Chicago Great Western X 38 Russell Snow Plow

A good crew continued on the job today, much of the time preparing for Showcase Weekend.  Please stop by.

These Will Grab You

The grab irons, steps, and handrails have received their first coat of finish black on the northwest corner of the plow.  Inside work today included repairing and cleaning, prime painting of the two cast threshold plates, and priming of custom made moldings done last week.

Chipping Away At It

Dave Rogan was on the job all day, and here is chipping old paint and rust from the back wall of the plow.  We moved around a lot and tried to make best use of the nice weather today, although some said it was too hot.  Some needlechipping and wire brushing was done on the sloping nose of the plow up front, testing the access we have to reach some of those areas.

Paint

Saving the best image to last.  Victor Humphreys sanded and repainted a second coat of black on the plow wings and the side of the nose wedge.  It is really spiffy clean and shiny.  Come out and see for yourself!  That is really a deep, rich maroon.

These BLOG entries are delayed this week due to some largely self induced problems.  Special Thanks to Rod Turner for helping to resolve the issue.

This new acquisition has seen remarkable progress on several fronts since arriving at IRM earlier this year.  The volunteer team set some goals at the beginning of the season and most of those have been achieved!  The north side has been needle chipped, primed, and painted with its first finish coat of paint.  Chicago Great Western in 1950 lives on.  New wood framing has been fabricated and installed inside the box, air piping restored and the pneumatic plow wings are operational!  Floor areas are replaced and repaired, grab irons and handrails replaced and installed, and a steel wall panel that had been torched out has been welded in and replaced.  All in all, an aggressive plan achieved through the hard work and teamwork of many dedicated volunteers who have contributed a day or many days of regular work.  We never turn away anyone at any skill level.  You meet and enjoy like minded individuals, and can learn the workings of the equipment and gain new skill sets, yourself.

New Floors

Buzz Morisette has completed restoration of two floor areas, one which had a lot of rot, one which lived under the oil stove and had been burned through in a fire mishap years ago.  It is now much safer to climb aboard and explore the plow interior.

North Doorway

Jim Leonard is installing new sheet metal below the doorway, the piece had been fabricated by Victor Humphreys.

Maroon Paint

This is the first view of new dark maroon paint on the plow body, carefully matched to CGW color samples.  This pic is spoiled by a sun flash (also in my eyes), but shows that for now, not all the areas behind the plow wings can be so treated.  But with the plow wings retracted, the finished appearance will be correct and complete, and with the wings open you will see circa 1965 CGW orange paint.

First Maroon

This was a really exciting MILESTONE restoration day with six volunteers turning to the task of applying the first coat of maroon paint.  Weeks of needlechipping, wire brushing and priming were the basis for being ready to paint. Victor Humphreys is up in the air and attacking the side of the box.  Yes, it is a dark maroon, and in the shadows, with the sun low in your eyes, you have to look closely to appreciate it. 

Welcome Visitor

Gary Baker was visiting from the Orange Empire Museum in southern California and he quickly pitched in.  Here he is using the needlechipper to scale off many layers of dirt, rust and old paint on the nose of the plow wedge.

Marooned

Victor Humphreys and Jim Leonard are nearing the end of the painting work in the late afternoon, on the north side.

Black Also

Tom Bernacki was out to help, and he pitched in on many tasks.  He got a brush and some black paint and applied it to many areas primed and needing that treatment.  It is all about the details.

As mentioned elsewhere, the plow restoration is ready to show off this weekend at Museum Showcase.  At 1:30 PM Saturday please join us on Track 40 at the east end of Barn 4.  You will see the Russell Plow spread its wings, and be able to participate if you so wish.  If you enjoy the experience, a once in a lifetime rare opportunity, you may help by feeding a donation can with paper money or checks, to help keep the momentum going and the project ON TRACK.

If you cannot attend, please consider mailing in a donation to restricted fund R X 38.

Thanks!

As we set to work in the morning it was raining so we moved into the wood shop.  Dave Rogan, Rich Witt, and I manufactured about 50 feet of special profile molding (two different shapes) to act as stop jambs for the window and door openings.  The rain stopped so everyone shifted gears and went to our 'outdoors' shop space.

Floored

Buzz Morrisette was fastest on duty and he continues to cut out damaged flooring and to replace the heavy boards.

Visitor

Mr. Hans Bolt was visiting IRM from Switzerland and we showed him the plow work in progress.  Dave Rogan is explaining the mechanism for moving the plow wings.

Priming

Victor Humphreys set up ladders to work in tight places once we opened the plow wing.  He wirebrushed all the areas needlechipped of many layers of old paint, and then set about applying primer.

The Edge

It is pretty easy to see large flat areas of the side that are cleaned and ready for paint.  But there are a lot of odd details still needing attention.  Dave steadies the ladder while Victor gets to the upper rear edge of the wing.

Working not Watching

There is always some task ready for attention.  When Victor did not need a ground man for the high painting, Dave Rogan set up a needle chipper and began to attack the steps under the rear door.  Dave also did some work chipping the cast steel door threshholds during 'intermissions'.

QUIZ

Here is your quiz for the day.  The rear truck has casting marks indicating it was originally for the New York Central.  Interesting, but not unheard of for rail equipment to have had their trucks swapped for any number of reasons or maintenance.  But look at this image.  To the right of the bolster pocket there is a raised part of the casting, with a hole in it, and a slot behind that hole with a sheet metal retainer of some sort.  There is one on each side of the bolster pocket.  Does anyone have an idea what their purpose was??

We considered that these are freight car trucks.  Parts of the NYC ran from third rail but no reason to attach any kind of device to pick up current for a freight car, and unlikely there could have been any need for an inductance box or other device to be hung there, to trigger signal indications.

This will be a relatively short update.  We did not have a lot of volunteers, and many probably chose to spend the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day Weekend, with family or other pursuits.  But we did get a lot done.

Rear Wall

This is the rear wall, now nearly done.  Saturday we did some blacksmith work and straightened the metal above the rear window.  It had bowed inward about a half inch and there were sledgehammers swinging and some new words invented.  With the wall straight, we fabricated remaining window framing, primed it, and installed it, as seen here.  You can also see some of the bodywork and filler that has been applied to smooth out weld areas, where the missing metal panel was welded in below the window.

North Side

On the north side the goal is to have some finish paint applied very soon.  But needlechipping remained to be done in some fairly inaccessible areas.  Maybe that is why it was saved until last.  Look up under the small roof overhang behind the plow wing, half is cleaned up.  By days end, all had been chipped as well as the short notch wall behind the plow.  Of course that meant we got to charge up the air system and move the wing out, and then back in.  Obviously a railfan effort of fun, but we 'needed' to do it.

Front Anchor

On the front nose of the plow is a massive anchor casting and that is used to mount a front coupler when needed for ferry moves.  There really is no springing or draft gear in the traditional sense, merely a very stout pin to hold the coupler in place.  What you see could interfere with good snow removal and the air pipe and hangers often got damaged or bent in severe situations.  So it was made largely removable for winter operations.  There is also a train air pipe down to the coupler mounts, and when the coupler was removed, that pipe has a universal joint and the drop leg is swung back and over the plow roof, to rest upon it, in front of the cab cupola.  In the background, note the passenger department roof repairs underway on DM&IR 84.

Surely you modelers will want to include this detail on your masterpiece.  Walthers made a model of the Russell Plow in HO scale and while out of stock, they can be found on E bay.  This detail is not included on the model.  A little kitbashing and adding details and you will have a very credible model of the real thing, only found at IRM in Union IL.

Rare Visitor

I will digress strictly from the snow plow report, here, to show a rare visitor to Barn 4.  The Nebraska Zephyr is receiving a detailed inspection and some repairs in preparation for the upcoming excursion trip.

And in the Freight Car Department we completed a two and one half week blitz to repaint our Borden's Milk Car, BFIX 520.  We sanded, primed, and applied two coats of finish enamel to the top half of the car, as well a some washing and cleaning, and a repaint of the black handrails and grab irons.

This was another productive day for the crew working in the Freight Car Department

Spreading Its Wings

Simon Harrison and Dave Rogan are the proud parents of a milestone accomplishment for our snow plow.  Pictured here, BOTH plow wings are now operational and can be extended or retracted.  At the lunch table we invited any of the volunteers on site to come over and get a chance to operate the wings - many did just that!

The wings may move about 36 inches outward, and many may have the misconception that they swing much farther.  As we got the plow it was repainted by the CNW into its yellow scheme.  But behind the plow wings lives the CGW bright orange from the 1970's.  Some say CNW stands for Cheap & Nothing Wasted, - in any case they apparently sprayed all around the exterior but did not bother to open the wings and finish the job.

Roofwalk

Jim Leonard continues to wrestle with well rusted nuts and bolts on the roofwalk.

New Flooring

Buzz Morisette is making good progress with framing repairs and now is laying down new flooring in the carbody box, between the doors on each side.

Moving Up

Simon Harrison is chipping high on the car side, only a few areas left to clean up on the north side, and then on to the finish paint.

Looking Down on the Crew

We do not look down on our volunteers, but I had a chance while up on the roof to get this unusual angle of Simon and Dave working just below the edge of the roof line.

Cab Details

Modelers may be interested in this shot of the cab roof.  It was almost a spotting feature of the CGW (their steel cupola cabooses also had this) that a handrail was installed around the perimeter of that small roof.  Most other railroads did not go to the expense.

In the Corner

The handrail was supported by eye bolts and at the corner it was rounded.

Also this week, a separate crew finished the second coat of new paint on our Borden's Milk Tank Car.  That was good.

Those of you patient enough to read this far - we would like to extend an invitation to all those members and friends who plan to come out for Museum Showcase Weekend.  On Saturday 9/15 about 1:30 PM we are going to do a demonstration of the snow plow wings in action.  And ANY of you physically able to get up into the plow, and to its cab (not yet restored) are invited to try your hand at the controls.  Of course, first come, first served, and if 50 of you are hoping for this rare experience, well - we will do what we can.  Did any of you wonder what it was like to run such a plow, to have the power in your hands to swing the wings, to have bragging rights over your fellow railfans or modelers?  Now is your chance for this rare opportunity not available to the general public.

Plow Extra Crew

We split the crew today, more on that later.  Here Dave Rogan and John Faulhaber are ready to try to open the left side wing on the plow.  They had already done some of the prep work and fixed more air leaks, and charged the reservoirs to 50 psi.  This had never been tried at IRM and perhaps not been moved during the previous 20 years.

First Movement

Many of the volunteers migrated to what we hoped would be a successful trial.  We had several working - Dave Rogan working the controls up in the cab, Henry Vincent watching the air pressure gauge inside, others to pass along verbal instructions.  IT MOVES!!!  We all expected loud squeaking and protests from the hinges, but it was completely smooth and quiet - we almost missed it.

Wide Open

Here, Henry Vincent, Buzz Morisette, John Faulhaber, Dave Rogan and Rich Witt beam proudly.  To deal with one of the leaks, we removed the whistle valve and capped the air pipe.  In the shop Rich Witt dismantled that, and we found the spring inside had been assembled in the wrong position - apparently an artifact from an indifferent mechanic on the CNW.

Behind the Wing

There it was wide open, and we peered to see behind what had been cloaked to all of us.  The CNW never opened them up when repainting, and the last CGW orange paint remained. Henry and Rich Witt look for clues

Roof Walk Strap

Gerry Dettloff fabricated a new steel strap to support the roofwalk.  One was missing due to a broken weld and we needed it in place to continue installing interior wood framing on the back wall.  The bolts pass through the straps, end wall, and the wood timbers.

Painting

I opened this entry saying we had split the crew.  Here, Victor Humphreys and Jim Leonard work to repaint the Borden's Milk Car.  Prepped and primed last week, it was now time for the first coat of finish paint.  In true IRM spirit they continued the painting during the plow wing moving tests.  Thanks guys!

We split the crew today and got some work done on the CGW X 38 snowplow.

The Floor

Buzz Morisette tackled the job on the floor inside the rear end, completing removal of five floorboards whose ends had a lot rot near the doorways.  On the north side, the framing below those boards was rotted away to a large extent, so Buzz removed that, needlechipped and primed the steel below them.

In the Cab

In the cab Dave Rogan continued to work on air piping, checking for leaks and working to understand the maze of piping, valves, and fittings.

Air UP

Simon Harrison monitors the pressure gauge, here approaching 50 psi.  That is perfectly adequate to check for leaks and other defects before we move to the next stage.

The previous week we had started the process by hooking up air to the plow and charging the brake system.  The way this is designed, that train air line also serves to charge two large air tanks that supply the plow blades, and all the other devices needing air inside the car body.  It charges those tanks through two parallel valves and lines - one with a flow constrictor to limit air flow.  The other allows more rapid air flow, to be used when filling for the first time before the plow train leaves, but not during road service.  It fills the tanks faster but takes that air from the normal train line delivery system.  Why the second line that works more slowly?  Dave Rogan found out when he opened the rapid fill valve to save time and 'dynamited' the brakes providing loud noise and a surprise for everyone else in the car.  The second SLOW line does not steal the air from the brake system faster than a locomotive can supply it.