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

The string of two consecutive good weather workdays was broken yesterday with intermittent rain, some of it heavy.  So we worked in the shop and inside the plow body.

Buzz Morisette was in the shop fabricating and shaping new framing timbers for the cab cupola on the plow.  Most of the wood around the windows and sills was rotted and will be replaced.

Dave Rogan worked inside the cupola between downpours and needlechipped and wire brushed a lot of the steel.  In an afternoon dry spell he is applying primer here, and then the temporary window blanks were re-installed to help keep it dry.

Victor Humphreys and I fussed with the next piece of lining inside the plow.  For some reason it was troublesome to fit into place.  I bet we went through five fits and they gave us fits.  Each time the wood notches seemed to expand (high humidity?) to prevent the piece from slipping in cleanly.

With the long piece installed below the side window, Victor quickly marched up the wall toward the right front corner.  These are some of the pieces measured and cut last weekend and now ready for nailing.

Paul Cronin is just completing the last of 32 more new pieces of interior lining and framing for the plow body.  Whoever arrives first on Saturday will have some painting ready for them!

Buzz Morisette is up inside the control cab as we try to re-engineer how all the windows, sills, and stops will go together.  Note that much of this was totally useless and rotted away.  He is holding up one of the original windows for size and placement

Before too much dismantling was done to replace the bad parts, Buzz took many pictures to help document the areas.  Kind of unusual to find instructions painted on the ceiling - but here it is.

Here is an experiment in formatting so you may see the front of the cab by stitching together the three views.  The left front view shows faint traces of more lettering; the right front view shows "EMERGENCY VALVE" stenciled in red. Lots of piping, electrical, gauges - most of which will have to be removed to replace the spongy wood behind them.

 

 

 

A lot of the work is now started with removal of the window post and corner posts on the left side.  Look closely and you will see the empty mounting holes in the steel members.  And what a scenic view out the window!  Freight cars, of course - that is our department.

This view looks downward at the left front corner.  the wood has been removed to the bare steel framing.  And another trace at the very top of this image of more lettering and flaky paint - we figured this one out - but not without some headscratching and creative railroad archeology.

Gerry Dettloff, Jim Leonard, and Dave Rogan are up on the roof of our snow plow.  Gerry volunteered to drag the cutting torch up top to remove the first section of metal grating, while Dave is needle chipping more of the cupola roof.  Sharp eyed readers may notice something different in this picture.  The completed side of the X 38 is in the sun!  Yes, some excellent cooperation by other departments resulted in this unit being turned end for end, as well as the B&O wagon top boxcar just to the east.

Jim Leonard is lifting away the old metal grating.  This will allow us to clean and repaint the area below it.  For the period of this restoration, wooden roof walks will be added in place of the metal.

Victor Humphreys is installing another section of the interior lining inside the snow plow body.

Here is a better view of what Dave Rogan was cleaning on the cupola roof.  He and Jim Leonard worked mightily in the sun most of the day.  Removing old paint, wirebrushing the area, and then applying primer.  In addition to this roof area, they did some paint removal and priming on what is now the north door wall.  Buzz Morisette has begun the tasks needed to install the new cupola windows, John Faulhaber is working to trace and document lettering in the cab.  And on the B&O boxcar a repaired door threshold plate was installed.

Another unusually nice weather day saw many volunteers going on and in the Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow.

WOW - the iconic CGW Corn Belt Route herald was completed today and it really sets off the north side.  Some of the crew for today are seen here, Dave Rogan, John F, Victor H, Jim Leonard, and Bob Kutella.  Thanks go to Rich Witt for volunteering to snap this image, mostly one of us is behind the lens instead of in front of it.

Jim Leonard went up on the roof quickly to take advantage of good weather and he set to work removing rust and paint from the window posts and framework on the north side windows.  Dave Rogan also pitched in here on the 'high wire' work.

John F pitched in with me on the painting of the CGW herald.  Not done yet in this pic but we were focused on the end zone throughout the day.

Jim L is working to close up the open windows on the control cab at the end of the day.  You can see some of the roof cleaned and primed, the headlight mounting plate, etc.

I just cannot resist another shot of the plow showing the new herald, the two new windows installed and lacking only the new door (already made) to pose this view as 'done'.

Other progress on the plow today included installation of some more of the interior lining, and removal of the two operator's seats up in the cab.  This was done now to get fabric on order for re-upholstery and also to make more room for the window work.

It is time to start separate entries for our snowplow work again.  Yesterday was perhaps the first Saturday with weather good enough to move outdoors and resume work on the snow plow - our coming out party at the Spring Cotillion.

In the plow interior Victor Humphreys is nailing in the last board for the interior wall wall lining at the back of the plow.  Some tricky work as we neared the top and had to be creative to get the boards in place.

Yes, this is a poor image - but I get a free one month membership in the Backlit Photographers Society if I use it here!  The second new shop made window was installed on the north wall - all the trim mitered and fit almost perfect.

Bill Peterson is at the radial arm saw to cut new framing timbers for the plow interior, these destined to allow interior lining for the roof.  Buzz Morrisette went out of his way and showed up early in the AM with a car load of new wood, and we wasted no time in taking the measurements and creating short pieces from long pieces.  Then Bill and I planed these to thickness, cut notches to clear structural angles, and drilled recesses to clear rivets.

Here is a pile of new parts cut and fit, ready for painting during our next session.  The two new framing timbers, and 23 short pieces of new lining to start that work on the south side wall.  Add to the count the completion inside the plow of the rear lining, one new window, and then Victor installing four more pieces of wall framing on the north and south sides.

OH NO DEPARTMENT - In the background of the picture is Nick Kallas on his cell phone working on a new equipment acquisition for IRM!

There has not been much news about the new barn planned over Yard 14, and I have been waiting to post some firm news or commitment.  I am sure our financial team is busy with fund balances, dotting every i and crossing every t.  For my part I have gone back over 6 months of weekly cash reports and manually created my own ledger sheets.  I am convinced that what I see shows we are at or very close to the fundraising goal for the new barn.  That is based on the estimated cost of the project, so understand it may have to be tweaked somewhat.  I would be surprised if that was NOT the case.

To start out there has been remarkable support for the project and I would like to publicly thank all members, donors, and friends who have contributed to the project.  That goes for any donation, whether to those items in my department, for another favorite department or single car, or in a general way to the overall project.  THANK YOU.

So these are my words, not official word passed down from the mountain.  I have paid particular attention to those cars in my department - remember I am carrying the burden of Collection Curator for the Freight Car Collection.  (At least sometimes it can seem like a burden)  We REALLY, REALLY need some more donations and support for two of the cars we hope to subscribe to Barn 14.

MILWAUKEE ROAD 97054

This car is in the unusual position of having restricted donations on hand to cover its move inside the next Barn.  But there remain some expenses associated with its acquisition that remain to be cleared.  In the overall context of things these are relatively small and my fervent hope is that these may be cleared off the books to assure it will go inside under roof.

The background stems to when we first voted to acquire the car.  The railroads moving it to our site had indicated to us that transportation would be donated.  Somewhere along the way that did not come to pass.  We also had pledges to cover all acquisition costs, and regrettably those were not honored and fell into a crack. 

The car is the only covered hopper in our collection and demonstrates the development of milestone technology in the transportation spectrum.  This has very shallow hopper bottoms thereby increasing the volume of the carbody.  But most commodities cannot be unloaded by gravity with that design.  Enter the application of the AIRSLIDE.  This consists of a porous membrane inside the car, lining the hopper troughs.  Upon delivery of the car, compressed air is applied to the membranes and it escapes into the cargo, 'fluidizing' it and making it flow like water.  Can we all get behind this one and push it over the goal?

CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN X 38

This project is one of the great success stories at IRM.  We thought we had lost this Russell snow plow five years ago and yet managed to rescue it last year from the scrapper's torch, literally at the last minute!  Many of our volunteers have devoted hundreds and hundreds of hours to the restoration tasks - a real team effort..  Last September we were able to open it up for tours and give visitors a chance to operate the plow wings during Member's Showcase Weekend.  Over half of the carbody has been cleaned to bare metal and repainted and partially lettered.  Many wood parts in the carbody needed replacing, including carbody framing, floor repairs, interior wood lining, window and door framing, and sills.  Over the past winter volunteers continued the work in our shops constructing eleven new windows from scratch along with two new carbody doors.  The window and door work was done on a wish and prayer at very little cost, yet represents over $10,000 worth of woodwork if it had to be purchased from a custom cabinet shop.

As the weather moderates we hope to install all that work and continue the carbody restoration, repairs and repainting.  Should all that effort be for naught?  The opportunity is clear!  With more funding this also can go inside and be protected under roof.  The work will be saved from rapid weathering and deterioration, we can confirm the historic value and recognize the volunteer efforts.  The car promises to be a showpiece and be unique in displaying the character of its design, and its use by an iconic midwestern railroad fighting winter storms.  We are about halfway to the goal for this one piece of equipment and the end is in sight.

Any or all of you reading this probably check our website BLOGS on a regular basis so know what is coming next.  If you wish to donate using our on line feature, you may elect to send a contribution to Chicago Great Western X 38 (listed as an option under FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT), or to INDOOR STORAGE (again please choose the FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT option).

If by mail please send the check to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL 60180

On your check please use the memo line to specify your intended donation use.  Fund R97054 for the covered hopper, fund RX38, for the snow plow, or fund RISWFC to help with the balance needed for indoor storage of freight cars.  I will pledge that any new unspecified donation to the department, such as to fund RFRTCR will go first toward housing our historic equipment.

This is your chance to make a REAL TANGIBLE contribution to preserving history and safeguarding the equipment and the work that goes into them, for decades to come.  Having just re-read this before posting, I will sign off now as I go to find MY checkbook.  Let's not miss the train on this one!