Entries by Frank DeVries

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.

...will keep the track department from completing their scheduled tasks.

So it was a typical spring day at Union today... Cloudy, with peeks of sun, occasional rain, and yes Virginia, Hail. For the most part it was simply cloudy and dry.

The day started around 8:30 with myself showing up and getting the Model 50 Burro fired up. Given the cool 40 degree weather, I needed to cut out one of the hydraulic pumps to get the engine to turn over and warm up. Tom showed up at 9AM and about the time the 50 was warmed up. We shut down, engaged the hydraulic pump and off to yard 13 for more work setting out track panels.

We had to work some strategy to the task today. We planned to set the last two panels already stacked near the broken rail for 13-4 track, set the remaining panels for 13-1 and 13-2. We needed to use lighter panels (read missing more ties) on 13-1 so as to not overload and tip the crane when setting those panels. We also had to stack the panels near the broken rail. The plan was to stack em, cross the broken rail light, and then lay them out.

We broke for lunch around 12:30 with only the panels across the broken rail to set. We came back and made short work of setting the panels, and adjusting a few more on the good side of the break. Some OTM was picked up, a few loose ties moved out of the way, and we headed back to the barn. Upon our arrival back on 11-2 track, we found the track cart from the dog pull last week. We set that off, and parked the crane. About that time, Steve showed up in time to help fuel and add hydraulic fluid to the machine, and get the rail tongs on the hook for tomorrow.

The panels for yard 13 are now all laid out, with one spare for filling in some gaps. Cropping and drilling are next. We will have to get the hydraulic cart moved over to yard 11, so it is close to the work. Adam and Marcus will be the Sunday gang.

New photos have been posted on the IRM members photos website at http://www.irm.org/gallery/album247

Frank D.

Today started later than usual with Tom and myself as the crew. We started around 9:30 with a fuel up of the 50 burro, the 30 burro, and the regulator. We then set to work to fix the starting circuit after the wiring harness melted on the overheated engine a couple weeks ago. A replacement low voltage circuit was installed with a new starting switch installed in the battery switch compartment. Much easier than trying to use jumpers under the crane. Once installed we tested the fix, and then went to work with the 50.

Today's plan was to set out more track panels back in yard 13. Last week we set out enough panels for 13-4 track. This track is laid out with mostly 100lb rail, with some 112 panels at the end. During our work we found two more 100 lb panels, one on the Rock flat, and one at the bottom of one of the stacks. These were dug out and set aside just before the rail break on 13-3 track. Once the rail break is fixed we will finish setting these two panels. During our work to get to the panel on the rock flat, we had to lift 3 rather difficult panels off the flat. We elected to pick them and set them over for 13-1 track. The first panel was not too bad. The second took multiple attempts and some heavier chains due to crossing panels and asphalt on the panel, to pick the panel off the car. We set that one, and found the next to be even more covered and much much heavier. We rigged the panel and began the lift. we swung it around and got ready to set it for 13-1 track. As Tom was lowering the boom to get the panel into position, the two wheels opposite the load lifted off the rails. Quick work by Tom got the load set down and the crane settled back down onto the rails. For a few brief seconds the back wheels were a good 4 to 6 inches off the rail!!! Talk about an E ticket Ride!!!! Tom had approximately 16 thousand pounds on the hook at that time. We decided that we would NOT do that again! We took the opportunity to stop and get lunch around 3PM.

As we were cleaning up for lunch, we got NICK'd. We were volunteered to help move a rather large painting in a crate over to the Strahorn Library. Nick, Buzz, Tom and Myself met Barb at the museum, and made quick work of loading the crate into the library. It made it into the door with centimeters to spare. We did get a slight glimpse of the painting. Can't wait to see it all the way out of the crate.

We returned to pick the last panel off the Rock flat, and set that, then started on the Eastern most stack of panels where 13-2 is going to be. We set several for 13-1 and set a couple panels from last week flat on 13-2. All of them in the 8 to 10 thousand pound range.... All in all we handled about 18 track panels and have them set. Another day like this and we should have all the track panels set out for the yard.

We wrapped up the day by moving the now empty rock flat to yard 14, and put the burro back on 11-1 track. A little clean up, some hospitality from the Silver car guys in the form of a cold drink, and it was time to head for home.

Next up will be some cropping of the rails to length and to remove the torch cut ends. We will have to find some 100, 112 and 115 lb bars and see what we will need for comp bars. Once we know what the drillings will be we can start with drilling holes for bars. Some final moves with the crane and we can bolt up tracks. Easy to type, easy to read, but still a lot of work. We also have some misc. ties, frogs, points, etc that have to be moved out of the way. Long range plan for some ballast as well.

Photos have been posted on the IRM Member photo site. http://www.irm.org/gallery/album247

Frank D.

Friday Report.

Brian Harp was in town for the annual safety meeting, board meeting, etc. and was in town for Friday. I elected to take a vacation day as well Friday. We started with qualifying Brian on the Model 50 burro crane. He was instrumental in it's acquisition, and restoration to operation. So we used the 50 to dig out the Amtrak flat, CNW ballast car, and CNW flat from station 2, use two to build a work train for Saturday's trip to 4 mile siding. The Amtrak flat and Ballast car were moved to the East end of station 2, and we took the CNW flat back to yard 13 for loading of track panels for a future project. We also dug the EJ&E 529 caboose out of 11-0 track and moved that up to station 2 as well. Jeron joined us and we scavenged the battery out of the tie crane to get the Model 30 crane running. The 30 was put up against the ballast pile for later use to load ballast.

Once we completed all that, we still had daylight and lots of hands. We were joined by 1 other gent, whom I neglected to get his name. We elected to take the three car train out to dump stone on the main where we tamped last week. The crane was working well, except she seemed to fall on her face after running for a bit. More on that later... We made it out to the job site, and held a job briefing. Brian was elected to be the crane operator, Jeron, and our mystery volunteer were doing the dumping, and I was the dump master. We put down a little bit of stone in the middle to fill in the cribs from the 5" lift near the pond. We also dumped a bit on the shoulders. Once dumped we fought the air on the Amtrak flat back to Station 2. When we got back to 11-0 track with the 50 we noticed a transmission fluid leak. Investigation showed it appeared to be coming from the tranny fluid filter mount housing. By now we were losing daylight and called it a
day...

Saturday Report.

It was the day of the annual rules exam, safety meeting, Board meeting, and lots of familiar faces came out of the woodwork. It was good to see some people that have been MIA for a while. Hope they come back more during the year!

I was late today however when I arrived Jeron and Brian were preping the regulator, and Tom and Adam were locating a 112lb 18' long rail for 4 mile siding. While Tom and Adam continued preping the work train, Brian, Jeron, and I took the regulator out to dress the main were we dumped stone on Friday. Jeron did a great job in plowing in stone, pulling more from the shoulder and brooming it off beautifully! When we returned to the property, Tom and Adam met us back in yard 11 to pull a leaking cylinder off the regulator. We made short work of that, and loaded the cylinder in Julie's truck to take for repairs. Another big Thank you to Julie for again getting a cylinder out and back for repairs. We elected to break for lunch and then the Safety meeting.

After the meeting, those of us not needing to take the rules test went back to property. Brian and I fired up the switch tamper without the recommended Priest, Rabi, and witch doctor. The machine fired up, the pumps were working, and all seemed well.... untill we tried the newly replaced motor. The replaced motor did not start. We shut down, and started to investigate. We pulled the cable off, and started to ring it out. Unfortunately we found all three conductors to be OPEN. A spare cable was pulled off the shelf (thank god we have a spare), rang it out, and hooked it up. The second attempt the motor spun right up. We then shut down and declared success. The next victim was the 6000. We installed the cable for the pendulum, while Adam and Tom worked on the leveling potentiometer box. The cable was a success, the potentiometer box requires more parts, which will be ordered up.

Next up was to investigate the oil situation on the EJ&E 580 motor car. Last we looked the oil was way too clear and flowing way too easily. Turns out our 6 quarts of oil also had about 2 gallons of gas in the oil pan!!!! Thank goodness nobody tried to start that puppy!!!!! JD and Steve showed up about this time to help out with the oil drain function. We determined the problem was a blown diaphragm on the fuel pump, and removed the pump. Someone will have to go to NAPA and order up a new pump. Questionable oil was used to flush the pan, and a sacrificial 1515 filter was put on the machine. We'll have to order up a new filter as well.

By this time we decided to go out to 4 mile and start on some of the prep out there. Tom ran the crane, Adam the conductor, Brian, JD, and Greg all went out to 4 mile. We positioned ties, knocked off the metal screws sticking out of the ties, cleaned up some debris, set off the one rail we needed, and then proceeded to work on the big chunk of tree that was fouling the extension of 4 mile siding. We were successful in getting the big chunk of tree up on the rails. In our next installment of "As the Rail runs" our heroes will attempt to slide the chunk of tree down the rails of the siding and somewhere we can get it off the railroad. Picking and pivoting was tough as Tom kept hitting the load limits on the Kruger computer. We ran back to the property, tied up the crane and everyone was off to the Board meeting.

All in all a good day.

Photos have been posted here: http://www.irm.org/gallery/album240


Frank D.

Today's function was to ensure smooth operation of the Santa trains. I arrived around 9am, to a balmy -3 degrees, Adam around 11. I started with putting a charger on the car battery Adam used for the Depot street switch stand light. I then went about checking the crossings for snow and ice buildup. Central ave, and Depot street were not bad, and were easily cleaned out with a broom. Karstens crossing was another story. The ice along the south rail was really packed and frozen in. Once Adam arrived, we fired up the air compressor, and broke out the air lance that Adam had made. We still had quite a job at Karstens, but we got it cleaned up. We returned to the property and proceeded to blow out 50th ave, and the Electric switch. East switch, East Wye, and Carline wye switches were also checked and cleared.

Item number next was to light the 6 smudge pots Adam had set up, and light the switch stands at Carline Wye, and Depot street. We then went back to the material yard and dug up 4 more smudge pots with good wicks, and put them out at Depot street. The 6 Adam set up yesterday have Kerosene in them, the 4 from today are filled with Diesel. The Kerosene seems to do a better job of heating the rail and clearing the switch. The diesel did the job, but might need more pots to cover some longer switches. We were informed at the end of the day by the train crew that there were no track related issues on tonights runs.

After we had everything in order for the train runs, we attempted to start the 50. NO DICE, at 11 degrees, she wasn't even going to turn over. SO off to barn 2 we went. We made good progress organizing the shelves, and organizing our parts and tools. A lot of garbage was collected and moved up to the front for hauling to the dumpster. The walkways are much clearer now. Still a lot of clutter to be cleaned up but good progress was made.

About an hour before the last train of the day, Adam and I broke out the cameras and tripods and did some night shots around the property. I've posted a few in the IRM members section under Tom Hunter's group. It was quite a sight out there.

Frank D.