We celebrated May Day working outdoors on the Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow. At 82 F it was the warmest day we have seen in SEVEN months!
Victor Humphreys sands and cleans up new interior lining wood while Dave Rogan primes them as soon as they are ready. Dave also primed the two new interior framing timbers made last weekend. Several of these short pieces were installed inside the plow next to the south doorway, even as the paint continued to dry.
Jim Leonard is a champion - he volunteered at once to continue body cleanup and repairs outdoors on the plow body. The first area to be attacked was the cupola, as completion here will allow for installation of new windows made in the shop over the winter. In this pic he is wrestling with a pneumatic air scaler to remove old paint and rust from the roof.
With the weather holding favorable into the afternoon, Jim wire brushed an area clean and began applying fresh primer to the roof.
I could ill afford to let such nice weather be wasted. So we began the complicated task of hand painting the famous CORN BELT ROUTE herald on the north side of the plow. Paul Cronin assists in lining up the pattern and tracing the artwork.
John Faulhaber helped me out while planning which part could be done in the time remaining and masking areas that lent themselves to the task. Just like the old game show - BEAT THE CLOCK.
The first word we painted was of course CHICAGO. If you are not familiar with this iconic herald stay tuned. Weather permitting more will appear each week.
Below the CHICAGO there are four horizontal stripes, which could largely be masked off for painting.
The stripes were completed as the sun sank ever lower. I suppose this looks disconnected and puzzling. I guess it is - I know where we are going, yet it is hard to visualize.
I stayed on task while the other members of the crew worked on installation of more interior lining and applying steel capping to the doorway weatherstrips.
There was a lot of work done today, but I was outdoors working on another project. But here are a few images I caught walking through the shop early.
John Faulhaber is putting the finishing touches on the boxcar he is building for the Ray Bellock children's program this summer.
The repaired and restored door for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36 received its first coat of blue, earlier in the week. It really looks good.
Henry Vincent is applying the shade of green used by the TM in their Cold Spring Shops as the table saw restoration continues.
Eric Lorenz and Lorne Tweed are making good progress working on the interior of the Cleveland Transit System 4223. As mentioned before, it is a puzzle of sorts and many of these pieces and parts must be sorted out and installed to allow installation of the side windows. Simon Harrison helped throughout the day.
Other work included the Michigan Electric 28 crew of Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel working on a new roof, and completion of a new door for our 1851 depot building.
Comments
Sun, 02-21-2021 21:12
Hi Ethan The 428 has been worked on recently but the focus now is on the maintenance and repair on the 1630 and the Shay. This Spring we will [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 15:10
How is the UP 428 Steam locomotive engine is most done being fixed. OK Roger.
Sun, 02-21-2021 13:18
Hello Max The answer is Yes, the Dover will be used along with our other Pullman cars only in special event operations. When not in use [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 12:30
Hello Jim We will be operating the Dover this year depending upon its mechanical condition. I hope to use the car in display venue as well as in [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 12:24
Hello Kirk Hello, Yes the Dover is now in great shape. There are a couple of little projects to accomplish when the weather changes. I am [...]
Sat, 02-20-2021 18:55
Will the DOVER STRAIT be operational for Museum trips
Sat, 02-20-2021 17:06
I’m really impressed with the wonderful job your volunteers are doing to restore this historic passenger car. Once the restoration is complete, does [...]
Sat, 02-20-2021 14:02
It is great to see the work that Bob Hunter and Gene Macowiak started in the 1990’s. Great work done in finishing the two bedrooms and the buffet [...]
Fri, 02-19-2021 18:41
Very good article. I definitely love this website. Continue the good work!
Tue, 02-02-2021 10:15
I know it is wintertime, and the Virus is making getting people in to do work is difficult, so in a few months, when it's warmer, would someone please [...]
Sun, 01-31-2021 14:37
Hello Jack Thank you very much We in the coach dept are working very hard to have these trains restored Thanks Roger
Sat, 01-30-2021 18:45
pre oiler is a great idea saves lots of wear and tear on engines. a pat on the back for the diesel crew