Entries by Frank DeVries

Trying to beat karma to the punch....

The weather was beautiful today... and that was the problem... Today's plan was to get some minor repairs done on the tie crane. We are once again getting ready to go pick up about 720 ties that were changed out by Volkmann a couple weeks ago. So to avoid problems we did a little preventative maintenance.

I arrived at the museum about 9AM and found Bill there already. Bill and I started to de-fuel the tie crane. Even though the fuel was out of the sight glass there was still about 10 to 15 gallons of fuel left in the tank. We drained the fuel then took the hose off the tank.  We also removed the fuel sight tube to replace that as well.  Jeron showed up and we ran to town to grab parts. While  I replaced the fuel hose, and sight tube, Jeron replaced the damaged mirror and Bill replaced the windshield wiper. We drained the fuel out of the transfer tank, but that was a drop in the tank so to speak. Unfortunately I left my keys in my winter coat..... at home.... SO no truck key, no fuel key.... Guess I'll fuel the crane in the morning.

After that it was time to take in some of the sights of the Illinois Terminal to do.  I took a ride (my first I'll add) on the IT B motor, to see how the ride is after our tie change out.  It's not perfect, but the 25MPH speed restriction seems to be adequate until we can get the line tamped.

While out and about today I did find three more sticks of rail along the ROW, that we need to get picked up and in the gon.  One is out near the Big tree, the other two are along the main line just east of the depot.  We also need to re-set the whistle post along the main. I think we can just pick it up and add some ballast to hold it up.

While all this was going on, Dave and Evan continued work on the 580 Motor car. They have most of the wood off now, and have started to clean old paint and rust off the frame.  They bought a couple of wire wheels for my grinder and were using that to clean it up real nice. They were getting ready to spray on some primer when I was leaving for the day.  It's looking really nice.  I also found one of the brake leaks on a caliper thanks to all the wood being off. Nice work guys! I'll post some pictures to the Members photo section in a few minutes.

Frank D.

Today was a new member spectacular!

The day started with myself and new member Keith Ziolkowski joined me and returning new member Bill.  We found the model 50 missing it's exhaust circuit, under rebuild by Jeron. So a Plan B was formed.  Off to 14-4 track to solve a reverse super elevation problem on the curve to this track off the switch.  We gathered jacks, bars, forks, and shovels, onto the tie crane and off to yard 14.

We hand jacked the track and hand tampped from about 8:30 to 11:30, picking up the outer rail from "in the mud" to out of stone. A lift of over 6".  After lunch we took the regulator back to yard 14 and dragged stone from the north side to the south side to fill in the cribs that were now devoid of stone.  A quick broom job and the track was back to a useable status.  Before this work, when the diesel department would try to switch cars on this track they had a tendency to derail when being pulled out.

Meanwhile back on the main........

Tom showed up later in the morning and fired up the mower for one last trip on the main before it leaves for a job.  Tom was able to mow by Karstens crossing, cleaning up some trees that the farmer cut down and pushed over onto the property.  He also was able to give a good pass between East switch and West Switch.

Third trick was Jeron coming out after work and installing a new exhaust elbow off the turbo.  The old 90 degree bend had been previously welded, and subsequently rusted out again, and as Tom put it, made it smoke like a Russian tank.  Jeron was able to find a suitable part and had Jamie from the diesel shop weld the flange to the turbo onto the new pipe.  The exhaust was then put back on the crane for the Sunday activity. From what I understand it was a real wrestling job to get the exhaust back in.

During the wrap up of my tour of duty, Dave, and his young son Evan showed up having just joined the museum, and coming out to see what they can do as a team to help IRM. Work on our motorcar fleet was offered up, and they are eager to get started.

Unlike last week, cameras were on hand to record the festivities.  Photos from Tom and myself have been posted here: http://www.irm.org/gallery/album155

Frank D.

Saturday's plan involved a two pronged attack.  One group was to finish walking the mainline, the second team was to load the mainline ties onto a flatcar, so they can be peddled out for install in the coming weeks.

Again, I picked up Marcus at Aurora Transportation Center, and we drove up to Marengo Cafe for breakfast. After Breakfast we met a new volunteer to our group, Patrick Shea. Adam joined us at the caboose on 110 track and the plans were set in motion.

Marcus and I walked track. We started with the stretch from East switch to Karstens, so the diesel department could use the east switch as head room for fueling diesels. We then continued out to signal 201 with no significant defects found.  The walk continued from East switch to West before we broke for lunch. After lunch we finished off the West end finding one broken bar. The total repairs for this spring,  two pull aparts  east of 4 mile siding, which is still out of service, One broken bar on the main between 201 and 251.  One broken bar at West switch.  We intend to have the two broken bars fixed before the start of the season.  The pull aparts depend on getting some warm sunny weather to get the rails to expand enough to get new bolts in the rail.

Adam and Patrick grabbed the fork lift and started loading bundles of ties onto the TTX flat car that the Camp Grant arrived on. All the other IRM flats are in use, so we pressed this one into service since it was just taking up space in the siding. The diesel department was kind enough to retrieve it and bring it to along barn 9 for us.  In short order Adam and Patrick had the flat loaded up and ready for Sunday's distribution party.

A break for a brief meeting, and we were back at it putting the train together. Tom joined us for this phase of the job. Tom finished off getting the four part hook put back on the crane. The hook was taken off last year to rig up the clam shell for loading stone. Tom, Marcus, and I, then got the 529 caboose moved over and the loaded flat car onto track 112, while Adam and Patrick loaded a couple more bundles of ties onto tie flats with the tie crane. The tie crane was tied down in yard 10 for the night.

Tomorrow's projects, go out and peddle ties where we marked ties for replacement.

A few photos have been posted here: http://www.irm.org/gallery/album271

Frank D.

Today's track report starts with a trip to the Aurora Transportation Center to pick up Marcus. Marcus has not been out for quite some time, and was suffering IRM Withdrawl, so I agreed to pick him up at the ATC and bring him up. 

Proper track work requires proper sustenance, so the next stop was the Marengo cafe for breakfast.  After breakfast we ran to Napa for a case of antifreeze for the model 50 burro. Later we would realize the value of this stop for another purpose... more on that later.

Next stop was a conference with Julie on budgetary and trackwork for 2011. This conference turned into a long discussion that got slightly off topic but was fun even if not totally productive.  When this conference finished, it was time for lunch.  Yea.. long conference.

Upon return from lunch, we got the 50 fired up and yes, the tranny was frozen up again. Attempts to thaw her out failed, so we left her running and went to work on something else.  Almost on cue, Julie called and advised the block heater that Adam had ordered for the tie crane had arrived. Plan B was hatched. Marcus and I got the old heater off, and quickly realized we would have to re-use the mount since it had a hose mount off of it that was absent from the new mount.. not a big thing.  As we were working on this task we were joined by David Fullarton. He helped us finish off the filling of the radiator since we had a full case of new anti freeze from earlier in the day.

So we return to our idling 50 and find the tranny is finally ready to work.  We put Marcus in the crane, swing over and pick up the scrap gon, and go mag some diamond parts.  About half way through the pick up, we put David in the hot seat and had him work the magnet.  I hung off the side of the cabin, for the first few pics talking him through the steps. David picked up running the crane fairly quick, so I got back on the ground to help with the picks since some of the derbis was frozen.  After about a half hour we had the pile picked up. The last pick a big chunk did not want to fall off the magnet. So we talked David through scraping the mag across the top of the car to knock it off.  After that David ran the crane back to the crane's home and put her away.

Last thing of the day was to check on the block heater of the tie crane.  We confirmed we had heat from the new block heater, and attempted a start. No joy, still too cold. I'm guessing with a little more time on the block heater, and a little time on a battery charger, she will fire right up.

We cleaned up for the day, then Marcus and I made a run to the Roundhouse in Aurora for dinner, before Marcus caught a train back to the city.

Photos of the days activities are here: http://www.irm.org/gallery/album266

Frank D.

Again, today's primary function is to protect the Santa Trains. Again, Today's cast of track department characters, was again, Me, Myself, and I.  Tom Arrived around 1400 but was engaged in conversation for the duration of his visit.

Since mother nature finished with the white stuff yesterday, and the snow wasn't really drifting. So a quick sweep of the snow, and the switches were in service.

Since there wasn't much to keeping the trains running, it was off to the barn where, as always, there is a plethora of work to do. This wasn't such a bad thing as the temps were hovering in the teens for the duration of the day.  To start with, I replaced handles on a couple of spike mauls, and a sledge that all had met an untimely fate.  Next up was to continue working on our hanger queen - the switch tamper.

When last we left our heroes the switch tamper had a motor fail, as well as a power cable to another motor. There was also a hydraulic leak due to a failed crimp on one of the new hoses.  Only on track machines can you do a 100% hose replacement, and still get failed hoses!!!!! So I found the old hose,and re-installed it to take care of the leak.  Next up, was to re-wire the cable. The old cable was held into it's mount with some caulk and some press fittings. Fortunately we had replacement SOOW cable on the shelf, as well as the mounting lugs, so a repair was in order.  All was going well until I went to wire the cable back on the machine.  Apparently when the cable was taken off, one of the screws was lost.  A small search was mounted and a suitable replacement was found.  Next up was to remove the failed motor. Four bolts and a few minutes later, a small push and the motor was on the ground.

About this time, it was time for a thaw break. Off towards the silver cars I went, when I was told of the festivities in barn 4.  So some chit chat, some food and some awesome apple cider.  Of course that about did it for work for the day.  A tour of the KC PCC car by Frank S., one last throw of the switch for the winter trains, and it was time to call it a day.

All that is left on the Switch tamper is to mount a replacement motor on the machine, and we should (again) be ready to work. Another big project for this winter is to "ring out" the wiring on the 6000 tamper and verify we don't have a wiring problem on that machine.

Frank D.

Today's activity was to protect the Winter trains. Today's track department consisted of me, myself, and I.

Continuing the tradition, we have had snow for each and every IRM winter train season. The track department had prepared earlier in the fall for these trains, and in fact prepared a third switch for smudge pots to keep our switches clear of snow during these trains.  Adam prepared the East Wye switch, and I prepared the two switches used previously, South Wye, and 50th ave.

I arrived around 09:30 and it was still snowing. I loaded up a snow broom and shovel, and started work clearing switches. In about an hour and a half, I had the switches cleared of the 2 to 3 inches of snow, and the pots all lit. A quick trip to Karstens crossing to make sure the crossing wasn't iced in, and a quick lunch. Upon returning from lunch, I started to search for the clamps we use on the switch stand by Depot Street. I searched and searched without success. I figured I would do some creative engineering to get it through the day. When I arrived to hook up the battery, I pulled the end of the cable out from under the switch stand and found someone had already attached said clamps to the lamp. I hooked up the battery, then went to run an extension cord for the switch lamp at South Wye. I have no idea why one was wired for 12V and the other for 110VAC. We do need to take them down in spring and remove the wasp nests in both.

The rest of the day was tending to the East wye switch, and keeping the pots lit. We had a couple that just did not seem to want to keep going. I wound up changing out a couple wicks and they were off to the races. The last train ran at 4PM. I made one more round to fuel the smaller pots, and put them out for the night. With no more snow in the forecast, we probably won't need the pots tomorrow.

I will post some photos to the IRM Members page a little later.

Frank D.

Thanks to the CN, and a malfunctioning crossing, I was up and out of the house by 5AM arriving at IRM at 6AM.

First task was to inspect Volkmann's work on the East switch. As Pete P reported earlier in the week, Volkmann was out and changing most of the long timbers in the switch. Overall it looks much better than before. There are a couple ties in wrong order, but not too bad. This switch was in really rough shape before they changed the ties. This switch should give many more years of good safe service with this work complete.

Next I got started with a much needed oil change on the Model 50 burro crane. I had originally planned to alter the drain plug with a 90 degree angle to provide a more down angle oil flow, so I don't ruin any more clothes, but I was doing this task so early, Napa and Ace were not open yet. A project for another time... I did manage to get the oil changed without soaking myself again.

Next task was to fuel up and clean out the Santa Fe truck. Lots of scrap wood, old boxes, cups, and bottles, along with one dead battery, were cluttering up the bed of the truck. Time to clean up. Once the trash was dumped, and the battery in 24 with the other dead battery, I went to pick up the smudge pots from the Santa Train weekends.

Task number next was to pull the radiator off the tie crane. Seems we have a very generous donor to donate an engine for the tie crane. They are even going to put it in for us! That saves us two days worth of work for us volunteers!!! When the engine let loose and ventilated itself in November, it blew the starter off the block, the oil filters off teh block and threw a chunk of cylinder liner into the radiator, puncturing it. So... off it came. 8 bolts, a couple hose clamps, and she was out. Once we had it out, I was amazed this thing was cooling anything! The vent fins were full of dirt, a large section clearly came in contact with the fan at some point, plus the new hole. I will take this to a radiator shop in Joliet and get it re-cored.

About the time I was getting the radiator out, Adam showed up. He went to talk to Dave and found him back by yard 10. He then discovered the 10/11 switch (not the one off the carline!) was gapped by almost 1 inch! YIKES! Had to fix that. In order to fix that, we decided it was time to put the switch tamper to work and see what's what after it's long battle back to restored service. Tom showed up shortly after we made our discovery. We pulled the 6000 into yard 3, to clear up for the switch tamper. Tom ran the tamper back to yard 10, while Adam gathered tools, and set up our work zone. We had a minor altercation as we took the tamper through the carline S curve. A push cart pin fell off the cart and wedged itself between the stock rail and guard rail, derailing the welding cart and hydraulic cart. By the time Tom got the tamper stopped, both carts went across the frog and re railed themselves. Best kind of derailment is the one you don't have to
clean up! We did knock the welder out of it's seat on the cart, which would require the burro to fix, but it wasn't so bad that it could not wait. On to the job site......

Since I had to leave at 3PM, I will leave the rest of the day's festivities to Tom or Adam in Saturday Track Report - Part 2.

Photos will be posted later.....

Frank D.