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Thursday, February 15. 2018Wednesday January 31
The last day of January was very busy day in the woodshop heated confines.
 Can you see Henry Vincent up there in between the rack shelving!?  Yes, Henry is installing new air line piping in the new addition of the shop. Hey, Henry, how is the world look from up there?  Here Randy Hicks is varnishing some seat frames for the CA E 36.  He is always busy making the his favorite interurbans more presentable to the membership and the general public.  Here is one of the entrance doors that Randy has already repainted. What a beautiful Red color.  This seems to be the coach department winter project. Paint stripping windows in the GBW coach. Here, Bob Olsen is at it again stripping off the old paint. When he gets done there should be about 40 windows stripped and ready for varnish!  Pete in now working on repainting a wood door to our class B Illinois Terminal electric loco  Victor and Dave Rogan here are discussing some manufacturing possibilities for the PRR Bobber Caboose  Curt Wahlmark is polishing some brass window parts for the G B W coach.  Richard Witt is again working on another drawing at his drafting table Tuesday, January 30. 2018Shorts from the Electric Car Dept
Here are some developing projects from barn 4. I recently receive a note from one of our members who now lives in, Yes, in Hawaii. What a nice place to retire. His request was for some recent info regarding the ME interurban that Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel have been working on. So here is a small update. Included is a few other views and some of the project volunteers.
 Side view Please observe all the holes. They all had to be drilled before that huge steel piece could be installed.  End view  This is the other side. Please notice all the work that has been completed. Thats all new steel that first had to be fitted into place before the riveting could begin.  Thats all new deck plate fitted into position!  Norm by his project. Their getting it done!  All new rivets  Pete Galayda has been restoring and improving the appearance of the Illinois Terminal Class B unit. So far he has repainted all the windows and now plans to repaint eight doors. Nice job!  An interior shot of the Cleveland PCC Can any of you remember what it use to look like when the project was first started many years ago. WHAT a difference. Beautiful job guys.  Here is the team working on the Cleveland PCC. Lorne Tweed Ed Waytula and Eric Lorenz. There just admiring a newly painted sign holder for the PCC  Bill Wulfert, Victor and Bill chat about the days events.  Bob Olsen and Jeff Button are working on one of 40 some windows for the GBW 109. They all need to have the paint removed so that we can varnish the quarter sawn oak window frames.  Here Jack Biesterfeld is showing one of the processed frames. Lots of work, right Jack!? Monday, September 23. 2013ME 28 Update - September 22, 2013I will try to post something here this morning although it will be necessarily short as I am about to get back on site at Union to work with a contractor today. I noticed Randy Hicks gave us a plug for the woodworkers convention. We had the biggest attendance ever and this time cracked the international barrier with two attending form Belgium. That would be the Belgium in Europe, not the Belgium two hundred miles north in Wisconsin.  A Bundle of Canvas Jeff Brady and Bill Peterson have managed to extract the canvas from storage and with great effort have it hoisted up on the roof of the car. This is just the start of the process as the next step is to unroll all of that.  The Big Rag This is a big rag, probably over 1100 square feet of canvas. I do not think IRM has had to recanvas a roof on a car this long to this moment in time. So, as with everything, there is some new learning along the way. There is a trim allowance on all the dimensions but it only makes sense to try to slide and push it around to center it on the roof. Easier said than done.  The Clamps We made ( I do not include me in that) a dozen new clamps of our own design to clamp to the edges of the canvas, and they were mounted, starting at the ends of the car; shown here as Jeff and Bill demonstrate.  Rolled out The large white thing stretching into the distance is the canvas all rolled out. If it seems a long way away, it is, and more so if you consider the work left, which includes setting about 1500 tacks. For now we have stretched and pulled the canvas to begin the process of removing all the wrinkles and get it to lay down flat on the roof. Friday, July 12. 20132200s ArriveTo follow-up on Jamie's
post, both cars of our 2200s pair (2243-2244) are now on the property.
The journey leading to their delivery has been a long and at times arduous
one. We anticipated their arrival quite some time ago, but the original retirement
date of this series of cars was pushed back several times due to delays in
delivery of CTA's 5000 series cars. Even the specific cars we were
getting changed. Mainly through the efforts of Eric Zabely with help from
Richard Schauer, JL Saunders Jr., and Nick Espevik (among others), the cars
finally arrived on Wednesday July 10 and Thursday July 11, 2013.
Work will start immediately on inspections and getting the cars ready for the public. Eventually these cars, like the 2000s, will be fitted with trolley poles so they can run in service. A HUGE thank you goes out to all of you who have supported this project, either with direct donations or through your purchase of Snowflake Special tickets over the past several years. This would not have been possible without your support.  The 2200s in their first home at 50th Avenue – Photo by Nick Espevik Thursday, June 27. 2013Electroliner NewsELECTROLINER NEWS
We will start this entry by sharing a previously unpublished photo from the Fettinger Family Collection, showing one of the two Liners at Zion Illinois on a snowy day in 1962
The photo is courtesy of Barbara Lanphier of our Strahorn Library, whose father took the photo. I am sure most of you are aware of the upcoming IRM special events but in case you are not - - - We are holding the largest ever Trolley Pageant on July 6, larger by far than any of our previous Independence Day weekend parades, and surely larger than anything seen at any other Museum in the USA. That will be held July 6 - you do not want to miss it!! The following Sunday, July 7, we will be commemorating 50 years since the abandonment of the North Shore with North Shore Day at the Museum. There will be an opportunity to tour the Liner on July 4, July 6 & July 7. NSL and Liner memorabilia will be on sale on July 7 only--all proceeds going to the Liner Restoration Fund. On July 7 we will be launching the Campaign for the Electroliner, a fundraising effort to restore the Liner to operation. The Liner has operated on occasion at IRM - first in its Philadelphia Suburban colors, and a few times after that in a beautifully restored North Shore line paint job. Many elements of its electrical and mechanical workings are just plain worn out. We have a plan to make it operational in time for its 75th Birthday in 2016. Even given that time, it is an aggressive plan and will involve motor work, new upholstery, and rehabbing most of the interior. If we are successful in reaching the funding goal some of the necessary work will move along faster by allowing contracting and hiring of some tasks. The first milestone is to make the train able to operate reliably under its own power and then move on to the heating and air conditioning system (the train has sealed windows). Seat work can begin early in the process and will be ongoing. Come out for NORTH SHORE DAY and be sure to walk through the Liner, and pick up details and other information on the fundraising campaign. EXCITING HUH??. Saturday, June 8. 2013 |
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Comments
Sat, 11-03-2018 17:05
Are you the Paul Cronin from B&M days at Iron Horse Park?
Mon, 09-24-2018 18:39
keep up the good work on this car. Wish I could be there to help. is starting to look good.
Thu, 09-06-2018 18:16
I am glad to see you took away the caboose fittings; they were only added in the car's last two years. By all means, put in the right seat frames, [...]
Fri, 08-31-2018 00:23
was this car heated by a coal stove at one point in time?
Thu, 08-30-2018 20:01
Hello Raphael Well, I don't know what the plans are for the painting of the engine. Only one person is working on it and he is a paid employee. [...]
Thu, 08-30-2018 14:35
975: Will the Smoke Box, or at least the cover, get the Metalic Silver paint job found on all SP steam engines? And what will the lettering on the [...]
Thu, 08-23-2018 20:11
Hi Kurt I am working on a blog for the 649
Thu, 08-23-2018 08:16
Lots of hard work going into achieving the nice finishes that are being applied. The finished product looks great! Is any of your team still working [...]
Wed, 08-22-2018 14:38
If you want to keep up on the Electric Department, Ted, I'd recommend looking up the Hick Car Works. A couple members from the IRM Electric Car Dept [...]
Tue, 08-07-2018 00:43
Hey Paul, Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier . It was always great working with you . I miss giving you new hats every once in a while . We not [...]
Fri, 07-27-2018 20:54
It is great to see the work on the #428! But how about osme news from the Electric car Department? Their part of this blog has not been updated in [...]
Mon, 07-16-2018 16:53
When is shy 5 running this year. Sincerely, Ethan A.