Great Northern John McLoughlin

Continuing the restoration news on the John McLoughlin is the repainting of the Men's bathroom. Mark Hoffmann started by abrading two walls in late 2018.    They were primed to preserve the surface from rusting but we never top coated them. 2019 brought an increase in activity in the entire sleeper. That is when the work in the men's bathroom resumed. You will see, in these pictures, our renewed efforts.

Not shown in any of these pictures is the actual painting of the ceiling. As we found out in the Mt Harvard, working over your head on the ceiling is no easy task. The ceiling did get painted! Many thanks to Mark, Andrew, Tim, Bob, our volunteers.

After reinstalling all of the wall light fixtures, brass shelves and two sinks we moved on to the more difficult job! The team was to begin the most labor intensive work yet, the repainting of all four sections. Removing old paint from ceilings and walls was going to be a major, major job! We first had to remove the four seat cushions that made up each Pullman seat. No easy task. The seat cushion themselves are very heavy. Made up of metal coil springs, straps and wood, each weighted about 40 pounds. Yes, That's one reason why these sleepers were called heavyweights. Everything about these Pullman sleepers is super heavy. They were made to last a long time. My back can attest to that. Anyway, the next blog on the John Mcloughlin will focus on our repaint of the four sections. Donations to continue this project can be sent to: https://www.irm.org/donations/category/passenger-car-department/     Thanks, Roger.

The increased restoration activity in the heavyweight sleeper, John McLoughlin, began in earnest, the Spring of 2019.  My long-term goal is to operate this sleeper, along with our other heavy weight sleepers, in our demonstration Pullman passenger train!

With much of the interior restoration of the Mt Harvard finished my focus shifted from the Mt Harvard to the John McLoughlin. Comparing both projects I soon realized that the "John" was certainly going to be a more complicated and very expensive project! We had, in the past, worked in barn 3, on both the exterior, as well as, the interior. It was a fill in project and took a long time to complete anything. What we did accomplish took years. Please review past blogs concerning those efforts. The reader will soon realized the extent of our concentrated efforts. A project like this takes a lot of men and women power, as well as, paid and volunteer help. Critical to our success is You. Please come out and help!

Once that area was completed we turned our attention to the other end of the sleeper.

Not to be out done, the exterior receive a makeover from Howard Geier. Years ago Mark Hoffman and I needle chipped both sides of the John McLoughlin and applied a coat of Sherwin Williams primer and satin top coat.  I knew I wanted to coat it with a finish coat but never got around to it. Now the opportunity presented itself.

Well, we got one side painted now for the other side. That might take a while for the car has to be turned around and that takes a lot of switching! If you are interested in volunteering see me or the other volunteers in our shop, barn 10! Progress on the John McLoughlin is on the fast track. Your donation will certainly help us reach our goal. Please consider a donation to the John McLoughlin restoration fund.   Thanks, Roger Kramer.

The warmer weather is here although you wouldn't think with 8 inches of snow April 13th and 27th here in Huntley where I live. With a few volunteers we have been scheduling work on the John McLoughlin. This year we are beginning to tackle a large job of repairing the worst of the two vestibules and adjoining steel support structures. The sleeper sat outside for many years in Hamilton, Illinois and the weather took its toll on the exterior steel. Both stairs and all joining structures must be replaced. Here are some pictures of that beginning.

We are also resuming the interior restoration. Mark Hoffmann and Matt Holtz have already removed more old paint in the hallway near the men's bathroom. Three weeks ago Mark primed the area after Howard Geier had repaired a number of imperfections on that wall.

The next report will detail the application of the finished coat of paint in these areas. Please consider a donation to the John Mcloughlin project.   Thanks, Roger

Not to be out done the John Mcloughlin also has seen its share of new progress.    For this we have to thank Mark Hoffmann, Howard and Mary Gierer, and Bob Olson for all their efforts.  Work is now focusing  on the hallway and the men's bathroom.  This type of paint restoration is very tedious and takes a while to remove the old paint, sand and then prime.  With a few more volunteers we could get the entire area primed and painted by this fall. Regardless, you will read about  our progress.   This is a brief summary of the John McLoughlin project to date.  We have a variety of activities related to this sleeper that require various skills and talents such as painting, carpentry, metal work and sandblasting of parts.   All can be accomplished by you the volunteers.   Please come out and visit us in  the coach and freight car shop of barn 10.     Thanks   Roger  Kramer   

We have been very busy this early fall.  All the volunteers that work in barn 10 have been recruited into the fall the painting crew.  As you now know various painting projects have taken priority this year.  We are trying to get all these projects completed before winter starts.  By now you have seen my blog progress on the IC 3345.   That is not the only department car being reworked. We have also been slowly restoring and repainting the roof of the, John Mcloughlin, our 8-1-2 Pullman sleeper.  The painting of  black is the culmination of our hard efforts.   Please take a look!  It might not look like much but some of our volunteers have spent over 8 months working for this moment.  In addition,  Howard Gierer and crew have repainted five roofs on our Rock Island fleet.    .   Please consider sending in a donation the help support more  restoration improvements on this heavy weight sleeper.   The John Mcloughlin  project needs your support.          Thanks            Roger