Entries by Roger Kramer

We have some progress to finally report on the ongoing restoration of the 8-1-2 sleeper. Mark Hofmann has been wire wheeling and needle chipping the women's bathroom and connecting hallway for the past two months. He was at it again this last Sunday, Oct 27. He worked on grinding off the excess paint on the ceiling where he had previously chipped. This is a very difficult job. First, working overhead with an electric grinding is very painfully. Very quickly your muscles fatigue from the overhead work. Second, the temperature near the ceiling is always hotter at the top. Don't try this in warm weather! It's another reason for fatigue. The heat can be unbearable. That's the reason we accomplish these tasks in either early Fall or Spring. He also finished priming the hallway where months ago he had needle chipped and sanded the area. If you don't prime the area it will soon start rusting. Here are the results of his efforts.

We are also getting some estimates for making a missing wall panel from R&B Welding of Woodstock, Ill.   Please consider a donation to help defray the costs of manufacturing.    Thank you.      Roger and Mark

EXTRA!!!! EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steam Locomotive,  Frisco 1630,  our 2-10-0  was test fired for the first time today!  It also moved under its own power!!   Thanks to the men and women  of the steam dept!  A job well done!

A special Thank You to Tom Schneider.

                    This was a first in the coach dept.   Saturday, October 19th saw 4 volunteers working on the 2612 but I was the only male volunteer in the group.  Yes, I was happily outnumbered by three ladies working in the coach.  Jane Blackburn, Nancy Ring and a new volunteer, Sarah Meuller all worked on 2612 project.  Sarah's friend, Dave, volunteers in the Steam Shop.                            I, not to be outdone, was disassembling one of 32 brass window frames.   Removing two window latches from each frame is quite time consuming.   It would be easy if they were fastened to the frame with brass screws but that is not always the case.   Many times when they were repaired by the RocK Island maintenance crews they use anything they could find.   That includes the steel screws which, now, I am  having so many problems.   The screws are rusted into the frame.   Its very time consuming and difficult to remove.   To date almost all the latches have been removed.     Happy Halloween to everyone!   I hope all of you came out to enjoy the " Terror on the Train" this year!    It was sccarry!!                         When your out visiting Irm  please stop by the 2612 project.                                               Thanks  for reading,   Roger

              Yes, for all you Bar fans, I am sorry to report the RI 2612 red bar has been relocated.   Gary Sherman started the project on October 12 by removing the plywood walls of the temporary toilet. This was an after market affair and not part of the original car.  On Wednesday, Oct 16, he along with, Jane Blackburn, made quick work of demolishing the two walls that comprised the restroom area. Jane and Gary made two trips to the dumpster removing the splintered boards from the coach. Now does that area look different!                                                    After lunch Nancy Ring arrived and began vacuuming the floor. It was quite dirty from the previous needle chipping sessions of last week. What began as a red carpet stripping of the bar turn into a total removal of the entire piece!                          Incidentally, the bar is still in the car but now its  location is where the toilet once was .  We also rotated it 180 degrees to get access to the shelves in the back of it.                                                                                                               Meanwhile Kyle was busy first with repairing the sandblaster.   Then he "blasted" two support bench pedestals.  After that he then welded and repaired  a few holes that had appeared in them over the years.   Jane, next, primed them.  After letting the primer dry she top coated them with paint.    Previous to the painting she also sandblasted 17 window latches that were removed from the brass window frames earlier in the morning by myself.    She was a very busy young lady the entire day.    For only five people in this day session we  certainly accomplished a lot.                                                                                                                             Year end donations are already arriving at Irm.      Please consider donating to  the Track Space Fund for the 2612.     Thank You    Roger    

              I have fallen behind on the updates of RI 2612 but I too hope to fill in the reader with more progress. Every Week the look of the  interior is changing. The project has been attracting new volunteers to continue our efforts. Every Wednesday and Saturday there have been at least 5 or 6 people working on it and a couple of times even 8 or 9. Here are the newly added results.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Using house air with the needle chipper makes quick work of removing old paint.                                                                                                                  This upcoming entry will take you into the October timeline.    All this activity is the results of 8-10 volunteers devoting there spare time to this project.    Thanks again to Jane, Loraine, Gary, Paul, Kyle, Ray, Dave, Dan, Jan and Roger.  

                                                      With the Thomas event and the wonderful 4-day Railfan weekend now behind us work  began again in earnest.  We began by disassembling and then sandblasting spare rusty RI seat frames that we found in our storage field.  These will be installed in the middle of the car where the original six were removed to make room for the "bar."  Gary Sherman has made it his responsibility to remove any old bolts and to sandblast the rusty steel parts. Jan, Jane, and Loraine began priming them after they were sandblasted. Having the sandblaster operational is a very big plus.  Then they will be topcoated and reassembled.   Future blogs will show the results of our efforts.                        I would like to welcome to the crew another new member to our team.  Jan G. Hervert has been helping with the new task of repainting the six seat frames.    Welcome to the 2612 project, Jan!!                                               Upcoming, in the next few blogs will be the renewed effort of removing more old paint. This time the area below the windows and around the doors will be needle chipped. A much faster process than scraping a section by hand w/ paint scrapers.                          Remember to send your donations in for the new barn.    Maybe I should use the plural of barn, which is barns.  Yes, there is some talk about more than one barn being built. Wouldn't that be magnificent!                  Roger

                        A big "Thank You" goes out to everyone who was involved with the Rock Island 2612 Project!   Making it operational in six months was NO easy  task!  It took a team effort to achieve the needed results!   Here then in no particular order are the names of the people who helped make the job happen.    Dave Cook,  Dan Bixler, Loraine Bixler, Gary Sherman, Brian Paterson, Andy Townsend,  Mark Hoffman, Paul Cronin, Mike Steigerwald, Ray Erickson, Nancy Ring and yours truly.  Special thanks  goes to the operations department for switching the car around and to Dept Curator, Mike Baksic, for believing in our efforts.                                                                                                                                     Here are  some  pictures of the crew that made the RI 2612 operational!                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                      Coming up.....   The second half of the year begins with  more needle chipping of the interior.             We still need funds for track space!            Restricted Fund... RI 2612 is the category.                        Thanks   Roger Kramer

                                                   I and a few other members of the coach dept have been using the car department's sandblaster for about three years.   Thank you, Rod, for letting us use the car dept's blaster.   The question was always asked.... WHEN is the coach department getting their own to use?                     That happened early last year [2012] when we received a good used cabinet blaster. But it was never installed and made operational.  This year with the help of new coach volunteers, Brian Gary and Kyle and the old timer, myself, we assembled it, adjusted it, attached it to the small air compressor and plugged it in to house electric power.   AND.... It now works.   It's amazing what a little effort and motivation will produce. My compliments and thanks to everyone involved.  Now the coach department does not have to spend non productive time walking back and forth from the barn 4 car shop. We can instead use that time to sandblast. Here then are just a few examples of the first sandblasted pieces.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         This machine will aid in future restorations and improvements of coach equipment.                     You will see the difference!! Thanks again to Brian Gary and Kyle. I wanted to get this blaster working for many months.  With new members and new energy we did it. Keep reading for more future changes!   Its amazing the results this machine will accomplish!  It sure increases production. Future blogs will show you our progress.     Roger Kramer                                             BTW, please remember to donate to the Barn 14 building fund. It's most important to save what IRM already Has.