Freight Car Department

This time I am not so tardy as usual with posting the late news for the Russell snow plow project.  But to start out this report we want to welcome two long time IRM volunteers - they reported today to help on the plow project and join the fine restoration team we have already.

Lorne Tweed Photo

Cheryl and Bob Kutella started the mortises on the drill press.

Mortising

Let me introduce Cheryl Lint.  She has helped a lot in the Strahorn Library and especially with our annual vintage transport event.  Today she was in the wood shop and I recruited her to assist on the framing for the last window opening on the plow, the one boarded up on the south wall.  We cut and planed timber for the framing, and then proceeded to drilling and mortising to put the four pieces of the frame together.  In no time at all they were all drilled out and Cheryl was handling a paring chisel like a pro, chopping them out square and smooth.  Thanks, Cheryl, you are welcome back anytime!

Headlight

Wally Unglaub came down from Milwaukee and also helped on the CGW X 38 project.  He started out removing paint from the replacement headlight casting.

Painting

And them Wally moved on to prime paint some new pieces of interior lining and trim for the plow.  Thanks go to you also, Wally.

North Door

I know, this is a terrible picture, but no matter where I stood the sun was almost directly into the lens.  Last week I said the north door was to be closed up, and here, Jim Leonard has finished that task.  Ready for winter, now.

Plow Nose

Our trustworthy Ray Pollice was on hand and worked on paint removal on the front end and bottom edge of the plow wedge.

Inside

Inside the box, Jim Leonard continues the sometimes tricky installation of more of the tongue and groove lining.  You can see three dots left of the window.  These are mounting bolts and a conduit entry for the telephone communication lines to the pusher locomotive.  That is one of the reasons we are putting all the lining in the back wall - so we can finish up more of the back wall exterior.

On the Outside

On the outside you see here the telephone jack receptacle mounted properly for the first time at IRM.  In many of the preceeding month's BLOGs you have seen this mystery object loose and dangling.

Wednesday was an exceptionally productive and satisfying day for the crew.

A Prime Candidate

Rich Witt worked diligently to prime paint new parts for the interior of the plow.  15 pieces made today, and as fast as Rich processed them, they went up on the car.  On some of them the paint was still wet.

More Help

Whenever and wherever help is needed, Henry Vincent is there to help.  There is an array of primed parts on the bench before him

Drilling

This piece of interior lining is ready to fit.  Dave Rogan is drilling clearance and counterbores, having marked it up when we fit it inside the plow.

Last Look

Here is a last look through the north side doorway.  About half the rear wall now has new tongue and groove lining.  Much more was in place at the end of the day.

Weatherstrip

I said above that was the last look, meaning that doorway will soon be closed up for winter.  Jim Leonard fit in a blank door, and here he is installing new weatherstrip to help keep out the rain and coming snow.  The weatherstrip is exactly the same section material used by the CGW.

Paint Removal

Fred Ash helped again with removing paint from the south side of the nose.

Big Jobs

There were two big jobs we set as goals for the day.  Here Victor Humphreys is wiping down the rear wall after sanding it, and Dick Cubbage is working his way around to the south side with a wire wheel, prior to priming that area.

Maroon

Then Victor moved in with a bucket of maroon paint destined for the back wall.  All was done at day's end and it looks almost startling to see it in maroon as compared to rust, peeling paint, and a large gaping hole there when we acquired this only a few months ago.

In the Bucket

Jim Leonard attacked the front area of the plow with black paint.  Here he is in the bucket to reach the structural channel under the roof, cleaned and primed last week.

Done

Jim finished up the second coat of shiny black enamel over the half of the nose we are working on now, and it fairly glistens, even in the soft cloudy light today.

Lots of odds and ends addressed and completed on this project today, including more of the above mentioned interior lining, two more framing timbers, and more!

This will be another fairly short report.  I am on the horns of a dilemma.  If there is a small crew my hands are full of tools doing work (my preference) so there are few pics.  If there is a large crew, I take time off to take more pics, but then suffer the derision (just kidding) of the folks bearing the brunt of the work.

In the Bucket

The weather was fairly pleasant and Jim Leonard showed up early for an hour or two that developed into ALL DAY.  Thanks Jim.  He immediately set to work in the bucket working on the top edge of the roof above the nose.  There is a steel channel member there for structural support and he wirebrushed all the dreck and paint chips out of there.  It is fairly fussy, slow work with lots of rivets, inside corners to deal with.  He stayed at it and the area received primer by the end of the day.

Interior Lining

John Faulhaber started the day by cutting several boards to fit and serve as the interior lining of the plow.  Then he proceeded to prime them and Jim finished that off after lunch.  There is a sometimes confusing sequence of steps to finish off the interior timber framing inside the plow.  In this case, the finished lining must go on the back wall to be able to finish framing the two side walls and the roof timbers.  Hard to explain - you have to be there.

Installation

Be there?  VIctor Humphreys was there - and here is shown as we install several of the boards for the lining.  Raw lumber stock in the AM, cut to fit, prime painted, and installed that same day!!  Good work.  Victor also worked on final body work on the back wall and under the south door.  I added some maroon paint to the two framed and finished window openings.

Good Weather

A bit off topic but Victor also is working at full speed on our B&O wagon top boxcar.  Here he is on the last panel on the north side and it was primed that day.  Probably by this time next weekend the entire north side will be in finish paint, except for some areas still needing repair.

And as usual a lot of other work going on.  We have a vigorous and active signal department and they changed out a head on signal 116.  Once the railroad is built and working it is done - right?  Not so.  There is a lot of work to maintain it working and in good repair, all the while adding new features and improvements.  The signal guys do this work (thank goodness) in the heat of summer, cold of winter, and today in fairly pleasant conditions.  There was a swarm of volunteers over, under, and all around the Shaker Heights 63 PCC car trying to puzzle out the electrical system and perhaps get this car mobile on its own power soon.

Once again we are following the pattern with most of the volunteers for this project attending on Wednesdays, and, weather permitting, a large dose of 'progress' can be seen every week.

Back Wall

In the previous BLOG ENTRY we mentioned that Victor Humphreys continues on the B&O wagon top boxcar.  Arriving refreshed (exhausted?) from a recent trip, Victor is also the go to guy for much of the body work on the plow.  Here he is touching up some of the weld areas, where scrappers had once provided us with a torched out large opening.

More Fred

Fred Ash provide some much needed help in an area not very easy to get to.  All the work had to be done from a ladder much taller than I am.  But here he is, wirebrushing the last untreated steel on the rear wall.  It got primed later in the day ahead of the rain which was predicted, and which materialized.

Headlight

Dave Rogan used the bucket truck on loan from Dave Diamond to provide some measure of safety and comfort getting up to and an top of the plow roof.  He has removed the remains of the old headlight - not necessarily a simple job with well rusted nuts and bolts.  Jim Leonard is in the shop here with the old headlight base in yellow, and the new donated base in red, much of the old red has now been removed.

Winning by a Nose

The major work scheduled and hoped for on Wednesday was to beat the rain and apply the first finish coat of black to the nose areas previously in primer.  Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard are starting the process here, aided by use of the bucket truck for areas not accessible by ladder or scaffold.

Done

Here is the nose in its new black paint.  Quick to type it in here, but a substantial job of several hours for Dave and Jim, just finishing up here.  It makes a milestone leap of progress evident.

Built By

While the painting and other tasks were ongoing, I snuck in some time to apply more lettering to the plow.  Here is new art work done just this Tuesday at the home computer, and applied to the side of the plow near the front.

More Lettering

Anyone who had done modeling on any car quickly realizes there was a lot more lettering used on any car than its simple reporting marks, and this becomes really evident when restoring a full sized rail car.  Here is the SAFETY APPLIANCES block of lettering and a REPACK block applied to the north side of the plow.  All researched, sized, and placed to historical photos.

Framing

Jim Leonard was inside the box fitting some more framing timbers and I had just finished the big CGW reporting mark on the side.  Yes, there is still a lot more lettering to painted on, but this gives a much better view of what to expect.