Entries by Roger Kramer

This winter we have been replacing rusted steel panels on the 2524. Welding in new sections of steel on one vestibule end of our last remaining unrestored Rock Island coach.  This has been accomplished in the unheated barn 10. Very cold but our work continues in spite of the harsh environment. Paul Cronin, in the fall of 2018, began this part of the project by removing all the old rusty steel and insulation from the area in these following pictures.

December15, 2018, here is a view of the vestibule wall with all badly deteriorated areas removed.

Our welder, Jarred, measuring for new steel replacements.

He just finished weldingthe new support pieces.

This piece was just fabricated and installed on the other side.

February 16, found Jarred again measuring for new steel parts.

March 2 Gregg Wolfersheim assisted Jarred in welding more new steel pieces.

March 9 of this year, the end panel is completed with a coat of primer.

We in the coach department hope to continue on this project of replacing the rusted plates on both ends of the coach. Stay tuned for more updates.   Thanks  Roger 

Please don't ever say that the volunteers in the coach department are not devoted and tough in this cold weather. In spite of the extreme of this winter a new group of volunteers began removing old paint and rust on the X 5000. Here are a few action shots! You can almost here somebody's teeth chattering!

Bill Jr and Cathy Mitura removing old paint in the freezing weather.

Darek Mitura and Bill Davis, Sr, removing more old paint from the x 5000.

Bill is getting up in the world.

Warren call me on one of the coldest days, January 27, 2019 and asked if I would like some homemade Dynochili.

Here he is cooking on the X 5000 stove. It was a little KOLD but we both had a good time enjoying the chili.

Cathy and her friend, Heidi, enjoying time together removing more old paint.

They started this project December 15 2018. Little did we know that working in barn 11 was going to be quite cold! Pictured here is Eddie, Bill Sr., Cathy and Darek.

Just removing a small portion of old peeling paint makes a world of difference. With more volunteers we might be able to remove the old paint scale on the other side and get it ready for priming and painting in a few years. Want to help? Visit us in barn 10 and/or 11 on any Saturday or Sunday and we can continue the project.    Thanks     Roger

Winter didn't start out too bad but the last four weeks sure has made up for the earlier malaise. In spite of the cold, snowy, icy, did I say cold,  Sandi and I with help from Eddie and Bob are still on our restoration schedule. You must ask yourself how have we been working in barn 11 during this cold and miserable winter.  We have five oil space heaters which keep the sleeper relatively warm at 50 degrees. Let me tell you that 50 degrees sure feels great when you come in from a 10 degree outside temperature. Here's our latest accomplishments!

Here Sandi is painting the wall trim next to the entrance door.  

Another wall by the entrance door.

The entry door and walls now are all painted. 

Bob has been working on the womens bathroom.  He is removing all the old paint. 

This shows the emergency tool box.   The correct sledge hammer, saw, and pry bar, were found and added. They were not in the Mt. Harvard when I acquired it.

Here is a Before picture of the hallway. Below is the After photo. Quite a difference!

Again another picture of the hallway now showing the two side windows.

The two windows shown here were removed in August prior to the start of the hallway project. The exterior and interior sides of each along with all four metal frames were cleaned, repainted and reinstalled. You must remember that we started this hallway project way back in October, 2018!  It really didn't take us too long to complete this repaint.

Another picture of the entrance door leading to the newly painted hallway. 

Don't forget to stop by the Mt. Harvard when you next visit the museum. We are still hoping to have the sleeper in showcase weekend this coming year. That's our goal! And.... Donations to the Mt. Harvard project are greatly appreciated.        Thanks   Roger

This late fall the Buildings and Grounds Manager, Dave Diamond, focused on the the major upgrading of the Barn 3 structure. The barn was built in the late 1970's or early 1980's and certainly needed attention. The structure was beginning to fail in spots and so the decision was made to invest a rather large amount of money into the structure. This will preserve the life of the barn for many more years. Dave Diamond and his crew inspected the supporting posts this summer and discovered a number of them were in a fragile state. A contractor was selected and work began this late November to repair and replace any supporting posts and to also reside the entire barn. The large eastern four barn doors will be replaced this coming Spring. Your donations to the General Fund have made this and many other projects a reality. Please remember it when you consider this years donations to your museum.

The contractor is beginning to replace the siding on the north side of the barn.

The 84 and the Dover partial exposed.

The North side of the barn. Does that look nice!

In order to let in more natural light new skylights were added near the top of the roof line.

Here is the Southern exposure of the barn.

With the old siding removed the Lake City comes in view.

Another photo of the beautiful Lake City before the new siding has been installed.

The South side is now complete.

The Western entrance before the new siding has been installed. Please notice the ripples in the old siding. Now take a look at the very last picture and you can see the difference.

Here is a photo of the southern side facing the signal display.

The Western entrance being repaired and resided.

What a beautiful upgrade to your museum campus. There will be other projects like this one happening in the near future. Remember the General Fund this year! Have a safe and healthy 2019 New Year!      Thanks    Roger  

The matching grant provided by the Milwaukee Road Historical society has made it possible to begin this phase of the Mt. Harvard restoration. Paul Cronin and I formulated a plan of action before the exterior work was even started. We decide to repair all the damaged and rusted sections all in one time frame. By removing all the "problems" we could then purchase enough steel and supplies at one time helping to reduce the costs of materials. Paul contacted Gregg Wolfersheim and a work schedule was formulated to remove the old damaged steel sections. This is what you will see with these photos.

Gregg and I removed the vestibule door and trap to reveal the wall condition.

This is the area where the new stars will be secured and installed.

Here he is cutting out the old steel to be replace with new.

An overall look of the damaged section.

Here is what it looks like after Gregg removed and cleaned the area.

This is another job that needs to be repaired. The rusted area was partially removed when the sleeper was at Mid Continent RR Museum. Now we intend to remove and repair the entire area.

Gregg removed even more rusty steel to reveal a much larger area to restore.

The length of this repair is about 25 feet. Not any easy job to fix!

Gregg is smiling after his job has been completed.

Top view of the vestibule with the floor tile removed.

The rubber floor tile has been removed showing the thin floor steel.

This is a view of the other side of the Mt. Harvard with the trap and vestibule door having been removed revealing more rusty steel.

Remember there is still time to contribute to the match! Act by December 31 to double your impact! Your support will help accomplish our goal for the Mt. Harvard!      Thanks  Roger

I am happy to be announcing a new matching grant! This time for the Mt. Harvard. A commitment from the membership of the Milwaukee Road Historical Society for a matching grant places our Mt. Harvard in a good position to operate in a limited time frame for next year. This is a one to one matching grant up to $1,500.00! It is an important step towards bring the Mt. Harvard back to operational status. Please consider a donation. You can be confident that every dollar matched will be wisely used in this restoration.

Sandi is prepping the hallway for primer.

All taped and ready for painting.

Primed and ready for the next coat.

In the mean time, and not to be out done, Bob Olsen is continuing the removal of the old paint layer in the women's bathroom.

He is removing old paint beneath the mirrors.

This is what he has accomplished so far.

The wall by the sinks.

This area is still waiting for paint removal.

Gregg Wolfersheim is removing old rivets from the one good stair step. We are using this step as a pattern for the future rebuilt of many stairs need for the John Mcloughlin and the Mt. Harvard.

               Thanks     Roger