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Sticky PostingsWelcome to the Freight Car Department Welcome to the blog for the Freight Car Department at the Illinois Railway Museum. Here you will see updates on projects, maintenance and repair schedules and news on pending or proposed acquisitions. Also, our department seems to be the defacto manager of the IRM Woodshop. Stay tuned for notes on projects that include making piles of sawdust.Our department also does a lot of the artwork and lettering for our restored cars, and in addition to freight cars, has included electric cars, internal combustion, steam locomotives, and steam passenger cars. You may see some of this work posted in the blog. The images on these blogs are 'thumbnails' only, but if you click on them with the left mouse button, you will see the full image. If there is a project you are interested in, please contact me and we will try to get pics/updates of work our dept may be doing in that area. To take advantage of the info elsewhere on the IRM website you will also see links to other areas of interest. Bob Kutella Collection Curator Tuesday, July 21. 2015Update on the CGW X38 Plow
This is a small CGW X38 plow update sent to me from Buzz Morisette
 Please notice the painted doors. They were painted and restored in our woodshop  Even the smallest details are being addressed Tight quarters under the truck.  Another pic showing the pot belly stove Sunday, August 24. 2014Freight Department Summer UpdateFilling in for Bob K. with help from Pauline Trabert this is Buzz with a Freight Dpt. Summer progress post. The photos are all from Wednesday August 20th. I worked on several various items this week including lamp shade repair for the X-38, patching holes in Soo-5001's roof, and testing a wood sealer on CNW 10494 wood caboose. Over the last year Dave H and I worked to cover our CNW 10494 wood caboose with recycled barn sheathing. It was a low cost and low maintenance way to preserve this car for future restoration. Next to treat and paint the ends.  CNW Cab - Photo by Buzz Morisette Dave seen here has started chipping, brushing, and priming under the south wing of the X-38 snow plow. Hot hard work here, I think he needs a hand.  Dave - Photo by Buzz Morisette Victor was inside the plow continuing to paint the restored interior car siding.
 Victor - Photo by Buzz Morisette This picture from last June shows the hole from removing rotten floor boards.  Floor boards open - Photo by Buzz Morisette Behind Victor you can see the repaired and painted closet door and the repaired floor with the reservoir tanks back in place. It took some planning to jack the heavy tanks up off the floor and then replace the floor under them safely.  Repaired floor - Photo by Buzz Morisette The Wednesday crew was making good progress on prepping our ICG caboose for new paint. Bill and Rick stopped for a moment for me to snap a picture.  Bill and Rick of the Wednesday Crew - Photo by Buzz Morisette Working on the south side of ICG-199458 Lee brushes the far sill while Dan sands below the cupola.  Lee and Dan - Photo by Buzz Morisette Ed was working the high iron brushing under the roof edge. This caboose received new wheels last year and is popular with operating crews and passengers because of the open vestibules to stand out on.  Ed working the high iron - Photo by Buzz Morisette Also saw Bill again at the X-38 plow getting ready to start lettering the north side. Bill offered to fill in for Bob K. who is still recovering from a broken leg.  Lettering X-38 plow - Photo by Buzz Morisette We miss you Bob, get well soon!! August 24th, 2014 Buzz Morisette. Thursday, May 15. 2014Wood, Car, and Freight Shop Update - May 14thBuzz Morisette wrote and took pictures for the following post: With Bob K. out with a bad leg I thought I would update the Wood, Car, and Freight Shop Blog with a few photos from Wednesday. The CGW Plow has seen a lot of progress even with the cold wet weather this spring. Exterior almost completely painted.  CGW plow exterior almost completely painted The stove is now back in place. Victor H, project manager, looks like he is waiting for the stove to produce some hot coffee. Dave R is coming up the ladder.  Victor H. and Dave R. look at the stove  The plow roof will be finished soon Dave and Chris R. checking their cameras, you can see the new toolbox and the completed car siding and ceiling work from this last winter.  Inside the plow with completed car siding and ceiling  The plow cab is completely finished off On the way back to the shop I caught Randy Hicks in the pit inspecting CA&E 309.  Can you find Randy in this photo? Pete G. in the shop painting parts for Charles City Western 300.  Pete G. in the shop painting parts for Charles City Western 300 He and his crew have rebuilt a 600 volt compressor this winter. Just checked out OK last week and ready to be installed.  Rebuilt 600 volt compressor 300 looks great with fresh orange paint and rebuilt grids being wired in.  Fresh orange paint on the 300 Over in barn seven I found Gery D. (L) and John F. (R) measuring TMER&L D-13 dump car roof for replacement car lines (Rafters).  Gery D. and John F. measuring TMERL D-13 dump car roof The Gery and John team have also finished the 810 roof painting back in barn 4  The 810 roof painting finished Also busy in the shop today were Lorne T. prepping and painting interior panels for the Cleveland 4223 PCC. And last but not least Rich W. working up plans for the arch window frames we need to make for the Boston and Mane wood diner.  Rich W. working up plans for B& Tim was not around today but I don’t know when the CRT 1024 was last updated. The photo below shows the new sign roll box, roofing, end platform, beam work, and special cast running lights next to the sign box.  CRT 1024 Tim and Frank just started cutting the new T&G car siding that’s set up in the shop. I need to finish the sign roll graphics for this project. Thanks for looking, (get well soon Bob - I don’t like to type) Buzz Morisette, May 15, 2014. Monday, October 14. 2013Tank Car Restoration Progress - September - October 2013
I continue to lag behind on these posts since I have been involved in other projects, including the location shooting for the upcoming Chicago Fire episode on NBC. So this will serve to get you a peek at another major milestone in our restoration efforts. Great Northern X-1390 was a company service tank car in relatively good condition, that was in great need of restoration. At 20,000 gallons capacity it is our largest tank car. Starting on September 23, a contractor provided services to clean and repaint the car. None of these efforts are without DRAMA, but the job is now complete. What follows is a sort of photo essay with captions providing most of the information. Of course donations to cover the work and provide seed money for future indoor storage, you are all encouraged and welcome to send your support to fund RX1390. Thanks. (Did I say this would be a LONG report??)
 First Cleanup at 6000 Psi Pressure Wash  Pete Galayda Delivering Removed Dome Walkways to Shop I am having a difficult time getting pics formatted for easy viewing so bear with me. OK I give up and will just post the pics centered in a long line. Next - - -  Car on spot in the bright sun. Take a good Look at the last of the original GN lettering.  Here is a last look at the remaining orange color on the dome.
 The dome is in a silvery gray primer  Dome viewed from the west Paint is next - - -  A lift was used to gain access all around  First orange paint goes on the dome The color makes a big difference. This is our first look at the orange - - -  It did not take long for all the orange to glow on the dome. It was just too exciting for my shutter button went off at a moments notice  The entire car body received two coats of primer  Here is the first look at the black  The black is also used on the underframe and trucks  The east side is now half black, whatever that means  And the black follows on the west side  This is only the first coat of finish color but it gives great promise for the finished job We relocated the worksite to the south of south junction so the trolley power could be restored. Always safety conscious, we turned that off when the painters were working under our overhead wires.  The second coat of black has been applied. Or the third coat depending on how you are counting.  A new morning and the black has been cocooned in plastic as preparations are made for the orange.  The final coat of orange, starting on the top.  Note that the dome has been sanded before the final coat of orange  Our painter, Willie, poses by the completed car At last the car is painted, but hard to see the full impact with all the wrapping and masking still in place. Ask and you will receive. We will close with two shots of the train pulling the car along with DODX 12661. Still wet, the car is to be placed temporarily inside a Barn.  Heading north on a clear blue sky day  The train pulling into the tail track before heading west to Barn 4
Monday, September 30. 2013DODX 12661 Review - September 29, 2013Here is a short review and tour of one of our tank cars, restored perhaps over 20 years ago.  Switch Move Tank car? I don't see any tank car. Yet this often the first step in any work at IRM. US Army 8537 is lugging a string of cars out of Yard 14 so that the subject car can be pulled to a better location. A great example of how IRM works and how it preserves so many aspects of railroad history. This could have been a period photo from decades ago, in countless locations.  Left Side The left side of the tank shows the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE lettering on the silver tank car body with black trim. The car was used to haul heating oil and possibly other petroleum based cargoes to air bases and defense silos during the height of the cold war era. I will guess this would have carried heavy oil products, since the car is equipped with interior piping and heating coils to thin and liquify a heavy product.  Warning There is lettering on the right side of the tank defining an AAR warning.  Dome Here is the dome with it long string of lettering. You can see that decades of outdoor storage has resulted in the upper areas of the dome and tank suffering mightily from sun and weather.  Right Side The right side of the tank has much lettering and info, most of it mandated by RULE for cars in interchange service.  Tank End The end had the standard array of lettering containing the reporting marks, capacity, and other data.  COTS For this era, of the restoration, a set of consolidated lube stencils were used. As shown above the car has suffered from being stored outdoors, setting us up to doing another restoration of what was once COMPLETE. The car is on our short list to repaint and I expect it may yet see some significant 'wear and tear' in the coming weeks. If we are to repaint and letter it yet again, should not we work to store it indoors so the work will last? Yes this is the commercial asking for donations to fund R12661. Thanks in advance. |
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Comments
Fri, 08-18-2017 00:52
Hi John T, We would love to have a copy of your Ohio crane information. Please contact Mark Secco concerning anything about rail bound cranes. Thank [...]
Fri, 08-11-2017 00:05
Randy, The 543 was never in that paint scheme. It'll likely be restored to the zebra stripe scheme whenever it does get restored. Jamie
Thu, 08-10-2017 17:46
If you ever get the money to repaint this engine, I would hope you would repaint it to have the big letters Santa Fe instead of the small print. [...]
Thu, 08-10-2017 10:38
I would like to know if these MR #649 and #542 were part of FEVR excursion in Nebraska? Awesome to have them to be part of IRM collection!
Sat, 08-05-2017 23:30
They need to restore Milwaukee road 33 and 37c along with the 3 Milwaukee road f units hey have
Wed, 08-02-2017 20:01
It was supposed to be restored and sat behind the NS Altoona shops for the better part of two years, waiting for that to happen. We finally had it [...]
Tue, 08-01-2017 02:42
those 2 Milw cars would actually look good behind one of the Milw F7's or the E9's.
Sat, 07-29-2017 22:02
I just donated to the Save the 800 campaign. Should the campaign fail, I would like my donation re-directed to ATSF FP45 #92 please. Please tell the [...]
Sat, 07-29-2017 13:14
I see Conrail 4601 has finally arrived. I suspect a cosmetic restoration and getting donations to put it in a barn are in order?
Sat, 07-29-2017 01:51
It was restored at Altoona before coming to Union from the Essex, CT area. BTW, is or was it going to be restored as a Virginian engine? or kept as a [...]
Fri, 07-28-2017 11:54
It appears to be the E33 that IRM aqquired a year or two ago.
Thu, 07-27-2017 14:06
What is the 4601 locomotive parked in front of the diesel shop?