Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Entries from February 2019

Tuesday, February 19. 2019

Steam Department Mid-Winter Update Posted by Chris C in Steam Department at 13:30

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Steam Department Mid-Winter Update

Steam Department Mid-Winter Update

Despite the Polar Vortex, work in the steam shop has continued unabated.

Our shop crews have been hard at work on 1630’s annual inspection.

Conn testing telltale holes in the firebox.

Volunteers inspecting the valves on the cross-compound air compressor.

Phil inspecting and cleaning the sight-glass and water column passages.

Conn again, using an ultrasonic tester to chart the main reservoir’s thickness.

And Carina, painting it black again afterwards.

These volunteers worked their way down the frame of the locomotive, cleaning old grease off the rigging.

Work on our auxiliary tender, which we are hoping to place in service this spring, has also continued.

Several patches on the front of the tender were laminating. Don cut out the bad metal and welded in new patches.

Holes were drilled to mount new steps.

And a new platform was installed to provide access to the brake wheel.

Don needle-scaled around the rivet heads.

While Carina and the Blakes gave the front of the tender a final round of sanding.

Surface preparation on the tender is almost complete, and we are hoping to be able to begin painting in the coming weeks.

Our machinists and welders, meanwhile, have stayed busy working on projects to support Union Pacific 428’s eventual return to steam.

I spent the last month machining new T-bolts for our wheel lathe on the 1940s vintage Boye and Emmes lathe.

While Ben has continued to bore holes in the brake rigging on the Kearney and Trecker milling machine.

Meanwhile, worn components were built up with weld so that they can be remachined.

Although I do not have any pictures to prove it, work has also continued on the Shay. Following the successful steam test this fall, we are continuing to make minor improvements and we look forward to public operations this summer (dates will be announced on the IRM website once finalized).

As a reminder, you can also follow the steam shop on facebook at facebook.com/irmsteam.

Friday, February 8. 2019

Winter update on the Mt Harvard ... Posted by Roger Kramer in Mt Harvard at 13:40

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Winter update on the Mt Harvard 2018-2019

Winter didn't start out too bad but the last four weeks sure has made up for the earlier malaise. In spite of the cold, snowy, icy, did I say cold, Sandi and I with help from Eddie and Bob are still on our restoration schedule. You must ask yourself how have we been working in barn 11 during this cold and miserable winter. We have five oil space heaters which keep the sleeper relatively warm at 50 degrees. Let me tell you that 50 degrees sure feels great when you come in from a 10 degree outside temperature. Here's our latest accomplishments!

Here Sandi is painting the wall trim next to the entrance door.

Another wall by the entrance door.

The entry door and walls now are all painted.

Bob has been working on the womens bathroom. He is removing all the old paint.

This shows the emergency tool box. The correct sledge hammer, saw, and pry bar, were found and added. They were not in the Mt. Harvard when I acquired it.

Here is a Before picture of the hallway. Below is the After photo. Quite a difference!

Again another picture of the hallway now showing the two side windows.

The two windows shown here were removed in August prior to the start of the hallway project. The exterior and interior sides of each along with all four metal frames were cleaned, repainted and reinstalled. You must remember that we started this hallway project way back in October, 2018! It really didn't take us too long to complete this repaint.

Another picture of the entrance door leading to the newly painted hallway.

Don't forget to stop by the Mt. Harvard when you next visit the museum. We are still hoping to have the sleeper in showcase weekend this coming year. That's our goal! And.... Donations to the Mt. Harvard project are greatly appreciated. Thanks Roger

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Comments

Chris C about Steam Department June Update
Sun, 06-30-2019 12:45
Eighty feet if I remember right.

Ted Miles about Steam Department June Update
Sun, 06-23-2019 11:40
How long is the pit going to be? Ted Miles, IRM Member

Ethan Armitage about Steam Department June Update
Sat, 06-22-2019 19:30
Good Job on the 2019 update. Sincerely, Ethan A.

Raphael Chapman about More Milwaukee 649
Tue, 04-23-2019 01:12
One Step closer to recreating "The Varsity" Circa 1950's.

Mike G. about Steam Department April Update
Mon, 04-22-2019 09:22
Does the Shay also require a similar inspection before it can be put into service in 2019, or is this inspection on a 12-month basis rather than a [...]

Ethan Armitage about Steam Department April Update
Sat, 04-20-2019 19:46
Good Job on the 1630 steam update 2019. Sincerely, Ethan A.

Ethan Armitage about Mt Harvard Lounge and Mens Bathroom
Sat, 03-23-2019 16:23
Good Job on the MT-Harvard Coach update March 2019.

Ethan Armitage about Welding on Rock Island 2524
Mon, 03-18-2019 16:33
Good Job on the 2019 Coach update.

Roger Kramer about New Acquisation: What is CN 15444?
Sun, 03-17-2019 16:42
Hello John There is not much news about the 15444. Nobody really wants to travel down to Georgia and ready the car for transport. That's [...]

John Carpenter about New Acquisation: What is CN 15444?
Sat, 03-16-2019 17:29
CAN you tell me of cn 15444 steam car at muesum. Tank you looking forward to coming out this year

Ethan Armitage about Santa Fe 92, The History and The Plan
Thu, 03-14-2019 19:30
Good Job on the Santa Fe 92.

Ethan Armitage about Mid-winter update (Part II)
Wed, 03-13-2019 17:17
Good Job on the 2019 Part 2 steam update.