Chicago Great Western X 38 Russell Snow Plow

Control Cupola

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

Ceiling Lettering

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.

Center Front

Left Front

Right Front

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.

Step One

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.

Look Closely

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.

On the Roof

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.

Grating

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.

A Wooden Lining

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

Cupola Roof

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

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.

Control Cab

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.

Herald

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.

Progress

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.

In Closing

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.

Rear Wall

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.

Backlit Photographers Society

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.

Framing Timber

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.

The Tally

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!

I said we had a large turnout and we also had an aggressive work plan for the X 38.

Moving Time

The first order of business was some cleanup and relocation of pieces of our new lumber stock so the Berlin Sander could be used.  Three new windows were previously glued up and now it was time to sand them finished.

Oiling Around

As John Faulhaber put it, "Any of you guys want to beard the lion?"  John is mentoring Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard on their first exposure to this 12,000 lb machine.  First step is to lubricate and check the 96 bearings on the machine.  Another one of our great collection of wood shop machines, many from the Milwaukee Electric Cold Springs, WI shops.  In due course the machine was started up and the three new window frames were finished successfully - that is not always a given with a machine now 98 years old.  No pics of those steps as I had my hands full.

Trim

With the windows sanded we went to the table saw and trimmed off the stiles, and then put a bevel on the bottom rail.  They are ready for prime painting and here Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard are cutting and mitering some of the 1/4 inch quarter round we made to retain the glazing.

Had Enough

I guess this is a rhetorical question with this crew.  Time for some fussy work to set up a jig and use the table saw to cut all the tenons for four more 'kits' for new windows.  John Faulhaber is doing the careful work of slicing thin pieces off the rail to create the cheek of the tenons.

Assembly

Final fitting was done on the kits for two more plow windows, these destined for the rear of the control cab.  Then on to assembly and gluing with John Faulhaber doing the honors.

Two More Done

There they are, all glued up, squared up, and clamped in our gluing press.  John checks square again and makes some fine tuning adjustments.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

The first order of business is to wish you and yours a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.  And to give all of you THANKS for your support and participation in ALL of the various IRM projects in 2012.  THANK YOU.

Yesterday at the IRM wood shop there was but a skeleton crew on hand.  I can assume many were making preparations for today's time with family and friends, or traveling to do the same.  That is entirely fitting and appropriate.

In the shop we used the time to work on more windows.  There was a time not too long ago when constructing and fabricating ONE new window from rough stock was a BIG EVENT.  Yet here we are well along the process for making ELEVEN new windows, in the space of a few short weeks.

Routed

Victor Humphreys and Dick Cubabge worked on eight new windows for the cupola cab of the CGW snowplow.  All these share the same profile and shape, but of course there are four different sizes, and each pair has both a right hand and left hand version.  Last week you saw the pile of prepared blanks, we referred to as 'window kits'.  Victor and Dick worked to rout a unique profile for the beading on that stock as you can see above.

Full Profile

The next steps were done on the table saw to slice two thin grooves and drop out  the remainder resulting in the rabbet, which will be used to place the glass in the finished window.  Here that is all done, three steps on each of 32 pieces of stock.  We made fabrication drawings on the computer for each type and are using those to set dimensions and sizes.  Four of the drawings lay before you in the above image, resting on three completed glue ups of windows.  Behind them are the stacks of window kits, now with each piece shaped and rabbeted as needed.  Maybe only barely visible but the pair of stiles facing the camera has had the layout lines added for plunging 3/8 inch slots on the mortising machine - the next steps.

I was not getting around too well yesterday so this may seem short to you all.  I am posting under the CGW X38 header since most of this entry is about that work.

Gluing

We started the day with John Faulhaber and Victor Humphreys (not shown) assembling, gluing and clamping three new windows for the snowplow.  Yes the winter season is upon us and we hope to produce a steady stream of new windows  These are quite recognizable already but remember there remain seven more steps in the process to complete them.

Kits

With the frames glued and squared, John and I moved on to the next batch of windows.  A lot of headscratching and layout work on two large planks of fresh stock, use of three of our major shop tools, and the result?  A stack of parts to be used as KITS for eight more windows, destined for the cupola cab of the snowplow.  John seems quite pleased at the results (I was also - see me smiling behind the lens?).  We are doing them this way since they all share the same profiles and rabbets.  Once that tooling is set up, it makes sense to do them all at the same time, sort of mass production.

Floored

Meanwhile Victor was in and out of the shop, lending a hand where needed and yet returning to his work on the B&O wagon top boxcar.  Even in marginal weather there is work to be done, sometimes darting in and out of the great outdoors.  Earlier this week more bad steel was removed, and this revealed some flooring in pretty bad shape.  Here, Victor is grooving out one of the new boards so it can be correctly fit around obstructions and rivets.

Earlier he had completed finish painting of the door weatherstripping for the snowplow.  And of course the usual suspects were on hand.  Buzz Morisette was working on restoring deteriorated headlining and car structure in the rear end of the the private car ELY, Tim Peters working on his marathon speed run for a new roof on an L car, assisted by Frank Sirinek, Mike Stauber, Fred Zimmerman, and Bill Wulfert, Randy Hicks (guru for all things CA&E wood), and a host of others.

I even managed some sit down time and worked on new brass seat handle castings for the Sand Springs 68.