A fairly short update this week. It was a long and hard day's work. But, while we made reasonable progress, not much of it was visible.
On 1630:
· Most of us focused on the issue, identified last weekend, of the flues that moved forward as the ends were rolled into the front tube sheet. All but one were moved sufficiently to provide the required projection at the rear to allow beading. The one that could not be moved was removed and will be reworked. Having reduced the issue to one flue, we should be able to keep the delay to a couple of weeks.
· The remaining flues were rolled additionally in the rear sheet to reduce any likelihood of movement when these are rolled at the front end.
· Sean made great progress on priming the cladding sheets. After his efforts, a satisfying number were standing in the shop to finally harden before being put back into storage ready for refitting.
· Tom was working on the lathe to produce the guides that will be used to drill and tap the holes for the two stays that are to be fitted into the firebox patch. These screw into the caps of the flexible stays, that are already part of the outer firebox wrapper. They guide the drill to make an accurate hole in the inner firebox sheet, into which the stay is then threaded.
· Having checked to confirm that everything is working correctly in the water supply boxcar, Ed was working on refurbishing the pipe work for the boiler backhead fittings.
· The specially made seals for the bucker have arrived at last, so, once they have been softened by soaking in oil, work can begin during the week to get this reassembled and ready for the riveting to begin.
In other areas:
· Dennis completed the boom for the fork lift. Here it is upside down to allow the main beam to be welded to the frame that fits over the forks. This will hopefully be used before long to lift parts such as the dome cover back on to the locomotive.
· Bob and Mike continued work on the planer.
· Glenn continued building the guards for the drive belts on the new air compressor.
· Jerry did a great job on clearing the front of the shop. For those visiting us, we can no longer be identified as the shop behind the stack of debris, drums and disused "A" frame !!.
Next week I will be in New York on vacation, so I am looking forward to finding a lot of progress when I get back in two weeks time !.
Nigel
Comments
Wed, 04-11-2018 11:28
You mention in the header that you would like to have the Electroliner operational by its birthday. Was it?
Sun, 04-08-2018 20:03
As a child, IRM was always my favorite place to visit. Well, other than grandma's house next to the Geneva Sub. It's been many years since I now [...]
Wed, 04-04-2018 16:01
Those temporary walls could be constructed in a way that allows their reuse after the phase is done to close off the new phases.
Tue, 03-27-2018 03:08
Why did the smoke box cover on the shay need to be replace Do?
Mon, 03-26-2018 16:29
It never ceases to amaze me of the diligence and passion of the current mix of volunteers associated with IRM in 2018. Back when I was a active [...]
Mon, 03-26-2018 11:10
Awesome paint job Jamie!!! I never would of thought with the Rock Island history this locomotive in this scheme would of been preserved. Thanks for [...]
Sun, 03-25-2018 23:56
The Hick's blog lists it as Fruit Grower's Express FGEX #55407. Arrived in Union June 2016.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:51
Good job on the diesel update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:45
Good job on the steam update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 00:12
Bill, The 1990 Roster has the PFE #68428; this may be the reefer that we saw moved. It is a rare car and deserves a paint job. Ted Miles, [...]
Fri, 03-16-2018 11:10
It would be rather difficult to operate an 11,000 Volt AC locomotive on our 600 Volt DC wire.
Thu, 03-15-2018 05:57
Good job steam update. Sincerely, Ethan A.