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Tuesday, March 6. 2018UP 428 Improving the Possibilities
First, let me say that on recent visits to the steam shop I was duly impressed by how many volunteers there were. Counting 25 would not be an understatement. Working on five or so different projects has created a number of teams. These teams are comprised of like minded Men and Women concentrated on various tasks to get the job done. Incidentally, there are also two father and son teams that regularly volunteer in the shop. Here are the teams working on the 428.
 Rich Thomas has begun installing and fitting the new steel floor underneath the firemens side  Here he has laid out the new steel floor and some parts that will be secured to it!  Dennis, our in house welder, working on a support bracket for the boiler  Another new volunteer from Quincy Illinois has built two new doors for the cab!  Rich is cutting the sheet steel to fit.  Here the new floor is being test fitted onto the frame. Yes another new volunteer from northern Illinois is assisting him.  Another view of the test fit. The object is to get the new floor in place so that we can finally install the cab frame.  Just a view of part of the shop. The reader should remember that this is one of three steam locomotives currently being worked on.  This last Sunday February 4, saw the last cross head shoe being filled with hot molten metal. The temperature is about 1600 degrees. Sure could quickly fry a hamburger!  The molten Babbitt is being poured into the frame. This also has to be heated and thinned to accept the hot metal.  Another view.  This is the final result. It takes about three days for the metal to cool! This is another team effort. Those involved are getting pretty good at pouring. They better for the next big project will be pouring the Babbit into the driving wheel journal boxes. This team was comprised of Tom, Nick Dey, Jeff, Chris and Monday, March 5. 2018Soiree 2018
Here are a few pictures of the 2018 IRM Soiree held at the Old Warsaw Inn.
 The Buck brothers among the crowd.  Say hello to Harold  Steve you look lonely there  The place was packed with members  Two Nicks and a Rich  The table with a beer and pitcher of water. The conversation was really flowing Sunday, March 4. 2018A UP 428 Thank You!
Just a short note to thank all of you who participated in the Union Pacific 428 Challenge grant. I will give you a little background for those of you who missed reading about it in an earlier blog. I wrote about a benefactor who offered a challenge of $5,000. to the 428 fund if donations could be matched up to that amount! Yes, he would contribute that amount! The response so successful that the time limit as well as the match was extended. The challenge grant was increased to $8,000 and time limit was extended thru the last day of February. I am happy to report that most of that grant was matched bring the total to $15,389. As a direct result of the interest generated there has been an uptick in activity on the engine. Already, in the steam shop there are three teams working on various jobs concerning the 428.
 Taken two months ago  One team is working on the 90 inch wheel lathe so that we can reshape the 428 wheel profile. Thursday, February 15. 2018Wednesday January 31
The last day of January was very busy day in the woodshop heated confines.
 Can you see Henry Vincent up there in between the rack shelving!?  Yes, Henry is installing new air line piping in the new addition of the shop. Hey, Henry, how is the world look from up there?  Here Randy Hicks is varnishing some seat frames for the CA E 36.  He is always busy making the his favorite interurbans more presentable to the membership and the general public.  Here is one of the entrance doors that Randy has already repainted. What a beautiful Red color.  This seems to be the coach department winter project. Paint stripping windows in the GBW coach. Here, Bob Olsen is at it again stripping off the old paint. When he gets done there should be about 40 windows stripped and ready for varnish!  Pete in now working on repainting a wood door to our class B Illinois Terminal electric loco  Victor and Dave Rogan here are discussing some manufacturing possibilities for the PRR Bobber Caboose  Curt Wahlmark is polishing some brass window parts for the G B W coach.  Richard Witt is again working on another drawing at his drafting table Monday, February 5. 2018A Real Moving Experience
The last day of January was a busy day for us at the Museum. General Manager, Paul Cronin, and Don, I forgot his last name, sorry, was the switching crew that moved a number of pieces of equipment in this cold winter weather. First, the switch crew moved the newly painted IC 3345 was moved from barn 10 to barn 14. To make room for this coach we had to move the Rock Island 2571 coach and leave it outside. No more room in any of the barns. We need to build Barn 15!!
 Heres the 3345 moving from barn 10  We moved the coach to temporarily site on the streetcar loop east of barn 9.  Next the new Milwaukee Road coach 649 was moved into barn 10 in the space that was vacated by the 3345.  Moving it though the barn 10 yard track  We then moved the bobber caboose out of barn 10 to reposition it for another entry.  View of the bobber and its newly resided area. Vick and his small crew have done a beautiful job!  Heres what the move created. A PFE wood refrigerator box car, used for the transportation of fruit and vetatables is now housed in barn 10 waiting for the repair of its wood siding and eventual new paint job!  Another view from the north side of the box car. Tuesday, January 30. 2018Shorts from the Electric Car Dept
Here are some developing projects from barn 4. I recently receive a note from one of our members who now lives in, Yes, in Hawaii. What a nice place to retire. His request was for some recent info regarding the ME interurban that Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel have been working on. So here is a small update. Included is a few other views and some of the project volunteers.
 Side view Please observe all the holes. They all had to be drilled before that huge steel piece could be installed.  End view  This is the other side. Please notice all the work that has been completed. Thats all new steel that first had to be fitted into place before the riveting could begin.  Thats all new deck plate fitted into position!  Norm by his project. Their getting it done!  All new rivets  Pete Galayda has been restoring and improving the appearance of the Illinois Terminal Class B unit. So far he has repainted all the windows and now plans to repaint eight doors. Nice job!  An interior shot of the Cleveland PCC Can any of you remember what it use to look like when the project was first started many years ago. WHAT a difference. Beautiful job guys.  Here is the team working on the Cleveland PCC. Lorne Tweed Ed Waytula and Eric Lorenz. There just admiring a newly painted sign holder for the PCC  Bill Wulfert, Victor and Bill chat about the days events.  Bob Olsen and Jeff Button are working on one of 40 some windows for the GBW 109. They all need to have the paint removed so that we can varnish the quarter sawn oak window frames.  Here Jack Biesterfeld is showing one of the processed frames. Lots of work, right Jack!? |
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Comments
Wed, 06-06-2018 17:20
Good Job on the 2018. Sincerely, Ethan A.
Tue, 05-22-2018 21:26
Nice to see 1630 in action. Having said that, what is the holdup with the Shay since the front end is reassembled and the shaker grate system is [...]
Tue, 05-22-2018 15:51
I see the web cams don't have the timelaps any more will that feature return?
Tue, 05-22-2018 11:46
Good for you guys to offer the C&NW baggage car to other museums which is 100+ years old; before scrapping it!
Sun, 05-13-2018 20:30
Painting up a ic pass car and am looking to find out what color the stripe is. I model in 1.6 scale. I have the brown and orange. Thanks to [...]
Tue, 05-08-2018 18:34
I bet those cars made some interest noises when they started moving.
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.