Nick, Joe, Charlie and I went to Cleveland to prepare the 36 & 319 for
Silk Road which will load the cars on Monday. The trucks come mid week and
the cars will not be shipped until next week due to permits and Christmas.This trip was short notice and that's an understatement, Nick called me at
one thirty in the afternoon Friday the 18th and said that the cars will be loaded on
Monday the 21st, then I called Charlie and Joe, within a few hours of finding out we were
on the way to Cleveland. We arrived in Cleveland around two am Saturday morning,
got a few hours sleep at the Red Roof in and unwillingly woke up at seven thirty
am Saturday. Grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to Brookpark to meet with Tim
and Ken which already had the 303 pumped up and ready to do some switching.
Thankfully Tim is a fan of IRM and allowed us to work in the shop which was
heated, well lit and had a full length pit. The plan was made and we quickly got
to work knowing that we only had till two pm to get this done and if not
finished we were going to work outside in the snow. Charlie and Nick went to the
roof and removed bases and poles along with Tim. Joe and I went deep and removed
brake rigging and motor leads along with labeling everything. Once this was done
Nick, Charlie, Tim and Joe removed pilots and steps from one end of each car. We
also took down the globes and secured anything that may break while in transit.
We got done around three pm and cleaned up, put tools away and washed up, then
went to lunch with Tim. After lunch we hit the road and headed west toward
Chicago and when I got home I passed out and woke up Sunday afternoon.
This is one of two trips to Cleveland for preparing the cars to ship
and the next time will involve much more work. Three cars which are all complete
and one even has a pan to remove. This again will be extremely short notice and
I hope to get one or two more guys to come and help. Tim will attempt to move
the 451/460 to Central Rail this week to install the rebuilt DH25 onto the 451.
Once that happens he will bring both cars to the terminal and get the remaining
steel cars. The 451/460 and 409 as a half motor will pull the two dead cars all
the way to Brookpark and round two begins.
Here are some photos taken this weekend. IRM is soliciting donations to cover the costs of transportation of these cars from Cleveland, Ohio to Union, Illinois, please consider a donation today.
Stan Wdowikowski
Comments
Thu, 05-16-2013 21:52
Looking good Bob! I hope to come out soon once I'm done with school.
Wed, 05-15-2013 21:28
I was not around at the time. General discussion suggests that it was "pretty marginal" in a number of areas. Nigel
Mon, 05-13-2013 11:08
"THUMBS UP!"
Fri, 05-10-2013 02:15
No, it will not be necessary to hold any of the work waiting for the plow to be turned, end for end. Weather will be the major factor, but there will [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 19:54
The CGW X-38 plow is really coming to life. Bob Kutella and Vic and crew need to be very proud of your collective efforts. I am very appreciative of [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 15:20
The snowplow looks great! Are you going to apply the door and upper windows befor it is turned to continue work?
Thu, 05-09-2013 09:09
Max, Is there any progress to report yet, in regards to the installation of the poles and overhead wires? Have a good day, sir.
Wed, 05-08-2013 18:40
Thanks for the update! I still don't understand why Commonwealth #5 was removed from service. Do you know why?
Tue, 05-07-2013 09:28
Mr. Kolanowski.....I was just wondering if the Spaulding webcam will be up and running soon for us stay-at-homes. Thanks!2FP
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:04
Max, Has work begun yet on the construction phase of erecting the poles and putting up the wire? Wish I could be there to watch it happen.
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:02
Keep up the good work, Bob. Wish I could be there to help!!!!!!!
Sun, 05-05-2013 18:53
Ah yes, I have made such Jibs myself. If it were me, I would add in each corner an angled piece from the base to the Jib to act as sway bracing. [...]