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Tuesday, February 28. 2012CTS 4223 Update - February 25-26, 2012 Electrical Eric Lorenz and Lorne Tweed are going over an electrical cabinet that lives below the front dash at the end of the car. The old one is in pretty sad shape and a lot of the framing and cabinet work will need new parts fabricated. This step is all part of the work needing to be done and getting wires pulled, before installing the new glass windshields and painting that area.  Innards Here is a better look at the switches and fuse blocks that live in the above cabinet. Sketchy schematics, lots of cut wires, missing elements and fuses. Did I mention it was dirty?  Windows Of course we need to mention windows in any such BLOG entry. Alex Randow works on these pretty regularly and he is checking the growing pile of completed sash. 17 large sash and 18 small sash are now complete.  Panels Alex also worked on cleaning up several old panels and trim work needed for the car interior. These represent items in good enough shape to re-use, and as explained previously, several items need to be re-installed before the side window areas can be completed. Note that these now shine like new metal, you would not have thought this possible if you examined them before his work. It did not happen by accident.  More Windows Keith Letsche walked in Sunday and volunteered to do more window sash. This project is mostly a Wednesday/Saturday crew and this unexpected work only adds to and advances the work. Thanks, Keith. Tuesday, February 21. 2012TMS Project Update - February 18-19, 2012It really is amazing to witness the work on this project. It is significant on so many fronts - engineering, machining, metallurgy, and the massive amount of less than ordinary GRUNT WORK.  Assembly Jeff Brady is dry fitting and assembling some of the completed levers and rigging in the truck. That is correct - enough of the new bushings and pins have been fabricated and heat treated to see how it goes back together. He is inserting the new pin into a lever nicknamed a 'dog bone' due to its resemblance to such doggie snack treats.  The Dog Bones Here is a closer look at the dog bones and how they fit into the truck. There are two of these in each quadrant to next receive the brake head castings, which in turn hold the brake shoes.  Boring Each of the many parts in this truck receives attention. This once bent brake lever has been heated and straightened, as seen by the gray discoloration on the casting. The old deteriorated bushings have been removed with a hydraulic press. Here the lever is on the drill press table and about to get its holes reamed to receive the new bushings. As I said above it is truly amazing, doing this on a wish and prayer with old tools and a lot of hard work and commitment from the volunteers. Tuesday, February 21. 2012CTS 4223 Update - February 18, 2012Apologies since it seems the volunteers doing the work can accomplish results faster than I can post entries here.  Tracks Lorne Tweed is working on the smallest of the track parts, an insert with steel spring leaves behind it. Needless to say many of those are about destroyed by rusting, so here he is dong 'blacksmith' work to try to remove some bad ones.  Back in the Carbody The mild winter weather continued so Lorne Twee is assisting Eric Lorenz with installation of more of the new car interior wainscotting panels below the windows. Very nice! Tuesday, February 14. 2012CTS 4223 Update - February11, 2012 Window Sash Steady work equals steady progress. Alex Randow just will not give up, and continues to clean and restore aluminum sash for this car. Note that he is wearing a NY GIANTS hat! Alex hails from the New Jersey area and it gives one pause to gain such insight into the character of your workmates. Is it a good move to wear that in the Midwest? Just kidding, Alex.  Tracks It is no less attractive to remove crud, bend the tracks straight, and clean the tracks needed for these windows. Many surfaces, grooves and folds in the metal. Lorne Tweed grits his teeth and continues the process. He is nothing if not persistent.  Let There Be Light Meanwhile, Bill Wulfert (above) located a headlight lens while Eric Lorenz proceeded to fabricate a reflector, install socket, wiring and bulb. In short order a temporary power supply was rigged up and THERE WAS LIGHT! This car looks to be ready to leave at any time if we have a long enough extension cord. Tuesday, February 7. 2012TMS Project Update - February 4-5, 2012A lot is happening very quickly on this project. As reported previously the next step is to do repair and rebuilding work on the dismantled truck now in our shop. The immediate focus is on the pins and bushings which hold together brake rigging, the slack adjusters, etc.  Pedestal Liners Before we get into the details of that work we were pleased to note that an entire set of new pedestal liners has been fabricated and delivered. These are wear parts to allow the journal boxes to slide vertically as needed, when the car is in motion.  Engineering Jeff Brady has been busily engaged for some weeks as the truck is dismantled, taking careful measurements, and tabulating the needed new parts.  Schematic Jeff created this schematic to help keep track and identify the complex connections and pieces. Note that there are 78 bushings and 26 pins, needed for EACH truck assembly!  Pressing Task Greg Kepka was pressing out the old bushings from the various rods and levers. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear screeching and clanking like breaking glass as the rusted old bushings broke free and became loose.  Links Here are some of the links, old bushings, and newly loosened bushings that Greg was working on.  As the Rod Turns Rod Turner was turning new alloy steel rod to size in the small lathe.  Some Like It HOT Here is the new small furnace/oven for heat treating newly fabricated pins and bushings to case harden them. Four of the new pins are on the bench in front of the oven, having undergone their particular version of a trial by fire. Tuesday, February 7. 2012CTS 4223 Update - February 4, 2012 Wainscotting Work continues. Perhaps the most visible and exciting thing to happen was delivery of new fabricated panels for the interior of the car. Eric Lorenz went to work quickly to start installing them. These are the panels which go below the windows and are pre-painted the correct interior color. Why now? Well, the puzzle of the car construction as designed by the builder requires these to be installed, to allow window post caps to be installed in the interior, to then allow installation of the window tracks, and ultimately the windows.  Finished Windows Alex Randow began the day stripping masking from many of the sash which have by now been cleaned and clear coated.  Back to Cleaning Alex pitched in on a few other tasks then went back to never ending job of cleaning the aluminum frames on still more sash. Friday, February 3. 2012TMS Project Update - February 1, 2012 Truck Work Gerry Dettloff works on fabricating new rods for the rebuilding of the truck on TM 972, and my camera tagged this image as number 972! Work continues on a regular basis for this truck. Most of the dismantling is done and now the hard part is to fabricate pieces to reassemble it.  Pins New ground for us is to fabricate and heat treat the hardened pins needed to replace time worn pins in the truck assembly. Gerry is set up to cut some new rod, and Rod Turner has a new small furnace for doing the required heat treating in stages. Very impressive for our restoration specialists! |
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Comments
Thu, 05-16-2013 21:52
Looking good Bob! I hope to come out soon once I'm done with school.
Wed, 05-15-2013 21:28
I was not around at the time. General discussion suggests that it was "pretty marginal" in a number of areas. Nigel
Mon, 05-13-2013 11:08
"THUMBS UP!"
Fri, 05-10-2013 02:15
No, it will not be necessary to hold any of the work waiting for the plow to be turned, end for end. Weather will be the major factor, but there will [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 19:54
The CGW X-38 plow is really coming to life. Bob Kutella and Vic and crew need to be very proud of your collective efforts. I am very appreciative of [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 15:20
The snowplow looks great! Are you going to apply the door and upper windows befor it is turned to continue work?
Thu, 05-09-2013 09:09
Max, Is there any progress to report yet, in regards to the installation of the poles and overhead wires? Have a good day, sir.
Wed, 05-08-2013 18:40
Thanks for the update! I still don't understand why Commonwealth #5 was removed from service. Do you know why?
Tue, 05-07-2013 09:28
Mr. Kolanowski.....I was just wondering if the Spaulding webcam will be up and running soon for us stay-at-homes. Thanks!2FP
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:04
Max, Has work begun yet on the construction phase of erecting the poles and putting up the wire? Wish I could be there to watch it happen.
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:02
Keep up the good work, Bob. Wish I could be there to help!!!!!!!
Sun, 05-05-2013 18:53
Ah yes, I have made such Jibs myself. If it were me, I would add in each corner an angled piece from the base to the Jib to act as sway bracing. [...]