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Saturday, December 8. 2012
Just a quick update on track 134 (yard 13, track 4)... The track department previously bolted about 95% of the panels on this track. This included cropping and drilling the ends of almost every panel and installing new ties where needed or missing. The B&G department this past week was able to bring in about 230 tons of rock and spread this ballast nearly the entire length of track 134, which is about 650 feet. The next step will be some tamping.
Monday, October 17. 2011
There was a lot going on this weekend so I will post a few pics and short report on the project to rebuild 31 Track and some work on the turnouts leading there, to start out the posts this week. There was a large track crew on hand, here seen spiking in new switch ties at the first switch in Yard 3. The old ties were pulled out and new ones slid in under the rails. On Sunday a mechanized tamper ventured inside the dark confines of Barn 3 to make the first tamp on the new track and gravel. Adam Robillard was at the controls.
Sunday, May 22. 2011
This
year, like most years, the museum’s Track Department undertakes a large
tie renewal job. This is a necessity to properly maintain our railroad
and allow for a high quality ride all of our visitors and volunteers
have come to expect. This year, it was decided to undertake one of the
largest tie renewal projects to date, nearly 750. Typical years may see
500 ties replaced anywhere on the property where they’re most needed.
This places a huge strain on us to complete the bulk of the work before
operations ramp up in April and May. Whether it’s the Mainline, Carline
or little used yard track the importance of maintaining our track for
the safety of the public, our volunteers, and the fragile equipment we
operate is always the top priority of the Track Department. Always…
So
what does it take to get the job done? This process began last year
with the purchase of the 750 brand new ties to be installed. All of
which were delivered by truck and unloaded on the property. During this
year’s detailed track inspection beginning in the cool month of March
we walked up and down the railroad not only inspecting the track, but
also marked bad ties to be replaced. Once a majority of the ties were
marked for replacement we had to figure out the best way to get the new
ties on site. This year, because of the huge quantity of
ties, we found it best to load all of them onto a flatcar and roll them
out to the site. With our Burro crane we unloaded all of the bundles in
the general locations that would be needed. This is not an easy process
and most of this work happened during the last half of February and
into March.
Needless to say there was plenty of ice and snow on the ground to make the job difficult.
With
the ties all on the ground, the lengthy process of placing each tie in
the exact location where it was to be installed began. Mostly, this
involved the tie crane and an operator working eight or nine hour days
over the weekends. This step took many weekends throughout March
and April to complete. While that was happening, we also moved new
spikes in locations they could be accessed and continually worked on
machine maintenance. Things break, machines wear out, and we spend a lot
of time and elbow grease keeping the machines in running condition.
With
only our small core group of volunteers, and without the necessary
equipment to do the actual replacement ourselves, we hired a railroad
contractor to truck in their own equipment and swap the bad ties for the
new ones. This took a solid week for the contractor to
finish the job and then the cleanup of all the material was left to us.
As with most tie projects, the work typically disturbs the track severe
enough to require a slow order. The problem of support under the ties
becomes an issue without being properly tamped. Until that happens, the
ties may not have enough ballast underneath which could create an
unsafe condition.
At
this point the race was on to clean up the railroad before the
operating season gets into full swing. During this time all of the old
ties were collected with the tie crane and placed in one large pile near
Johnson Siding where they will eventually be picked up taken away by
another railroad contractor. Just like when they were all set out, the
job meant the tie crane and operator must spend long days peddling ties
back and forth. This year it took us five or six full working days and
detailed cleanup still isn’t finished. In addition to all of the ties,
other material had to be picked up, such as old line poles and tree
limbs. This adds considerable time and energy but needs to be done.
With
the wood picked up we focused on gathering all of the steel scrap which
took the form of 2,800 spikes from the tie job, hundreds of old tie
plates and other track material left on the line from years past. This
could only have been done quickly and efficiently with our Burro crane
and its electromagnet. We took one of our flatcars and ran up and
down the line until the flatcar was full of steel and brought it back to
the property to be sorted.
That brings us to today. The next
steps will be to get rid of our huge tie pile at Johnson Siding, and
surface the railroad. Surfacing the railroad will be done in house
using our ex Amtrak production tamper purchased a few years ago.
Contracting an operation such as this would cost the museum another
$40,000 and that does not include regulating the railroad afterward to
finish the project! All of the work done in house by the Track Dept.
easily cuts the total cost of the project in half and in this season
alone has already saved the museum roughly $50,000. The alternative to
any of what we do in house involves renting and trucking in equivalent
machinery and paying contract wages. Work will continue throughout the
season to tamp and dress the line working between operations and special
events. Follow up maintenance on all of our machines and sorting
materials from the line will take many more weekends of work. Without the
equipment we have, most of this wouldn’t have been possible. While most
of this work goes unseen to a majority of our volunteers and visitors,
it is this work that is required for our museum to function as a world
class operation.
None of this could be done without the
dedication of our Track Department working odd hours in all sorts of
conditions. Thanks to all who have helped on this project including
Frank DeVries, Tom Hunter, Bill Lygiros, Patrick Shea, Jeron Glander,
Mitch O'Brien, Bob Olson and Adam Robillard. Also we must thank everyone
who supported the work including, but not limited to, the Operating
Department granting us track time, Dave Diamond in the Buildings &
Grounds Department, and anyone I may have missed. …and that’s what it takes to get the job done
More Track Dept. photos from Frank Devries and Adam Robillard can be found in the Member's Photo Site here- http://www.irm.org/gallery/Members-Photos
Saturday, April 30. 2011
Trying to beat karma to the punch....
The weather was beautiful today... and that was the problem... Today's plan was to get some minor repairs done on the tie crane. We are once again getting ready to go pick up about 720 ties that were changed out by Volkmann a couple weeks ago. So to avoid problems we did a little preventative maintenance.
I arrived at the museum about 9AM and found Bill there already. Bill and I started to de-fuel the tie crane. Even though the fuel was out of the sight glass there was still about 10 to 15 gallons of fuel left in the tank. We drained the fuel then took the hose off the tank. We also removed the fuel sight tube to replace that as well. Jeron showed up and we ran to town to grab parts. While I replaced the fuel hose, and sight tube, Jeron replaced the damaged mirror and Bill replaced the windshield wiper. We drained the fuel out of the transfer tank, but that was a drop in the tank so to speak. Unfortunately I left my keys in my winter coat..... at home.... SO no truck key, no fuel key.... Guess I'll fuel the crane in the morning.
After that it was time to take in some of the sights of the Illinois Terminal to do. I took a ride (my first I'll add) on the IT B motor, to see how the ride is after our tie change out. It's not perfect, but the 25MPH speed restriction seems to be adequate until we can get the line tamped.
While out and about today I did find three more sticks of rail along the ROW, that we need to get picked up and in the gon. One is out near the Big tree, the other two are along the main line just east of the depot. We also need to re-set the whistle post along the main. I think we can just pick it up and add some ballast to hold it up.
While all this was going on, Dave and Evan continued work on the 580 Motor car. They have most of the wood off now, and have started to clean old paint and rust off the frame. They bought a couple of wire wheels for my grinder and were using that to clean it up real nice. They were getting ready to spray on some primer when I was leaving for the day. It's looking really nice. I also found one of the brake leaks on a caliper thanks to all the wood being off. Nice work guys! I'll post some pictures to the Members photo section in a few minutes.
Frank D.
Sunday, April 3. 2011
Today was a new member spectacular! The day started with myself and new member Keith Ziolkowski joined me and returning new member Bill. We found the model 50 missing it's exhaust circuit, under rebuild by Jeron. So a Plan B was formed. Off to 14-4 track to solve a reverse super elevation problem on the curve to this track off the switch. We gathered jacks, bars, forks, and shovels, onto the tie crane and off to yard 14. We hand jacked the track and hand tampped from about 8:30 to 11:30, picking up the outer rail from "in the mud" to out of stone. A lift of over 6". After lunch we took the regulator back to yard 14 and dragged stone from the north side to the south side to fill in the cribs that were now devoid of stone. A quick broom job and the track was back to a useable status. Before this work, when the diesel department would try to switch cars on this track they had a tendency to derail when being pulled out. Meanwhile back on the main........ Tom showed up later in the morning and fired up the mower for one last trip on the main before it leaves for a job. Tom was able to mow by Karstens crossing, cleaning up some trees that the farmer cut down and pushed over onto the property. He also was able to give a good pass between East switch and West Switch. Third trick was Jeron coming out after work and installing a new exhaust elbow off the turbo. The old 90 degree bend had been previously welded, and subsequently rusted out again, and as Tom put it, made it smoke like a Russian tank. Jeron was able to find a suitable part and had Jamie from the diesel shop weld the flange to the turbo onto the new pipe. The exhaust was then put back on the crane for the Sunday activity. From what I understand it was a real wrestling job to get the exhaust back in. During the wrap up of my tour of duty, Dave, and his young son Evan showed up having just joined the museum, and coming out to see what they can do as a team to help IRM. Work on our motorcar fleet was offered up, and they are eager to get started. Unlike last week, cameras were on hand to record the festivities. Photos from Tom and myself have been posted here: http://www.irm.org/gallery/album155Frank D.
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Comments
Mon, 06-29-2020 23:48
It is a lightweight coach that is currently being restored and painted in the Milwaukee Road's U.P. Yellow.
Mon, 06-29-2020 11:19
Hello Ted The 649 is a lightweight Milwaukee Rd chair car which was originally a sleeper then converted into a chair car. Its slowly being [...]
Sun, 06-28-2020 12:32
Can you tell us something about the #649? It does not appear to be on the roster on this website. Is it another heavyweight? [...]
Wed, 06-03-2020 14:06
Perhaps she should be lettered Texas and New Orleans this time? Ted Miles, IRM Member
Fri, 05-01-2020 10:25
Thanks Kirk We could have gotten more completed but a little problem developed called the Virus. Now everything is off schedule. Roger
Fri, 05-01-2020 10:23
Thanks for the suggestion but that will not work! The stairs weight is about 250 lb I would have to remove the light fixture and the ceiling will not [...]
Wed, 04-29-2020 20:13
Out standing work and a great report!
Tue, 04-28-2020 16:54
Next time you have to hang a step using a come-along, look up. There's a hole in the vestibule ceiling on either side for the light fixture. Pop it [...]
Sun, 04-05-2020 08:30
We have not decided yet. There is a long way to go to get to that point.
Sat, 04-04-2020 17:12
The question is though, when it comes to repaint 314, which paint scheme will you go with? Blue and yellow or gray and yellow?
Thu, 04-02-2020 21:52
No, it is not. This is a cosmetic restoration only.
Thu, 04-02-2020 12:37
This snowplow is gorgeous! Is it operational?