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Monday, April 13. 2020
The John Mcloughlin Mens Bathroom ... Posted by Roger Kramer
in Great Northern John McLoughlin at
11:00
Comments (0) The John Mcloughlin Mens Bathroom Gets a MakeoverContinuing 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. Now we have started the hardest job. Working on the ceiling and using a sander and electric wire wheel to remove the old paint. Thats Tim Fennell inspecting Sandis fine work. 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. Here we just finished painting the last two walls. A corner sink gets reinstalled underneath the mirror. With much of the work completed we moved on to the stripping the old paint from the steam and water pipes below the sinks. They are now also painted. That almost finishes the job. Removing the clutter will make it even better! 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. Monday, March 23. 2020
Major Restoration on the John McLoughlin Posted by Roger Kramer
in Great Northern John McLoughlin at
21:06
Major Restoration on the John McLoughlinThe 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! These hallway walls and ceilings had been prepped and sprayed primed a number of years ago. Now they had to be primed again. Once that area was completed we turned our attention to the other end of the sleeper. Here is the finished product. Walls are painted. Yet to be done is the ceiling. Thats the hardest part. We began removing all the old ceiling paint by scraping and then sanding to get a uniform surface. Andrew, our new volunteer, continues removing more old paint in hallway leading to the drawing room. 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. Tuesday, April 30. 2019
Work Begins Again on John McLoughlin Posted by Roger Kramer
in Great Northern John McLoughlin at
09:30
Comments (0) Work Begins Again on John McLoughlinThe 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 Tuesday, June 26. 2018
Part 2 John Mcgloughlin Progress Posted by Roger Kramer
in Great Northern John McLoughlin at
09:28
Comments (0) Part 2 John Mcgloughlin Progress
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.
Again this effort Howard Gierer is using bondo to repair a couple of holes in the lower exterior vestibule door. Sunday, September 24. 2017
The Applying Final Black on the Roof Posted by Roger Kramer
in Great Northern John McLoughlin at
14:36
Comments (2) The Applying Final Black on the Roof
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.
After applying the second coat of primer Howard now is spraying the first coat of black to the hips of the roof. Matt Holtz began applying a coat of Sherwin Williams black urethane on th flat part of the roof while Howard was painting on the 3345. |
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Comments
Fri, 01-15-2021 10:20
Hello Jason. Your comments are very much appreciated. Yes, there is much hard work that goes into all our restorations and maintenance here at the [...]
Fri, 01-15-2021 10:13
Hello Jack Yes, It will be one of our most impressive cars that we have at IRM when its completed. Thanks for the pat on the back! Roger.
Thu, 01-14-2021 21:05
Those cars look great so far guys! Man I wish I had the time to volunteer and become a member at IRM that looks like so much fun especially with how [...]
Tue, 01-12-2021 16:30
the pawnee is looking great a pat on the back to all involved
Wed, 01-06-2021 10:14
Good job on coach updates January 5, 2021. Sincerely, Ethan A.
Mon, 01-04-2021 12:31
Hello Jack Happy New Year from IRM. To my knowledge there was no damage from the minor ice storm that we had in late December, 2020. Some [...]
Sun, 01-03-2021 20:12
the museum area had lots of ice storms in area did the museum get a lot of damage
Thu, 12-24-2020 13:27
roger, Thank you to all of the Passenger car department volunteers. The #109 is going to be a great car when all done! Ted miles, [...]
Sun, 12-06-2020 08:46
Hello Ted We havenot finished lettering the 975 but we are well on the way. Look for a few blogs from me now that the wearther is colder and the [...]
Sat, 12-05-2020 18:36
i watched crew replace switch by diesel shop on dec 5. its good to see museum have equipment to do job and save money
Fri, 12-04-2020 14:56
It has been a long time with no news; have you finished lettering the Southern Pacific locomotive? Please post a picture. Ted Miles, IRM Member
Thu, 08-27-2020 09:53
I worked seasonally on the Cadillac & Lake City while the B-71 was in Lake City, MI, beginning in 1970. My primary job was steward/waiter/car cleaner [...]