Wood Shop

While we were outdoors working on the plow, here are some 'drive-by' images I managed to take.

Light Sockets

Bill Wulfert was carefully polishing and cleaning porcelain light sockets and the various copper and brass innards.  These are to be used and re-installed for the 50th Avenue station lighting.

Door Hardware

Randy Hicks continues his work on the train door restoration for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  He is installing restored and cleaned shiny brass door hardware.  Alas - he says they will be painted to be period correct..

Next Seat

John McKelvey continues on upholstering the next seat cushion for the LAKE CITY.

Interior Ad Panel

A new work assignment for Bill Peterson - he is cleaning and wire brushing old paint and rust from another of the steel ad panels for the interior of Cleveland Transit System 4223.

Engineering

Rich Witt is back at the drafting table, preparing drawings for three new wood sash to be made in the shop.  These destined for some of our heavyweight Pullman Passenger cars.

Interior Panels

Lorne Tweed was working inside our Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.  He is working to place interior panels above the side windows and below the standee windows.  This is all part of the puzzle of what goes where.

Ceiling Panel

Simon Harrison worked on the 4223 project all day.  Here he is cleaning the back of one of the ceiling panels made last week.  Next, some light gray primer, which was quick drying but fairly stinky inside the shop.

Primed

This is a different ceiling panel, but almost done in the new primer.  Simon finished several of them today, along with more priming on the ad card steel panels (one more of which Jonathan Soucek wire wheeled into cleanliness) and the back side of the first ceiling lighting panel.

Lining Wood

Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard dug out some more lumber to be used in our Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow.  It is still a bit inclement for outdoor work, but we are prepping as much as we can for a blitz workday as weather allows.  Here they just finished measuring them and cutting to length on the radial arm saw.

Primer

After some sanding and cleanup, Jim primed both sides of the planks.  We now should have enough ready to install to complete the interior lining inside the back wall of the plow.

Upholstery

As the old song lyric goes, "JOHNNY'S - - - BACK IN TOWN!"   In this case John McKelvey is back to IRM for the summer season (wondering where it is?) and already hard at work in the shop.  His first job on the list is repairing and reupholstering seats for the extraordinary LAKE CITY.

Saw Frame

Here is the freshly welded saw frame for the next table saw to be ready for use in the shop.  Rod Turner did the welding with setup and help from Jim Foraker.

Clean Up

Jim Leonard was working to clean up the saw frame to be ready for priming.

Round Top Windows

Rich Witt is touching up any rough spots on the two new round top windows for passenger car Boston & Maine 1094.  Moldings are fit and I think we are done with the shop work for this project.

Berlin Sander

We used the Berlin Sander in the last few weeks and here Jim Foraker is doing some fine tuning adjustments on the north end of the upper deck feed rollers.  Without such expert mechanical skills as he has, this would not be nearly so productive next time.  Thanks Jim.

A Roof

John Faulhaber is making a small boxcar at the request of Ray Bellock - for children's use this coming summer.  This is the roof being cut to size on the table saw.

The Car

John is well along on assembling what the shop is calling a toy boxcar.  How big is it?  Well, once done something under four feet long.

There was of course other work I did not capture with the camera.  Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady continued the roof project on Michigan Electric 28; we saw Steve Iverson doing some more work, finishing touches really, on the Chicago & West Towns 141; and do not forget Pete Galayda and John Nelligan working in the shop on Charles City Western 300.

New Window In

I was not too optimistic about outdoor work at IRM, after leaving home in the morning with about a half inch of ice and snow needing to be scraped and thawed off the automobile.  By mid morning most of that had melted away, and in the afternoon Victor Humphreys took the challenge and he and I dared to open up the Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow.  As he said, we have been working in the shop all winter and both were beginning to suffer cabin fever.  Success.  The first of the new windows we made in the shop is complete and installed on the rear wall.  And the north side opening was opened up and the new window for that fitted into place, ready to install on the next fair weather day.

Roof Work

As Nigel mentioned in his report there were many members on hand but most shuttled back and forth to meetings (an annual ritual at IRM this time of year).  Here we see Ray Schmidt, Jeff Brady (hidden by Ray) and Bill Peterson working on the new roof for Michigan Electric 28.  If you look carefully you will see the new tongue and groove slats made in our shop going on the carline stringers.

A Big Door

This is the new door we are making for our station.  The extensions of the vertical stiles were trimmed off and then some more finish sanding by Victor.  At the left of this picture you will see John Faulhaber working on a new children's activity item at the request of Ray Bellock.

In Its Prime

In between other tasks Victor found time to add the first coat of primer to the door.  Not many steps left now - almost ready to deliver to our Buildings and Grounds Department.

Ceiling

Jim Leonard is making all the sawcuts for the last large ceiling panel for Cleveland Transit System 4223.

Wiring

Meanwhile out in the carbody for the 4223, Eric Lorenz continues the task of routing and running all new wiring.  Look at it all!  I wonder how he knows where it all goes?

The watchword for the day was - EYES ON THE SKY!  There were several waves of thunderstorms which resulted in four or five power outages in the shops.  Luckily none of the outages occurred when we were in the middle of a major operation on the machines - such as the Berlin Sander.  Lots of rain - SEVEN inches reported by some some towns in the last 24 hours and maybe 2-3 more today (Thursday).  Lots of puddles on the grounds and if one of them went up another 2 inches there would have been water coming in the shop.  At least one of our regular volunteers woke up at 3 AM to find 18 inches of water INSIDE his basement.  Lots of closures, flooding, and more rain in the area.

Berlin Sander

Dave Rogan, Paul Cronin, and Victor Humphreys are wrestling the heavy station door we recently made through the infeed end of the Berlin Sander.  This is a heavy complex machine but one which does a good job of finishing projects, achieving smooth and flat frames on doors and windows, results not easily possible by hand sanding.  The operation of this machine in recent months was almost always accompanied by some drama.

Outfeed

John Faulhaber joined the above crew at the outfeed end of the sander as we made pass after pass, checking after each one.  With the door done, we moved on to run the two new windows for Boston & Maine 1094 through the machine.

Ceiling Panel

We continue to have a pretty good sized weekday crew working on the Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.  Paul Cronin and Dave Rogan are set up to try a fearsome looking circle cutter in a half inch drill motor to cut a hole in one of the new panels.

The Hole Thing

We were somewhat surprised the first hole went without incident and two more holes were completed in this panel.  Then some hand sanding and cleanup - finally primer applied to this by the end of the day.  There are many of these narrow panels needed, with holes to accept the bulls eye light fixtures.

Large Ceiling Panel

The project team had determined that most of the original panels, saved for many years, could not be restored.  So the first order of business is shown here as Lorne Tweed, Dave Rogan, and Simon Harrison remove blanking panels installed by Toronto.  Then on to trace exactly the length and width, and the openings in a new piece of stock.  Cut that out and then on to the next one.  Three completed this day.

STEAM

Yes, you are seeing Nigel Bennett of the Steam Department in our shop prime painting the many panels and parts for the 4223 almost as fast as we could make them.  Thanks Nigel, you are always welcome to volunteer to help out here.

At the Table Saw

Jeff Brady was caught in the act at the table saw as he made new wood repair parts for the roof work on Michigan Electric 28.  Norm Krentel was also on site and we saw a steady stream of panel goods leaving the storage shelves and making their way onto the roof.

Windows

Rich Witt was checking our first piece of steam bent window beading after the new round top windows for Boston & Maine 1094 came from the Berlin Sander.

Leaded Glass

Ted Anderson stopped by the shop to check on the windows.  Here, he and Rich are checking dimension for planned leaded glass to be made for these.  You will see copies of original Pullman drawings for these windows, those found in our Pullman Library and printed by Ted.  The wood shop work is about done on these as we completed trimming off the stile extensions and cutting the bevel on the bottom rail.

Grids

With all the start-stops caused by the spotty power, Paul Cronin managed to dis-assemble the failed grid box for Chicago Aurora and Elgin 36.  He sorted through the parts and cleaned up several grids on the wire wheel, those not too far gone or broken.

Door Assembly

The early morning job was to assemble and glue up the new station door we are making.  I am sure you are enjoying the images of the many steps and the drama we encountered.  Wait - I was up to my elbows in that so did not have a chance to take pics.  The door is all together and John Faulhaber and Victor Humphreys are setting it into place in our glue press - manufactured by GREENLEE in nearby Rockford in 1926.

Squared and Set

Once down on the press (Victor had previously set the clamping dogs and opened it up wide enough) we proceeded to square it up and added a few more bar clamps to help hold this large assembly together.  Do not ask them how heavy it is - they will gladly and quickly inform you of the answer!

Finish Paint

Randy Hicks stopped by the shop to check on some of the work we are doing for him.  Of course he could not resist picking up a paintbrush and applying the first finish coat of red to the end door of Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.

Grids

Quick as a flash I found Randy and Paul Cronin working on a resistance box from CA&E 36.  Several grids are broken, one of the span rods is bent, and everything is coated with heavy rust.

Steam Bending

Jeff Brady had designed and set up some equipment to help him bend some of the wood for the new roof on Michigan Electric 28.  Here, he set it up for one of our projects and went on the train and explain how it is supposed to work.  Paul Cronin, John Faulhaber, and Rich Witt are ready to give it a try.

Load it Up

Rich Witt and Paul Cronin are loading one of the thin mahogany pieces of quarter round, made expressly for the new windows for Boston & Maine 1094.  After the required time under steam at low pressure, it was all hands to extract it (HOT! HOT!) and place it on our custom designed bending and clamping jig.

Wiring

Meanwhile Eric Lorenz continued to make good progress routing new wiring in Cleveland Transit System 4223.  The harnesses in the ceiling have reached the front end of the PCC.  Out in the shop we did a bit more work on the next set of metal interior ad panels, and have now started making new tempered hardboard panels for the reminder of the ceiling.

AERIAL VIEW

This is the west end of Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.  A new piece of ash was made by Tim Peters and is in place on the roof.  You can see how repairs are being made, and the extent of deterioration in some places.  Tim gave me a ride up in the air using his electric lift so I could look down on his work.

Metal Fab

Jeff Brady is fabricating a metal splice plate as he and the rest of the crew (Norm Krentel and Bill Peterson) continue the roof work on Michigan Electric 28.

The Stile

Paul Cronin started making this new walnut stile for one of the passenger cars compartment doors that Roger Kramer is restoring.  We did the start of this last Wednesday and today did a lot mortising, routing, chiseling and fitting.

It Fits

Paul and Victor seem quite pleased that the book matched original walnut door panel fits right into place.  Roger Kramer was on hand for the work and also brought in an armload of mahogany window parts.  He and Rich Witt measured them all up and have a plan to make three more new windows for our heavyweight fleet.

Winterized

Spring in the Air

A sure sign of spring - although you would not know it by the weather this week.  Dave Rogan and I went out to Chicago Great Western X 38 and removed the winter blank from the window in the rear wall.  There ensued many fussy trim cuts, each one punctuated by the windy walk from the wood shop, and back to Track 41.  Finally, the window slipped into place, just like it had been made to order.  Wait, it WAS made to order.

The window is back in the shop getting any fitting cuts primed and painted but as soon as the weather cooperates, you will see it finished and in place.

Trim

With the window set in place, Dave is making a new interior window sill, and will next cut quarter round retainer molding for three sides.  That got primed in the morning by Victor Humphreys, along with more station door priming, and one adjustment to the fit of the door lower mid stile.

Primed

Henry Vincent continues on the train door restoration for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  The code string for this image is "BUM" - I wonder what that says about our crew?

Grids

Pete Galayda and John Nelligan are like bulldogs, not letting go of a long and arduous journey to restore electrical control grids for Charles City Western 300, a steeple cab locomotive.  Here, Pete is disassembling box number 7, the last one in the series.

Jointing

Roger Kramer was in the shop, working beside our crew to restore a walnut paneled door for one of the heavyweight passenger cars.  It is a beauty with a four way book matched solid walnut panel in the center of the door.  In this view, Paul Cronin, Henry Vincent and John Faulhaber are jointing a new piece of walnut.

John also spent some time making a steam bending jig, along with Rich Witt trying to locate the odds and ends to do that task.

Door Panels

Rich Witt is working on the new solid panel inserts for a new station door.  We did a pretty good job machining them but go the extra mile to sand them out and get them ready for prime painting.

More Panels

Victor Humphreys is working on one of the long panels for the doors as in total some time had to be spent.  He is doing that in this image after glazing three more windows (new) for the Chicago Great Western X 38.

Jointing

Rich Witt is running some fresh mahogany stock through the jointer for the new round top windows for Boston & Maine 1094.

Routing

Then Rich and Paul Cronin passed the stock through the router and followed that up on the table saw to set the quarter round pieces 'free'.  We hope to try steam bending them on Wednesday and if successful, that will be the last of the parts needed for these two windows.

Puzzle Solved

A few more days of head scratching and it appears the puzzle is solved.  These are the ad card panels that will get cleaned and repainted to go inside Cleveland Transit System 4223.  As the arrangement grew one panel by one panel we were very optimistic until it seemed we were one short panel missing.  Where could it be, in storage, forgotten in some work area?  As luck would have it fate was on our side.  As we had given up and started to gather up the above display to return to shelving, we FOUND the missing panel sitting in an area separate from all the others.  Paul Cronin is in the background marking reference data so we will not have to solve this puzzle again.

Wiring

While the above drama was playing out on the shop floor, Eric Lorenz continued to make up harnesses and string cable through the ceiling ribs.  Later it would be very difficult to do this after more of the interior panels go in place.  Unintentional, but I really like the halo effect surrounding Eric's head here.

A Roof

We have all watched the work being done on Michigan Electric 28.  But it seems like all the preparation is paying off as Norm Krentel, Jeff Brady, and Bill Peterson were installing panels at seemingly warp speed.  There was little to show and presto they were almost to the end of the car!

In Stile

Meanwhile back in the shop, Tim Peters continues on the Chicago Rapid Transit 1024 project.  Here is a repair in style, of a stile, for one of the doors.  Lots of tricky angles and fitting.

Where it Goes

And here Tim is checking for the exact fit that a perfectionist like him insists upon.  I guess it gets easier after you have done this twenty times or so.