Entries by Robert Kutella

Welcome to the blog for the Freight Car Department at the Illinois Railway Museum. Here you will see updates on projects, maintenance and repair schedules and news on pending or proposed acquisitions. Also, our department seems to be the defacto manager of the IRM Woodshop. Stay tuned for notes on projects that include making piles of sawdust.

Our department also does a lot of the artwork and lettering for our restored cars, and in addition to freight cars, has included electric cars, internal combustion, steam locomotives, and steam passenger cars. You may see some of this work posted in the blog.

The images on these blogs are 'thumbnails' only, but if you click on them with the left mouse button, you will see the full image. If there is a project you are interested in, please contact me and we will try to get pics/updates of work our dept may be doing in that area.

To take advantage of the info elsewhere on the IRM website you will also see links to other areas of interest.

Bob Kutella
Collection Curator

The first order of business today is to extend a welcome to new volunteer Steve Muchow (on the right).  Dave Diaz and Steve fabricated the last four new ceiling lighting panels for Cleveland Transit System 4223.

Dave also applied the first coat of finish paint to eight previously fabricated and primed ceiling panels for the 4223.  This is a BIG step forward and they look really good, and took up a lot of the space on the west end of the shop.  The large center panels are behind Dave, several of the smaller lighting panels can be seen on the left.

While the other fellows labored inside the shops (it rained heavily in the morning hours), Lorne Tweed and Ray Pollice are drilling many holes and installing the screws.  With a lot of planning and prep work, well over 100 of the interior panels and trim pieces were aligned and fit into place, and are now being permanently fastened.

Tim Peters is at the table saw and most of us watch his progress eagerly on the Chicago Rapid Transit 1024 project.  What can he be making now, what is he thinking, does he have a plan?

The answers to the above questions posed by all the inquiring minds are shown here.  Above, Tim fabricated a new sub sill from some old growth nearly century old southern yellow pine.  Here, you can see the deteriorated pieces removed and now the new timber framing being fitted.

In recent weeks we have been following along the steps needed to repair the platform knees on the west end of the car.  The final results are in.  Both sides have new steel, new wood, and are ready for final touchup and painting.

John McKelvey is at it again with a new lounge section armchair for the Passenger Car Department.  You recently saw the stunning finished work on a similar chair, here is the starting point showing how poor the condition is, and the fact that nearly every facet of the piece will receive attention.

Norm Krentel is fastening down one of the last roof board slats on the north side of the Michigan Electric 28.  I would hazard a guess that over 90% of the roof now has the new surfaces installed.  Not that any of that was simple but what is remaining is the very tricky bonnet and end roof at the front of the car.

The Passenger Car Department has requested that we make several new windows for one of their cars.  The sample is leaning against the drafting desk while Rich Witt makes the necessary measurements and transfers those to paper for a good working drawing.

And of course there was lots of other wok happening in the shop and the barns.  The CGW Russel Plow continued with Buzz Morisette working on the new windows and cab cupola repairs, Victor Humphreys adding more interior lining and trim pieces, and of course we always try to make up the next needed pieces for priming so the work can continue, whatever the weather gods bring us.

This was certainly an odd weather day.  The forecasters were unified in the prediction it would rain all day, until mid afternoon when it it be REALLY BAD weather.  Some volunteers may have been scared off and some events in Chicago were postponed.  Two of the volunteers had concerned wives who called the shop to tell them to clear out before 2 PM to beat the predicted storms.  We figured we could get an hour or two of work in on the plow, so began with that right away in the morning.  And worked along for almost six hours without rain!  We got a lot done.

Shop work was the first task for Buzz Morisette as he worked to fabricate another new window sill for the cab cupola.  This one is destined for the rear window area, if I am not mistaken.

Why, it is Dave Rogan of course.  Here he is leaning out the cupola window area, and wire brushing the metalwork.  Earlier he and I had two needle chippers going at once scaling layers of old paint.  You see what those areas look like to your right of Dave, in this picture.  Then Dave was using a power wire wheel to clean down to bare metal, seen in the posts to your left left.  And below the roof line a hint of the old yellow paint is visible.

Always with an eye to the sky, Victor Humphreys came topside and applied primer to all those areas that had been prepped.

We had also started on the very long job of restoring the roof.  Only a small area to be sure and a bit scary perching way up on the left front corner, knowing there is only the gaping maw of the plow below you.  But here is the first primer going on the roof.

We were very grateful to have some new and unexpected help from Joe Luciani - here cleaning the truck frame on the left side - and Lee Regione.  They were sweating in the sun on the ground while we were sweating up on the roof.

Victor had completed the painting up on the roof while the ground work continued.  Just in time.  Victor attacked those cleaned areas with fresh primer.  Here he is doing a triangular flanger support, and then he moved on the prime the truck frame.

Inside the cupola Buzz toiled away fitting new wood and also fitting the slider window for the left side.  The fixed window looks good installed and the surrounding area painted in the deep maroon.

Using the needle chipper is a funny task.  It is loud and some vibration is involved.  But it can be very satisfying to see the years of use and abuse peel away.  You just do not want to put it down.  As the painting was going on on the opposite corner, Dave started cleaning layers of paint from the left front corner and roof.