Illinois Railway Museum Blog

This is going to turn out to be a very long report - a lot of work was done on many aspects of the project.  But for a teaser here is an off topic pic grabbed early in the morning,

Engineering Department

John Nelligan and Pete Galayda were poring over old drawings as they planned the day's work on Charles City Western 300.  This view simply does not belong here, but not another heading to add for just one pic.

Shop Work

Rich Witt was applying primer to parts in the shop, earlier two stop blocks, and here two new timbers for the corners inside the plow.

More Paint

Later, Rich switched to some gray primer for three of the new boards destined for the interior lining of the plow.

Back Wall

Last week most of the back wall needlechipping removed the heavy layers of paint.  Now, Dick Cubbage bent to the task of using the wire wheel to get it ready for paint.  Yes, there are a lot of steps to the finished product but all on the team are committed to taking no shortcuts.

Primed

By the end of the day primer had been applied - doesn't that look better?

South Door

Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard made short work of adding the three stop jambs to the south door framing.  That area is complete for now, ready for the temporary door before winter.

Interior Framing

Dave Rogan is fitting a new timber to the interior of the south wall.  This is the last major member we need to replace.

The Old Saw

And once the timber was marked, Dave was on the bandsaw making notches and later he used the drill press to bore holes and reliefs for rivet heads.  Then it was off to be primed and was was drying at the end of the day.  As an aside, by this time, Dave had already installed the plow's original pressure gauge having acquired a new pipe nipple to make it work.

North Window

Jim Leonard is walking past the north window.  Earlier he and Dave had completed all the trim work, and cut down some plywood to serve as a blank for the opening.  No, we did not repaint plow wing.  What you are seeing is the reflection of the orange body on the bucket truck.

In the Bucket

By far the largest task of the day was work to clean and prime the north half of the plow nose and wedge.  Eric Zabelny joined us for the day and promptly climbed into the bucket truck basket to needle chip the underside of the front roof, and then went on to the pointy wedge.  Here he climbed out of the bucket and is at work on the pointy nose.  Thanks especially for his all day hard work, and to the B&G department for loan of the equipment.

Painting

The sun is getting lower in the west and everyone pitched in to prime. Here Jim Leonard, Eric Zabelny, and Lorne Tweed are wiping down the surfaces and busy as beavers applying paint.

Primer Done

Almost half of the nose is now done and in primer.  This makes a big impact and involved a lot of areas just not accessible by ladder or otherwise.

Headlight

We received delivery of a new headlight for the plow.  This made possible by the work and generosity of a member who found it, bought it, and donated it!

Coming Attractions

By way of coming attractions, we hope to get more lettering applied to the plow, pending a warmup before winter, and hopefully a day without 25 mph winds.  Here is a transfer pattern held up high on the north side.

Homework

Not all the accomplishments happen out at Union.  Here are two more patterns drawn on the computer at home, printed out, and then cut by hand to reproduce the look of the stencils used when the plow was in service.

So yes, a very long report.  I held the captions short intentionally to give you all a chance at the many pics.  Hope you got this far and enjoyed it as much as the volunteers working on the team.