What a year!.
Another Saturday somewhat disrupted by the Winter weather. There was a reasonable turn out at the shop
but a lot of people left at lunchtime as the rate of snowfall increased. For those of us that stuck it out, the snow
did cease by evening and the slither down US20 to the expressway was what we
are becoming used to.
It was definitely a day for work
inside the shop and the absence of some key people and parts meant that testing
of the paint sprayer could not proceed.
However work progressed in a number of other areas.
On 1630:
Brian
did a great job in cleaning out the rust scale from the tender tank. The treatment applied a few years ago has not
proved successful and a layer of rusty metal has largely scaled off the bottom
of the tank. During the test steaming we
had some issues with blockage of the water flow to the injectors. From Brian’s handiwork it is clear why this
happened. As the rust and muck lifts it
tends to be drawn forward to gather in the area from which the water is being drawn
by the injectors. After several hours of
work in the tank he had extracted a couple of gallons of rusty debris. This was a foul job. We can use the ducted fan to circulate air
but you still have to work in clouds of rusty dust;
The
reverser reservoir is now back in place so that the valves can be moved using
air pressure;
Jim
continued the job of masking the lettering and this is now largely complete. After all this effort we are wondering if we
should stay with blue lettering !;
Matt
primed the area of the engineer’s side walkway that was cleaned off last week;
On the Shay:
Phil
is progressing well with the bolster for the truck. With the lugs for the springs now completed,
it has been primed and now painted on one side at least. Now we just have to turn it over and do the
other side, once it is dry.
We
made good progress on the bolts that fit thru the frame and truck pivot
casting. We had been working on the misapprehension
that these simply secured the pivot into the frame. Jeff reminded us that some of them also
secure the large fabricated draw bar that runs down to the wooden front beam
and on which the coupler is mounted.
Having made that connection, we found that new bolts were acquired a few
years back and stored with the drawbar.
Each hole needs to be cleaned and reamed slightly to allow the bolts to
be fitted. However, with the parts in
hand I was able to fit the first of them by end of day. Looking at the front of the frame member, the
bolts in the 4 outer holes secure the drawbar while the 2 in the middle (which
are currently occupied by locating pegs) only secure the pivot casting to the
beam. The drawbar fabrication has a
recess that fits around the nuts of the two center bolts. The first of the new bolts is in place in the
lower left hole and the holes for the remaining five can now be reamed to allow
the bolts to be fitted.
In the shop in general, some
significant reorganization was achieved:
With
the swager gone, we were able to relocate the air pump for #428 so that it can
now be worked on while allowing free access thru the door. (It does not look like free access in the picture
but the forklift is actually standing in the exit with a pallet of parts ready
to drive out to the boxcar ……. Once there is not 6 inches of snow and ice in the
way !!);
Phil
did a great job sorting and cleaning the steel stock storage area.
So overall a successful day despite the weather.
Nigel
Comments
Sun, 01-25-2015 20:52
multiple questions concerning this department: 1. Operating stance on RDC9933? 2. will SP 1518 (Eventually) be repainted into its black widow [...]
Sat, 01-24-2015 17:23
Since you have plenty of 645 part laying around, why hasn't anybody worked on the ATSF FP45? Also, when will you cosmetically restore SP 1518? I think [...]
Fri, 01-23-2015 11:05
I Represent An Internet service civilwar.com, Iam Trying To Reach Bill Werst Coordinator Of The Lincoln Funeral Car Project, But he Doesn't Answer [...]
Mon, 01-19-2015 20:52
Thanks Jamie; It's so good to hear some news from the diesel dept. I check here a couple times a week looking for updates. Any news on any of the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:37
I too would like to see the Electroliner fully restored - and in fact - I'd like to see every car/steam loco, diesel, etc on the back lot operable - [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 19:13
When you donate funds, you may specify what they are used for. In this case the funds were donated specifically for this acquisition. If you think the [...]
Sun, 01-18-2015 11:14
Buying another relic when the money should be spent on what you have; like electroliner
Sat, 01-17-2015 21:36
how is that gonna work?
Mon, 01-12-2015 16:48
Hello Ted. I am embarrassed to tell you but the "bag" is still not here. We have about 2/3 of the $15K needed to move it. Now w/a new curator things [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:12
Folks, speaking of new cars. What happened to that C,B & Q heavyweight baggage car that was waiting in Denver? Did it ever get to [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:08
Hello Brian L You are correct in all points. We need steam to test the cars. The 1630 will be able to provide that function. Testing may even [...]
Sun, 01-11-2015 19:01
Hello Vince Thanks so much for the info. Its a beautiful scene, one that play every day on the Rock Island. Thanks Roger.