windows for CA&E 36.

Barn 4 Visitor

Lat Sunday CRT 1268 was operating, providing rides for our visitors.  Now it is visiting Barn 4 for a change of all of its windows, backdating to an older style.  Our resident guru of wood rapid transit cars, Tim Peters, has a new set of windows already produced for the change.  The current 1268 windows will find a new home in CRT 1797.

EXPRESS

John Faulhaber decided to try his hand at lettering new signs for the Rock Island Commuter cars.  We need more folks willing to learn this skill set.  One comment - "It is not as easy as it looks."

Three Windows

Rich Witt faithfully continued restoration of windows for CA&E 36, now doing three at a time!

ME 28

Not strictly a Wood Shop entry but Jeff Brady continues on forming the curved end roof sheathing on our Michigan Electric car.  Norm Krentel was removing windows and Walt Stafa, visitor form Ohio, assisted throughout the day.

Today will be a series of short posts - lots going on with MANY projects.

Sign Frame

Henry Vincent has designed and is building a substantial frame toward displaying a vintage Pennsylvania photo mural.

Trimming

Rich Witt assists Henry in trimming off a ragged edge on the mural.  This had been stored and moved for many years at IRM and some damage resulted from the handling.  Volunteer Bill Leiter has promised to use his graphic arts experience to help restore some of the damaged areas.

Canvasing

I know this is a poor image but a tough environment to get a better one.  Tim Peters and Frank Sirinek spent most of the day stretching and tacking down new canvas on the roof of wood car CRT 1979.

Siding

Henry Vincent and Gerry Dettloff spent part of the afternoon installing new siding on Lake Shore Electric 810.

Lettering Class

A change of pace, as we are working on signs for our Rock Island commuter cars.  You see here an original window sign, a new black blank ready for lettering, and a new stencil to be used to transfer the pattern.

CAE 36

No, this is not the same window you have been seeing the past weeks.  Rich Witt is restoring yet another window for this old wood bodied car.  Come on out and help, there are plenty left!

Upholstery

John Mc Kelvey has a smile on his face as he recovers the last of the large two person seat backs for North Shore 757

NP 230

The Wednesday Special Projects Group enjoyed another late fall day of pleasant weather.  Lee Regione applies some dark green paint to the end.

Needle Chipping

Joe Luciani is up on the scaffold removing layers of old paint on CGW 4160.  These pneumatic tools are variously referred to as a needle chipper, needle scaler, or, in this case, if you heard the noise, a NEEDLE GUN!

Here are some pics I got while doing work on another MAJOR restoration project.  I am holding that story until the end is in sight.

The Old Saw

Tim Peters was on our large band saw running stock for roof parts for CRT 1797.  Each of these panels has to be custom cut to fit the sags and droops in the carbody roof.  Tim explained that this car was originally built as a trailer, and when converted to a motor car, the weight of the current collection equipment on the roof probably led to some 'settling' of the structure.

Fancy Work

And he followed cutting those new panels for the outside of the clerestory area, on to the bench for painting.  I should note that these were being cut last week, and by today, they were primed, painted, and being installed on the car.  Maybe we should set up a time lapse camera in the barn, and shoot the record of his fine work.

Stoned

No, not an early winter snowdrift, but about 100 TONS of new stone ballast piled at the east end of Barn 3.  We have previously reported progress on the project to replace virtually all of Track 31, and the track guys are doing a great job.  Next on the list - to place all this stone on the new track inside Barn 3; then jack, level, and tamp it.  Anyone got a shovel??

I am still playing 'catch up' on postings here.  Almost every day of the  week there are volunteers working in the the Barn 4 shops and around the property, with larger numbers on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  During the week, here are some pics I saw of work on many of the projects.

NP 230

The Wednesday Special Projects group of guys have been working 'under the radar' and have produced this stunning paint job and restoration on our Northern Pacific 230 baggage car.

CGW 4061

The same group has moved on to repainting and restoring the CGW 4061 combination car, here seen with priming being done on the north side of the car, and in the process of replacing broken windows.  This car was originally built for the Chesapeake and Ohio.  The old current yellow and green was as we got it in CNW colors but still numbered for the CGW as it ended its years in MOW service.

CRT 1797

Tim Peters still works on this wood car restoration 6 or 7 days per week, and here, volunteers John Mc Kelvey and Roger Kramer, assist Tim in crafting replacement clerestory tack molding to be installed on the roof areas.

CRT 1797

CAE 36

Rich Witt continues on repair of windows for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  Any car with lots of windows makes it seem like window work will never be done, but one at a time, the progress continues.

CWT 141

Frank Sirinek has just about completed work on one set of new parts and hardware for the Chicago and West Towns 141 'fenders'.