Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Another chapter in getting better photos for you:  These are from the new camera, and getting them this far was not without DRAMA.  But things are getting better.  Next step is to get better resolution.

So - I was trying to take lots of photos in different situations, and the crew obliged with many projects going on.  This report will be heavy on photos, thin on commentary.

Brake Cylinder

We get questions all the time about the status of Chicago & West Towns 141.  A lot of progress lately.  The brake cylinder under the car floor was removed and new supports fabricated.  Here Gerry Dettloff is adding mounting bolts while the weight of the cylinder is resting on a dolly.

I Can Reach That

You almost have to be a contortionist to get where you need to be.  Gerry is on the other side tightening the nuts.  His rosy complexion is mostly due to the effort of working under the car while it was about 10 F inside the barn.

Brake Rods

In the shop new brake rod assemblies were fabricated, now complete with bushings and pins for installation under the car.

Clevis Ends

Special order clevises had to be sourced and then the rods made to the correct length.  I already mentioned putting hardened bushings (two) in each clevis and one of a kind hardened pins made (four).

Door Work

John Faulhaber is making stop cuts to define tenons for new door parts destined for Chicago Great Western X 38.

Window Work

Meanwhile, Dave Rogan cut and fit quarter round molding for eight new windows for the X 38.

Windows

Buzz Morisette pitched in and began prime painting some of those windows.  The race is on.  Will we finish the windows before spring when the hoped for better weather will allow us to install them in the control cupola?

A Molding Job

Buzz continues to be the driving force in restoring and rebuilding the ceiling in our private car ELY.  Here he is cleaning old finishes from some delicate molding.

Repair

Buzz and Tim Peters confer on how to make a repair on one of the damaged pieces of ELY trim molding.

ELY New Ceiling

Buzz and Victor Humphreys are wrestling large panels through the table saw to cut them to size for installation.

Jointing

Tim Peters and Frank Kehoe have set out some long heavy pieces of new hardwood lumber, moving to the next steps on Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.  The first thing to be done is to push them though our 100 year old jointer and this machine will make a smooth straight edge on a rough cut side, which may come to us somewhat curvy.  Then the stock is ripped to width on the table saw.

Planing

Some of the above lumber has been cut to width and now Tim and Frank are running it through the planer.  These are LOONG pieces of lumber and must be threaded through the obstacles in the shop.  What are they for?  These will become new tack molding for the roof area of the car.

Another Window

Jon Fenlaciki has removed a damaged rear window from our first car, Indiana Railroad 65.  New pieces will be made in the shop and then it will fall to Jon to assemble and refinish the sash.

Roof Work

Jeff Brady was taking careful aim with a tricky setup on the table saw.  And making test cuts on new wood for the roof of Michigan Electric 28.

So, yes, there was a lot going on and I did not capture some of the project work.  There was MORE!