Entries by Pauline Trabert

Cold with hail changing to warm! All images for this post were provided by Shelly Vanderschaegen.

The day started with Kevin Kriebs, Shelly Vanderschaegen, and Buzz Morisette in the Ely. Last week Buzz took off the painters tape and suggested that Shelly and Kevin apply duct tape to the underside of the rounded part of the ceiling while Buzz was painting the other end of the dining room.

Michael Baksic and Ray Mormann started out checking electrical outlets and cords in Barn 3.

After the storm passed, Kevin started working on the outside of the 1st Exhibit Car taking the adhesive off and Shelly finished sweeping out the RDC.

Susan and David Stepek came for lunch in the Birmingham. David crushed cans and had a great visit. Buzz was also there and Jon Habegger was in the Birmingham for lunch and later worked in the 1st Exhibit Car with pictures he had reframed.

After lunch Kevin went back to work removing adhesive and Michael B. and Ray checked out what they needed to do to hook up the lights in the Ely dining room.

While normally closed, Museum visitors in the area were invited into the 1st Exhibit Car for a brief tour and were asked to give their unbiased opinions about the displays.

Rules testing was going on at IRM and a lot of people were involved with that including Mike McCraren and Jim Windmeier. Mark Gellman was with his mother and Mark Hoffman was also missed.

A beautiful warm opening day! Michael Baksic and Shelly Vanderschaegen plugged in car lights in Barn 3 for anticipated visitors.

Kevin Kriebs and Shelly then started changing light bulbs in cars as needed while Mark Gellman, Michael McCraren, Ray Mormann, and Michael Baksic ran air brake tests on an RPO and a Rock Island coach.

Lunch was in the Birmingham as usual. Bob Hunter came to visit again and talked about linoleum and the later carpeting needed for the Dover Strait. Jim Windmeier and Buzz Morisette also came to visit for lunch. Michael McCraren was in charge of taking pictures.

Michael Baksic and Ray worked on electrical issues in the Birmingham after lunch while Kevin and Shelly were with Buzz in the caboose in front of the Exhibit Cars removing Pullman mattresses. The mattresses were then put into storage. After that, the three went to the Ely where Shelly took pictures, Buzz was paintiing and talking about the ceiling. Kevin was standing by while Buzz explained options about what to do with the lower part of the Ely ceiling.

Later Kevin and Shelly finished cleaning the Streamliner cars.

On Friday, March 28th, Shelly Vanderschaegen worked with Wayne Baksic at his home to apply hardware to a seat back for a Rock Island coach which Shelly has reupholstered in her home workshop.

On Sunday, March 30th, Shelly and Kevin Kriebs began the day by cleaning the Pacific Peak and got half way through the car by the end of the day.

Ray Mormann and Coach Department Curator Michael Baksic were tracing elelctrical wiring in the Birmingham kitchen to understand which switches work with which lights and outlets.

Mark Gellman and Michael McCraren worked on the overhead panel in the vestibule of the RDC and then they put tools away from the Pacific Peak so that Shelly and Kevin could clean in there. Michael M. left after lunch.

Bob Hunter stopped by to chat with Michael Baksic and joined the crew for lunch in the Birmingham diner and discussed carpeting for the Dover Strait.

Jon Habegger brougnt in pictures that will go in the Birmingham and worked out where to put them. Jim Windmeier provided assistance to Jon in the Exhibit Car. The Chicago depot article from NRHS was rehung. Jim and Jon talked at length about potential displays that can be created during 2014 and installed before the 2015 season.

Mark Hoffman spent Sunday priming the ceiling in the John McLoughlin where he had previously done needle chipping.

In the Ely, Buzz Morisette has put all three ceiling panels up and applied joint compound. Once sanded and smoothed, then primier will be applied and then everything will be painted. Shelly Vanderschaegen captured an image of nearly the entire ceiling while laying on the floor.

Curator Michael Baksic started the day by calking the newly installed threshold in the Birmingham. Shelly Vandershaegen cleaned the dining area in the Birmingham.

Kevin Kriebs applied a second coat of gray paint to the floor of the vestibule between the two Exhibit Cars.

Mark Gellman and Michael McCraren took down a ceiling panel in the RDC for safety reasons. Then they put up a temporary piece of plywood to cover the hole.

Michael McCraren applied primer to a wall and a room divider in Bedroom F in the Pacific Peak which he had been working on over the winter.

Kevin Brown stopped by to visit and Sam Polonetzky came to visit and joined the crew later for lunch. Jeff Calandine also stopped by for lunch and a visit.

Jon Habegger was rearranging pictures in the Birmingham.

After the crew had lunch in the Birmingham, Kevin finished wiping down the kitchen. Then Kevin, Jon, and Shelly vacuumed and cleaned most of the Loch Sloy. Meanwhile Mike Baksic and Mark Gellman were putting missing parts back in the Loch Sloy. Mark Hoiffman came to visit while the crew was cleaning. He was working again in the Pullman Car John McLoughlin.

A big thank you to Buzz Morisette and his crew in Barn 4 for all the hard work in getting the Ely dining room ceiling done. We hope to have pictures next time.

In the Ely, Buzz Morisette has two of the three panels up on the dining room ceiling. He was still doing a bit of work on the center area to make sure the middle panel will lie flat.

In the Exhibit Cars, Kevin Kriebs painted the floor of the walk way between the two cars a gray which really cleans up the look of the walkway. He also gave the wall by the Arrival/Departure board a new coat of chocolate brown which covers the formerly white conduit.

At the end of the day, Mark Gellman and Jon Habegger were outside talking. Jon decided to chip away the ice and then it became a bit of a game to see if they could get some of the larger pieces out. Mark is shown spreading out the snow/ice to get it to melt faster.

Michael McCraren took a picture of the wall he has been working on for some time. It is now down to the stainless steel and ready for priming. He says that next weekend will be the last weekend of winter work. He'll be taping up the trim and then spraying primer on the wall and the Bedroom F side of the divider door. Then he will clean up the rooms made messy by winter work for public display when the Museum opens. Next fall the process starts again.

Saturday night, March 8th, Shelly Vanderschaegen captured a night shot of the RDC in fog. Car lights are shining on the RDC and the lights were turned on inside the car for the shot.

Sunday, March 9th, Michael Baksic began by installing a handle on a stainless steel cabinet door located in the vestibule between the 1st and 2nd Exhibit cars. The door did not have a handle previously and it wasn't known at first that the door was stainless steel. Drilling and setting screws was problematic.

Sam Polonetzky visited the Passenger Car Department on Sunday and joined the group for lunch in the Birmingham.

After lunch Ray Mormann and Michael Baksic installed a threshold in the Birmingham near the kitchen area where work had previously been done to fix the floor.

Buzz Morisette was back at work in the Ely for the day to check on the light fixture placement. He drilled pilot holes through the roof and then went up top to check his position. One end was lined up perfectly but the other end was off by seven inches.

Speaking of holes, Shelly captured a top side image of a gaping hole in the roof of the Ely near the kitchen area. It goes all the way through.

The barrier built by Jon and Mark was stained by Shelly and was ready for reassembly on Sunday. In the image below, a reflection of Jon is seen in the plexiglass while Sam looks on as Mark taps the frame together. It was a tighter fit after the staining so the grooves to hold the plexiglass were enlarged a bit to accommodate the panes more easily.

While assembly of the barrier was going on, Kevin Kriebs scuffed the white conduit with Scotch-Brite to prepare it for painting next weekend.

Michael McCraren was working on Saturday and Sunday in the Pacific Peak continuing the long process of taking down the layers of paint that have been applied to the interior of the car over the years.

Mark Hoffman was in attendance on Sunday working on the Pullman Car John McGloughlin.

Thanks to everyone for their time and efforts!

The first thing Curator Michael Baksic did was to modify and install a light fixture in the 2nd Exhibit Car. Then while Michael and Kevin Kriebs talked about the painting work, Shelly Vanderschaegen got things ready for Kevin to paint the first coat of tan in the vestibule.

Kevin first painted the vestibule closet door and then started on the walls and ceiling in the vestibule.

Jim Windmeier stopped by to speak with Michael about working with Jon Habegger in the Exhibit Cars. Jon and Shelly then visited with Jim in Barn 4 to discuss displays in the exhibit cars.

Then Shelly worked on a shadowbox display for the Birmingham while Michael did paperwork. Later Mark Gellman and Michael put a lock on a door in the 2nd Exhibit Car.

Lunch in the Birmingham included Nick Kallas and his friend Marcus Reuf, Mark Gellman, Jon Habegger, Michael McCraren, Kevin Kriebs, Shelly Vanderschaegen and Michael Baksic. Michael McCraren brought homemade rosemary garlic flatbread and biscuits to share at lunch.

Conversation at lunch included the Rock Island commuter cars currently located in Texas which will be coming to IRM for spare parts and use on the Terror Train. Nick and Marcus finshed wheel chocks that will be used in Galveston, TX on the Rock cars there.

Jon and Shelly had assistance from Tim Peters to cut the plexiglass for the barrier around the Union Station sign in the 1st Exhibit Car. Then Jon and Mark finished putting the barrier together. All that remains is to sand the wood and stain it, then final assembly.

Michael McCraren continued his work in the Pacific Peak. Kevin had applied the first coat of tan paint in the vestibule between the exhibit cars by the afternoon having switched from brush work to a roller.

Jon Habegger captured an image of the exterior of the Exhibit Cars on this cold day.