Entries by Robert Kutella

This entry will be for general interest work I saw on site today, and perhaps one surprise pic.

Childrens Boxcar

John Faulhaber made some slight adjustments and finishing touches, then went on to prime the car.

Interior Paneling

Lorne Tweed is making good progress on the Cleveland Transit System 4223 interior behind the rear door.  Several pieces are test fit here, including one piece, new from the fabricator just today.

Sign Box

In the above pic you may notice a void or empty space just to the rear of the rear door.  The rear sign box will be mounted here as shown by Lorne.  It fits like a glove!

Window Tracks

Of course there is usually more than one person working on any of our projects.  Simon Harrison is installing window tracks, two for each window.  Slow work to be sure - the process, not Simon.

View From the Top

Here is pic of our B&O 374065 wagon top boxcar from an angle not usually seen.  In this case from the top of the adjacent CGW X 38 snow plow.  During the day, Victor Humphreys worked on this car, installing a repaired side door threshold plate.

Bending Jig

Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel are making a sturdy bending jig while just outside the door, a steam generator is 'cooking' a piece of white oak.  The result we hope for is a nicely contoured runner for new roof mats for Michigan Electric 28

More Bill

Based upon feedback from our readers, here is (on request) MORE BILL.  That would be Bill Wulfert continuing on restoring and cleaning the many light socket assemblies we need now.  Funny thing is, he looks like he is enjoying it.

Big News of the Week

The big news of the week involved delivery of new castings for resistance grid boxes on Chicago & West Towns 141.  There is a lot of grinding and cleanup needed on the foundry castings, but they have all been examined and tested.

Wood Lining

Bill Peterson is cutting many more boards to length as destined for interior lining on our Chicago Great Western X 38 snow plow.  Then he sanded them all and Vicotr Humphreys started the step of applying white primer.

Framing

Buzz Morisette is installing two new timbers at the top of the interior rear wall on the X 38.  It seems nothing is ever simple and he had to overcome some drama due to their inconvenient location.

Lettering

It was gloomy and rainy in the morning but after that ended and the sun came out, I continued on painting more of the CGW herald on the X 38.  Only two good hours, but slowly, it is taking form.

Ceiling Lighting Panels

Ray Pollice is taking the old bulls-eye lights out from the ceiling panels for Cleveland Transit System 4223.  The old rusty screws present quite a problem.  As soon as one of the old panels was down its bare substance it was used as a pattern and Brian Patterson and I laid out and cut a new replacement.

Window Tracks

Inside the 4223 Lorne Tweed was mounting aluminum tracks on the window posts,  -  if you have been following this story you know what we are referring to and where it will lead.

In at Last

It is not the last window to go in, but Lorne said at last we are putting windows in!

New Roof

Tim Peters is up on a lift working on the roof at the east end of Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.  The center section wood and supports below it have been 100% replaced and are taking shape nicely.

We celebrated May Day working outdoors on the Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow.  At 82 F it was the warmest day we have seen in SEVEN months!

Prep Work

Victor Humphreys sands and cleans up new interior lining wood while Dave Rogan primes them as soon as they are ready.  Dave also primed the two new interior framing timbers made last weekend.  Several of these short pieces were installed inside the plow next to the south doorway, even as the paint continued to dry.

Cupola Roof

Jim Leonard is a champion - he volunteered at once to continue body cleanup and repairs outdoors on the plow body.  The first area to be attacked was the cupola, as completion here will allow for installation of new windows made in the shop over the winter.  In this pic he is wrestling with a pneumatic air scaler to remove old paint and rust from the roof.

Priming

With the weather holding favorable into the afternoon, Jim wire brushed an area clean and began applying fresh primer to the roof.

Meanwhile

I could ill afford to let such nice weather be wasted.  So we began the complicated task of hand painting the famous CORN BELT ROUTE herald on the north side of the plow.  Paul Cronin assists in lining up the pattern and tracing the artwork.

Prep Work

John Faulhaber helped me out while planning which part could be done in the time remaining and masking areas that lent themselves to the task.  Just like the old game show - BEAT THE CLOCK.

On to Painting

The first word we painted was of course CHICAGO.  If you are not familiar with this iconic herald stay tuned.  Weather permitting more will appear each week.

Stripes

Below the CHICAGO there are four horizontal stripes, which could largely be masked off for painting.

End of Day

The stripes were completed as the sun sank ever lower.  I suppose this looks disconnected and puzzling.  I guess it is - I know where we are going, yet it is hard to visualize.

I stayed on task while the other members of the crew worked on installation of more interior lining and applying steel capping to the doorway weatherstrips.