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Tuesday, May 8. 2018Just Another Weekday and Weekend
The museum along with the with the help of two departments, track and buildings and grounds, has begun removing and demolishing the old bookstore site next to our station. This will, first of all, remove a long awaited eye sore and then open up the visual site lines for the trains at the station as well as traveling by it on our mainline. Here is a sequence of events and the results of each.
 Please notice that the work has already begun moving rail into position.  Here  are  The track crew poses for a smiley picture  photos  0f  the  moving of the various equipment.  The track dept crew poses for a quick picture. Another one ! Wow What a bunch of photo hounds!  We are going to scrap this old CNW wood RPO baggage car built in 1898  Yes, ladies we do had a number of young ladies volunteering at Irm. This is Carnia who volunteers mainly in the steam dept. She is using a pneumatic spike puller to remove the old spikes.  Two of the bookstore cars already have been removed  The track crew moved part of the streetcar line over to temporarily connect to the storage tracks  Another view This time to rails are reconnected to the northern rails  The old CNW wood baggage-RPO being moved  View of the work area  Now the area is void of all bookstores cars  Next job is to scrap the remaining piece, the old ttx flat car. Yes, thats Karl giving the old salute.  More  views  Of the cleared area  All that left in this picture is a few ties and old rail  The entire area is now cleared and ready for sod and trees Saturday, April 14. 2018Just Another Saturday
I would just like to help announce that the Irm.org web page has been updated to a brand new format. Please take a look. I think you will be pleasantly impressed with this updated and more informative version. Now, here is a sample of what happened last Saturday. It was just another cold day at Irm. There sure was a lot of activity for a cold day. Here are just a few images of the days events. I couldn't cover every dept but just be sure lots of progress was being made.
 Ray is taking a break sitting on the cab floor of the 1630 while Ken Ristow enjoys the view.  Bob and Ed Kletecka drilling holes in the 428s new steel cab floor.  Mike McCormick, another new steam dept member, is also drilling and laying out the old pattern on the new floor steel.  Bob Olsen sanding the exterior vestibule door on the Mt Harvard.  Last Saturday he was sanding the new window exterior frames for the Mt Harvard.  Here are some 80 screw heads that I sanded and primed for future installation on the window frames.  The latest project of both the track and buildings and grounds departments.  After all these years the old bookstore passenger cars are being removed from the site next to the station. Now we shall have a much clearer view of operational equipment running by the main line.  Remember these stairs? How many times did we all walk up and down them? They will be gone shortly.  Jane and Stu from the steam dept were helping Norm and his crew with more riveting on the MEC 28.  Thats Jane heating the rivets.  Another view  The riveting is slow work but it eventually gets completed.  Heres part of the exterior where Tim has removed the old wooden siding and now is preparing to reside with new!  End view of the 1754. An interior shot. Tim is again working hard on this project! He is at the museum almost everyday except Sundays. That is his day of rest. Tuesday, April 3. 2018Continuing the Mt Harvard Restoration
Our small crew this winter and early spring have been progressing on a number of projects for the Mt Harvard. I have been working in the woodshop for about 3 months manufacturing 15 mahogany wood window frames for the sleeper. They have been made from various sized wood mahogany planks purchase from Owl Hardwoods of DesPlaines, Illinois. A lot of cutting, trimming, fitting and gluing to get the correct size and shape for the window. All the frame dimensions have been made from the specification drawings given to me by the folks in the Pullman Library. The window project is far from finished but its to the point where the frames call now be sanded and primed. I would just like to thank Tim Peters for assisting me in this project His valued experience in woodshop construction and machine operation have made my efforts much easier.
 After cutting the wood pieces to conform to the drawings I am going to use the museums mortising drill to cut holes in the long 2 inch wide wood pieces.  Here Im sitting at the machine drilling square holes to accept the tendon portion of the window .  It took me a couple of days to drill 60 holes. Very tedious work!  Heres the mortising machine in action. This is a very valuable piece in the museums woodshop. Without it many, many projects would not have been made here in the wood shop.  Here are just some of the frames already fitted and glued ready for sanding.  Sitting at our temporary work table here in the woodshop.  I also removed some of the window sill in the obs end of the sleeper. I removed the old stain then sanded, restained and applied three coats of spar varnish onto each piece.  Curt Wahlmark was one of four members of our small winter team. Here he is removing old paint from one of the vestibule doors from the Mt Harvard. Bob Olsen is sanding and removing old paint from second exterior vestibule door from the Mt Harvard. Sunday, March 25. 2018The Steam Dream is Taking Shape
The Steam Department reached a major milestone yesterday by installing the smokebox cover to the front of the boiler barrel on our Shay #5 steam engine. This is the culmination of years of work and many numerous people working towards this goal. I can't remember when the group first started working on this project but it certainly has been at least nine or ten years. Please notice at least one thing as you view these pictures. The many volunteers are relatively young. These young people are the future of the Steam Department and it bodes well for the museum in general. As I have said previously, on any given Saturday, you can come down to the Steam Shop and see at least 20 people working on various projects. Here now is what happened yesterday and last week in the shop.
 Just to remind you. This is what the shay smoke box looked like a couple of weeks ago.  This is yesterday, March 24, 2018. The smoke box cover is being installed for the very first time.  Here the gang is fastening the nuts onto the studs.  Trevor was inside the smokebox making sure the studs were in the right position. He just climbed out and happy to the light of day again. Only kidding, of course, hes smiling because the job is done!  Heres the installation gang  Another look of the shop forces. Just like the old days. A picture of the guys who participated in the work gang.  Not to be outdone Christian holds the builders number plate onto the front of the smoke box for me to photograph.  Charlie is painting the tool box underneath the 1630s tender.  Charlies Dad Paul is painting the front pilot beam of the 1630. The 1630 is getting sprucing up. We will be celebrating the engines upcoming 100th birthday this year.  This was last weekend. Working on the footboards  Not to be outdone the UP 428 is also receiving a painting job.  This father and son team are painting the flexie stay bolt caps on the 428  Here is maybe the next generation of volunteers. This is Ricks grandson. He sure had a great day. You can tell by the glint and glow in his eyes. Friday, March 23. 2018Rock Island Blue
I happened to stop by the diesel barn 2 last week and saw the latest painting project. Rock Island High Nose GP 7 is receiving a beautiful paint job preformed by Jamie Kolowanski and his team of diesel volunteers. This color scheme nicknamed "bankruptcy blue" was linked to the end of the Rock Island era when the railroad was in financial distress. The painting of the diesel should be completed and in limited service by the time of Diesel Days 2018.
 Your looking at the long hood  A side view  This view is of the entrance into the cab  In the background is the door leading to the cab  Another view of the cab and in the background is the CNW F7 What a beautiful color contrast between the two locomotives. Thursday, March 8. 2018Hot Steam Shots
Here is some of the hottest steam shop news from February! But before I go into to much detail I would like to invite everyone to the annual Steam Department Benefit taking place this June 24th. It is a tour of the magnificent collect of antiques and culminating with a concert using the beautiful Wurlitzer Theater organ of the famous Sanfilippo Estate located in Barrington Illinois. For the nominal price of $69.99 you will tour this amazing museum and culture center. Tickets must be purchased before the event. For more information please visit the front page of this web site. Now, most of the volunteer work has been focused on the Shay and some minor repairs on the 1630.
 Interior of the shays smoke box  Trevor has been working very hard on this project and finally his efforts are showing results  Thats Trevor in the smoke box with Charlie assisting.  Here Phil is using the lathe for making parts for the new grates.  This last weekend Don, Chris and Nick finally assembled the petticoat into the smokebox  Its a real tight fit  Here Don in attaching the nuts to the inside steel studs Heres what it looks like when it finally assembled and in place.  Jason is heating the area.  Let me see does it look OK, Jason!?  Another small area but important is the renewal of old rusted out storage box under the tender. The rusty sides were cut out and new pieces cut to fit. Again the new pieces will be welded inplace before the season starts. |
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Comments
Thu, 05-03-2018 12:57
Folks, Over in the news section, I see the C&NW 8728 heavyweight baggage car has been retired from retail duty. I see that the car is not [...]
Sun, 04-29-2018 15:22
The PRR caboose is looking good. Thanks Mr. Humphreys, Rogan and Peterson. Are donations still needed for ATSF caboose #1400? And is this Santa [...]
Sat, 04-21-2018 01:25
with the Schroeder store now open for business, Will the 3 baggage cars become part of the regular coach fleet again?
Wed, 04-11-2018 11:28
You mention in the header that you would like to have the Electroliner operational by its birthday. Was it?
Sun, 04-08-2018 20:03
As a child, IRM was always my favorite place to visit. Well, other than grandma's house next to the Geneva Sub. It's been many years since I now [...]
Wed, 04-04-2018 16:01
Those temporary walls could be constructed in a way that allows their reuse after the phase is done to close off the new phases.
Tue, 03-27-2018 03:08
Why did the smoke box cover on the shay need to be replace Do?
Mon, 03-26-2018 16:29
It never ceases to amaze me of the diligence and passion of the current mix of volunteers associated with IRM in 2018. Back when I was a active [...]
Mon, 03-26-2018 11:10
Awesome paint job Jamie!!! I never would of thought with the Rock Island history this locomotive in this scheme would of been preserved. Thanks for [...]
Sun, 03-25-2018 23:56
The Hick's blog lists it as Fruit Grower's Express FGEX #55407. Arrived in Union June 2016.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:51
Good job on the diesel update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:45
Good job on the steam update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.