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Friday, June 29. 2012CGW X 38 Update - June 27, 2012 Hosing Around Jim Leonard and Dave Rogan worked at making up all the remaining replacement hoses for the wings on the plow, with help from Rod Turner. The heat wave continues and we better get used to it - forecast between 92 F and 97 F the next seven days. Anyone want to go up on the steel roof and start needle chipping?  What is a NORBITT NORBITT is marked on the porcelain base of the ceiling fixtures inside the plow and we need one more. Also on this is lettering showing it to be a product of Crouse Hinds. Can anyone help here?  Headlight The existing dual headlight is fairly modern for this plow, but the plan is to use it as a stand in until the possibility of acquiring a Pyle National headlight materializes (with appropriate funding). As can be seen, several parts are missing or damaged, although we do have the two special sealed beam lamps.  Badge This is nameplate badge for the headlight and amazingly, TRANS-LITE is still in business and may be able to furnish the needed parts! But of course the price could run toward $300. Anybody know of any such parts for sale or trade from another museum or even salvaged from a junkyard or railroad?  North Door This does not exactly fit the title here, but just to fool you, and to avoid a new post with only one pic, Victor Humphreys completed the first coat of finish paint on the north door of the B&O wagon top boxcar.  Windows Every report needs to talk about WINDOWS. Buzz Morisette is painting new sash for the AT&SF 1400 caboose. Yes folks, he made all those in the wood shop. And earlier in the day, completed installing the last three temporary plywood window blanks for the X 38. Wednesday, June 27. 2012Russell Gone Wrong - June, 2012 Russell Wreck Walter Parks has generously shared this dramatic photo of a wreck for a Russell plow that happened in Ruso, North Dakota. It must have been quite a ride, and a tribute to the design and construction of the plow that there was not more damage apparent. As we have said before, the operator of a Russell Plow had to have a strong backbone and steel himself for any mishap. And work often in an environment of sub zero temperatures. Gee, that is a lot of snow! Which is of course the reason for posting this now with our area in another heat wave, could be 100 F plus tomorrow. Tuesday, June 26. 2012John Mc Loughlin Update #2The "John's" vestibule finally had progressed into various shades of red primer. Let's celebrate! After much priming and surface preparation, the job was finally complete and ready for topcoat.  Roger spraying  Almost done w/ spraying The following pictures are the results of my efforts.  The master at work  A lot of paint supplies  Mixing more paint Another view  WOW Pullman Green  Nice and shiny Tuesday, June 26. 2012Barn 4 Shops - June 20-23I am very tardy getting these few pics up and posted, but I just had little opportunity to wear my 'reporters' hat lately.  At the Controls The BIG STORY was the continued progress on Chicago Rapid Transit 1797. Several volunteers have pitched in and are involved. The exterior of the body is nearly complete, with the recent addition of the lettering on the car, letterboard and gold numbers. It looks great. So, now work is starting on the electrical and control systems. First, the air compressor was examined and able to be freely spun by hand. Step 2 was to hook up a 600 v 'stinger', and the compressor ran and pumped air. Step 3 was to work on wiring so that the compressor could be run as intended, with the trolley pole up and the air compressor governor in the circuit. All that was accomplished in short order. Then on to the reverser, and finally that seemed to work and sequence properly. Next was the line switch which needed a missing overload trip relay. WOW - they were moving right along. By the end of Saturday, the pole was up, 90 lbs air in the pipes, and Tim Peters (above) was at the controls, sequencing the contactors in the group switch. All of the above are steps needed to get to that point. The motors brushes have been removed so there is no chance of the car lurching along during this testing and troubleshooting phase. Amazing to me there is no provision for a motor cutout switch to isolate the motors!  Inductance Coil Al Reinschmidt was working on a new core and repairs for a roof mounted inductance coil destined for Cleveland Transit System 4223.  TMS Truck Two Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek are hard at work repainting the second truck for the Milwaukee (TM) 972 project.  Floored Rich Block was on site and he continues the work on getting a new floor installed at one end of our long running CTA 4000 project. There is a fairly complicated process of underlayment and reinforcing mesh being installed to replace the totally rusted out Keystone Flooring panels which are no longer manufactured. Next will be to mix and pour a lightweight concrete product, MASTIPAVE. Sunday, June 24. 2012Steam Department Update 6-23-2012The dog days of summer continue. Many people have vacations or other better offers so turnout at the shop is lower than usual. I had to leave in the early afternoon so hopefully others things were achieved later in the day. Anyway, I think we turned a corner this weekend. We have just about completed the stripping and measuring and are now working on repair and rebuilding tasks. Work focused on 1630: · Jeff, Collin and I measured the radius profile of the back head to provide Bob the last data for the form 4 calculation. I need to finish a few more diagrams to identify exactly where measurements were made on each part of the boiler and Bob has a mass of calculations to complete and document but we now have all the physical measurements to complete the documentation; · the holes for riveting the patch into place have now all been prepared;
· Jeff and Collin marked all the points where we need Dennis to make good small marks in the tube sheets before fitting the tubes; · The big exercise now getting under way is the repair and safe ending of the super heater flues o Phil sand blasted the material that will be cut to provide the safe ends;
o all of the flues were inspected and those with an existing weld too close to the end were identified and cut to ensure that there will be an adequate length of clear tube at the end for expanding into the tube sheet; o each flue was marked up with the position into which it will be refitted (the spans vary a little so from here on all the measurements and amounts to be added will be specifically calculated to fit the tube to it chosen location); o a start was made on cutting the small diameter safe ends for some of the flues.
Bob and Ed worked on reassembling and firing up the rivet furnace. It was test fired during the afternoon so hopefully we are now ready for riveting 428's cab.
Glenn inspected and lubricated the boom hoist mechanism on the Bay City crane. As the most frequent operator of that crane I have a vested interest in this activity. The boom hoist has always been very tricky to engage and disengage smoothly so any improvement in this area will be a major benefit. Don't forget the Steam Department benefit next Sunday. You can still order tickets but will need to pick them up on the day. Nigel Sunday, June 24. 2012The Newest Attraction - June 2012Dave Diamond is our General Manager - Facilities, and he is exceptionally productive in maintaining the campus, and at recruiting volunteers for new projects. Saturday was our annual Chicago Day special event and what could be better than the new billboard?  Riverview Dan Marquardt supplied the image and assisted in getting it converted to electronic format where Dave was able to get it 'printed'. The B&G crew had done the prepwork to the billboard previously and made it happen in time for passing cars to see the work. WELL DONE! The ride shown reminds me that it might have been the water ride where you sat in a large inner tube and had a small gasoline motor to propel it around. When time was up, a large fence type boom traversed the pond to rake you into submission along the dock. And it released the next wave of those floats to have their turn at fun. What was the NAME of that ride? Waterbugs??
Friday, June 22. 2012Big John, Big update, No. 1 - June 2012
 Mark Installing the Scaffold, 2010 Activity abounds in the heavyweight 8-1-2 sleeper, John Mc Loughlin. Here is an update to the accomplished progress by two volunteers. It takes a lot of time because of the complexity of the surface.  Mark Wirewheeling in Vestibule Sept, 2010 I, along with Mark Hoffman have been busy the last three years restoring the vestibule to its former glory. The following pictures and descriptions through the next few blogs will help the reader view our progress. This blog will pay particular attention to the surface preparation of the vestibule on the east end of the sleeper.  Entrance Door Sanded, Ready to Be Primed Aug 2010 The Goal.... to paint it "Pullman" green. The first pictures are of Mark faithfully needlechipping the vestibule, inside and outside walls.  Mark Chipping Area of Missing Marker Bracket  Roger Drilling Holes for Missing Marker Light Bracket  Newly Found Bracket Installed Last in this series of pictures is the partly primed outside wall of vestibule. Next job applying the paint! Which is easier? Needlechipping all the various small areas, or sanding, or priming or painting? What ever your answer its a tedious job. The result are well worth our efforts. Care to join the team? Donations can be made to the John Mc Loughlin fund...  Vestibule Exterior Almost Primed Waiting for Paint |
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Comments
Sun, 07-27-2014 23:15
In looking at the general exterior condition of the Dynamometer Car you would think that it was a total wreck. It is wonderful that it is operational [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 20:14
I had a blast riding in X-5000 on Sunday during Diesel Days. Brian was great to talk to. It was cool seeing the comntrol board work. I can't wait for [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:47
Shane, Clean rain water is certainly possible. The snag is that you would need a BIG collection and storage system. We are using around 8000 [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:42
John, Yes. Sadly the tender is in poor shape. She should go under cover as part of the new barn project. There will be much discussion around [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 21:38
Hello Richard In reply to your question concerning RI 2702. The museum is studying the acquisition but no decision has been yet made.
Thu, 07-24-2014 21:29
Hello Chris The 2702 is under study by those interested at Irm. Unfortunately, the possible acquisition boils down to $. First ,who will support [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 13:01
Hello, is there anyone that I can contact in the Diesel Department about volunteering? I am studying mechanical engineering and I would love to get [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 00:01
I will commit something to 2702 if I see a specific fund for it. Supposedly the owners made an effort to keep it original, other than removing seats. [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 19:54
Hi Nigel, I have some suggestions to enhance the experience of steam railroading for museum visitors: 1) In September 2002, I visited on the [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 00:17
while watching the Diesel Days parade, i noticed a detail on UP 1848 that stood out to me. it was its cab number, i could tell it had a previous [...]
Mon, 07-21-2014 17:48
The hydraulic drawbar on X-5000 works. Its operation was determined Saturday evening and successfully used all day Sunday. The car measured up to a [...]
Sun, 07-20-2014 13:56
2702 would definitely be a project of a massive effort. It has some sort of giant roadside casino sign installed on it. The interior is completely [...]