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Monday, January 30. 2012CTS 4223 Update - January 28, 2012 Making Tracks Not exactly making them, but trying to make them new again. Lorne Tweed and Eric Lorenz are going over a pile of them, trying to set aside the hopeless ones. I think there are seven different varieties of these parts for ONE WINDOW, making the scope of this something north of 200 pieces.  Let There be Light On the carbody out in the barn, Eric Lorenz continues to install trim and more parts. The headlight is now complete visually, although a new reflector bowl inside and the bulb and wiring remain.  A Step Up The last of the two fold up steps to the roof have come back form the painter and are now installed just to the rear of the mid car exit doors. Eric checks the last screws to be sure they are secure.  Windows What would any of these posts be without the ubiquitous window work? Keith Letsche returned to the shop and is working on reducing the large pile of sash that remain to be cleaned, and coated with clear finish. Friday, January 27. 2012Wood Shop Update - January 25, 2011I think I would like to start this report with some eye candy. And I will lump together many projects in this one entry rather than constructing many of only an image or two.  Archeology Victor Humphreys is holding a stained glass window from a heavyweight Pullman car that Buzz Morisette has expertly restored. This and a few others, were found in a forgotten dusty corner of an IRM storage boxcar by Roger Kramer, painted over and looking poorly. Buzz stripped, cleaned, and refinished this to be glowing example of the carbuilder's design and craft. Victor did some research. Apparently these were stripped from a car we did not acquire, one in very poor shape and destined for the scrapper's torch. It is a good thing these were saved, even if we had no car that needed them. This is from Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe 1332, the SAN MIGUEL, built as a library buffet car in Pullman lot 4254. The car was converted by Santa Fe to a coach combine, used as the caboose on some branchline mixed trains and regrettably was not saved. But a STUNNING example for display someday at IRM.  Bushings In the most recent TMS Project entry I mentioned the work being done to renew and rebuild the trucks. John Faulhaber is holding a brake lever showing the three new hardened bushings installed. Thanks to some expert work and machinist skills from Rod Turner, all four of these levers are complete, and additional replacement of bushings continues. Installing each one of these new bushings is not a trivial home hobbyist workbench project!  On Track Lorne Tweed is cleaning and repairing window tracks for our PCC project, CTS 4223. A dusty pursuit, and one requiring quite a bit of time and patience for each set. 30 plus sets required!  14 Windows Buzz Morisette continues on 14 windows for ATSF 1400. The gluing, sanding, and assembly is about done, ready to begin painting and glazing.  Cooperation Ted Anderson stopped by, from our Pullman Library. Any project usually involves a lot of input and effort from several different departments at IRM. The Wood Shop is creating new windows for the Steam Department (N&W 2050), and Ted is using cadd files created by us to print full sized templates for the new sash.  Tricky Victor Humphreys is focused on cutting some tricky two tongued tenons for one of our current projects  Some Assembly Required Victor and John F have made the first assembly of a new door, to test fit and see how it is beginning to shape up. Tuesday, January 24. 2012ATSF 2524 Combine May 2009 Restoration UpdateThis car was last run about 2004, give or take. It was hoped to be used off property for the movie Flag of Our Fathers! Well, upon wheel inspection it was found to have a thin wheel thus the Bad Order tag. We have never fixed the problem by replacing the wheel set! That's the background. After that the conversation started going around to replace the newer seats with the correct walkover style and make it a real Santa Fe combine again. Work began by removing the more modern seats on one side then assessing the situation. One thing rolled into another and Mark Hoffman began needlechipping the wall from sill downward to floor. After much sanding, grinding, primering by Mark, I finally topcoated the area with Sherwin-Williams paint that Shelly Van der Schagen had matched from old color samples. The below pictures were taken in May 2009 and are the results of the teams efforts. In the meantime Mike Baksic and Ray Moorman found the correct style of seat frame. 12 frames, I believe, have now been stripped and repainted to the matched color. Shelly has done a fine job repainting all the frames. They are now stored in the baggage section for future installation. In 2010 work continued but this time removing the seats on the opposite side, Mike, Ray and Mike's dad, Wayne, joined in this task. Mark,again, went through the process of needlechipping etc. The following pictures I took during and after the last paint job. Both walls are now painted.  Primer Applied Side wall of ATSF 2544 after being primed. The same day it will be painted with 2 coats of paint. All in a days work, May 19,2009.  Just Painted The first green top coat is still wet. Notice additional plastic to cover area not being painted. It takes more work to mask than to paint. Again May 19 2009  Finished Job Interior paint job completed! All work accomplished in one day in May 2009. Job well done by Roger! Now on to the next project of repairing the floor. Now you say 'installation of seat frames can begin'. NO not yet!! Lastly, Shelly, Mike and coach dept member John McKelvey are going to purchase new linoleum to finish and repair the floor. When that's complete installation of frames will begin. Next...... new wheels. I hope! Roger Monday, January 23. 2012Steam Department Update 1-22-2012The snow made for a pretty quiet weekend at the steam shop. Only a couple of brave souls made it to Union and Saturday. I got there Sunday along with Tom, Jason and Brian. Jason and Brian made good progress on cleaning and needle chipping most remaining areas of the boiler and the various pipes running along the outside of the boiler ready for testing.
The area remaining to be cleaned off is the one that everyone dreads - the underside of the barrel. This is the real fun area requiring that you crawl under the boiler and brush / needle chip directly above where you are lying - gravity then ensures that most of what you remove lands on you!!. I just about completed the set up for swaging ready to bring tubes in from the box car. However that will now be of lesser priority than getting the inside of the boiler sand blasted. Potential contractors for sand blasting are not willing to do the boiler interior at a reasonable price so we need to do it ourselves. Given that this will require several days use of a respirator helmet and subsequent use for welding inside 1630's tender, we have acquired a suitable pump. It is now the first priority to set the boiler up so that dust is generally contained within it and can be exhausted outside the shop. The we can get on with the job. I also got the help of Bob Kutella on modifying the timbers of the McCabe flanger so that it can be moved more easily. Unfortunately this requires timber that we could not get on a Sunday so hopefully that will be done next week. No report from me next weekend as I am in Florida for a week. Let's hope that we have a lot to report in 2 weeks. Nigel Monday, January 23. 2012TMS Project Update - January 22, 2012Work continues on this exciting project, with the hope of having TM 972 back on its trucks and operating at IRM this season.  Truck Work Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady are working on one of the trucks from beneath this car while the wheel and axle sets are out at a shop. This is a golden opportunity to do what amounts to a substantial rebuild of the truck, while the wheels and motors are out for work. The frame is inside our shop, so winter weather is not an issue. Unlike a model railroad truck consisting of three molded pieces, there are literally over one hundred parts and pieces. Over time, some of those become worn. They may still work for a while yet, but the clock is ticking with every additional service mile logged. So the prudent decision is to the repair or replacement of items showing substantial wear and which are badly out of spec. Current efforts involve still more dismantling of the many pieces, but right now we are focusing on "pins and bushings". The brake rigging in particular involves several levers, rods, and assemblies which must pivot and move when the brakes are applied. Each of those joints usually is held together by a hardened steel pin which rides inside a hardened steel bushing. The bushing is a press fit into the respective casting it resides in. All of that work is well along the way. Remember this an active project, and as with any project, unforeseen work may become apparent along the way. In this case we have made the decision to replace many of the pins and bushings, assuring decades of relatively trouble free operation. But that also means purchasing many of those parts, those we do not have as spares in inventory. And this is the first truck, the other awaits the same treatment. So we are not at the final cost and donations are still appreciated. The restricted fund is RTMS and your generous donation and support guarantees you are PARTICIPATING in this progress. Thursday, January 19. 2012Wood Shop Update - January 18, 2011 Mortises Simon Harrison has moved into the big time now, doing WOOD WORK in the WOOD SHOP. Just kidding, many different projects are done in all the shop spaces. Here, he was cleaning out 36 mortises for the Illinois Central 3996 windows.  New Wood Buzz Morisette arrived in the shop carrying an armload of new hardwood. He immediately set to work measuring and laying out the cuts for the work to be done.  Quarter Round Before long the sounds of machines operating filled the air and Buzz was making quarter round for the new ATSF 1400 windows. I should note that special moldings like these, even 'common quarter round' in hardwood, are not to be found for sale. So, with a table mounted router and correct profile bit, teamed up with the table saw, Buzz shuttled back and forth between them and produced an armload of the needed pieces.  Machine Work We really are lucky to have such a well equipped wood working shop and it has made possible work like never before in IRM history. But realize that the machines cannot do everything. Victor Humphreys hand sands a profile to remove small defects, allowing us to use the router to plow out unneeded wood accurately  A Chiseler Another example of hand tool skills is the use of a SHARP chisel. First you have to sharpen and hone the chisel, then it becomes much easier to pare small shavings in tight corners. The PHANTOM managed to catch me in action, a rare event. Sunday, January 15. 2012Wood Shop Update - January 14, 2011As seems to be the pattern right now, Saturday seems to be the busiest day in the Barn 4 Shops and there was a lot of activity on many projects.  Prototype In the previous post we mentioned that a prototype brake shoe had been made using 3D printing, but had no opportunity to get a picture. Lorne Tweed and Alex Randow are examining it closely at the start of the day.  Windows What would one of these entries be without WINDOW work? Alex Randow and new volunteer Keith Letsche were hard at work on the aluminum framed sash for Cleveland Transit System 4223. Keith was masking frames as soon as they were cleaned and ready, and Alex applied clear protective finish.  Many Windows As each frame was coated with the clear finish, Alex placed it in this drying rack. I think the count was sixteen at the time I snapped this picture, but the day's work was not done yet.  Strategy John Faulhaber and Henry Vincent were caught in a strategy meeting, discussing plans for a potential new building on Main Street.  VIP Visitors We were delighted to welcome Andrea and Ted Anderson (of Pullman Library fame) to our informal lunch table. It is always a treat to hear the stories from two such charming people.  Trolley Base Richard Schauer and a few others have been working to restore trolley bases for eventual installation on the CTA 2000 series rapid transit cars. These parts are quite heavy, but Richard paused long enough to let me snap a quick picture. There was work on a number of other projects. Some of the wood work included John Faulhaber, Victor Humphreys, and I completing 36 mortises for a set of new windows we are making, these destined for Illinois Central 3996. And of course the indefatigable Tim Peters continuing on restoration of several doors for the Chicago Rapid Transit 1797. |
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Comments
Mon, 01-26-2015 12:08
The 2015 IRM annual meeetings; Rules,safety,election of board members, & any other business, etc. will be held on the 3rd. or 4th. saturday of [...]
Sun, 01-25-2015 20:52
multiple questions concerning this department: 1. Operating stance on RDC9933? 2. will SP 1518 (Eventually) be repainted into its black widow [...]
Sat, 01-24-2015 17:23
Since you have plenty of 645 part laying around, why hasn't anybody worked on the ATSF FP45? Also, when will you cosmetically restore SP 1518? I think [...]
Mon, 01-19-2015 20:52
Thanks Jamie; It's so good to hear some news from the diesel dept. I check here a couple times a week looking for updates. Any news on any of the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:37
I too would like to see the Electroliner fully restored - and in fact - I'd like to see every car/steam loco, diesel, etc on the back lot operable - [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:13
When you donate funds, you may specify what they are used for. In this case the funds were donated specifically for this acquisition. If you think the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 11:14
Buying another relic when the money should be spent on what you have; like electroliner
Sat, 01-17-2015 21:36
how is that gonna work?
Mon, 01-12-2015 16:48
Hello Ted. I am embarrassed to tell you but the "bag" is still not here. We have about 2/3 of the $15K needed to move it. Now w/a new curator things [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:12
Folks, speaking of new cars. What happened to that C,B & Q heavyweight baggage car that was waiting in Denver? Did it ever get to [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:08
Hello Brian L You are correct in all points. We need steam to test the cars. The 1630 will be able to provide that function. Testing may even [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:01
Hello Vince Thanks so much for the info. Its a beautiful scene, one that play every day on the Rock Island. Thanks Roger.