| BLOG | DIRECTIONS | SCHEDULE | STORE |
|
|
| BLOG | DIRECTIONS | SCHEDULE | STORE | |
Tuesday, February 21. 2012TMS Project Update - February 18-19, 2012It really is amazing to witness the work on this project. It is significant on so many fronts - engineering, machining, metallurgy, and the massive amount of less than ordinary GRUNT WORK.  Assembly Jeff Brady is dry fitting and assembling some of the completed levers and rigging in the truck. That is correct - enough of the new bushings and pins have been fabricated and heat treated to see how it goes back together. He is inserting the new pin into a lever nicknamed a 'dog bone' due to its resemblance to such doggie snack treats.  The Dog Bones Here is a closer look at the dog bones and how they fit into the truck. There are two of these in each quadrant to next receive the brake head castings, which in turn hold the brake shoes.  Boring Each of the many parts in this truck receives attention. This once bent brake lever has been heated and straightened, as seen by the gray discoloration on the casting. The old deteriorated bushings have been removed with a hydraulic press. Here the lever is on the drill press table and about to get its holes reamed to receive the new bushings. As I said above it is truly amazing, doing this on a wish and prayer with old tools and a lot of hard work and commitment from the volunteers. Tuesday, February 21. 2012CTS 4223 Update - February 18, 2012Apologies since it seems the volunteers doing the work can accomplish results faster than I can post entries here.  Tracks Lorne Tweed is working on the smallest of the track parts, an insert with steel spring leaves behind it. Needless to say many of those are about destroyed by rusting, so here he is dong 'blacksmith' work to try to remove some bad ones.  Back in the Carbody The mild winter weather continued so Lorne Twee is assisting Eric Lorenz with installation of more of the new car interior wainscotting panels below the windows. Very nice! Tuesday, February 21. 2012Wood Shop Update - February 18-19, 2011 Glazing Buzz Morisette has glazed several of the new windows he built for ATSF 1400 caboose. They are a thing of beauty. Here he is wrestling with clean up of the gooey butyl rubber compound we use in place of traditional glazing putty. That old fashioned glazing putty hardens and shrinks, falls out and fails over time. This stuff has stood the test of time, maintaining a flexible watertight seal for several years. But it can be troublesome to work with.  Final Coat With much of the cleaning behind him, Buzz is ready to add the final coat of gray interior paint to the windows.  Steam Department Nick Kallas was visiting the shop, and Victor Humphreys is showing him the complicated joinery for a new window for Norfolk & Western 2050. The steel plate beside the new wood parts is a 'new' discovery in the past week. The finished wood window gets a fairly heavy sheet of metal placed over its exterior.  More Windows Dan Fenlaciki helped glue and square up two more new windows for Illinois Central 3996 Diner. Six are now so assembled.  Track Department Could that caption be wrong? No, Marcus Ruef delivered new lumber for the wood shop crew to make up new decking for two of our four wheel track cars. Those guys just do not like to work in comfort - it has to be either too cold or too hot for them to really enjoy themselves. So our wood shop sawdust guys will do the cutting. |
Blog AdministrationFind us on FacebookCalendarQuicksearchSyndicate This Blog |
Comments
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.
Sun, 01-11-2015 18:18
While I am not as well versed in the relevant parts of Title 49 of the CFR, I believe that steam heat boilers fall to state regulations, not the FRA. [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 14:54
Hello Mr. K We have no info on when it was last used. We might find that out when unit arrives. No idead about the Fra regs. Work needed to be [...]
Sat, 01-10-2015 16:04
The photo with unit 642 rounding a curve in June 1978 is at Blue Island with the train coming off the Suburban line through Beverly heading south [...]