Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Wood Shop Update - May 12, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:15:20 -0500

New Telegraph Station

Volunteer Frank Carraro has been working to update the bay window desk in our depot to accurately portray a Train Order Station. Here, he has just re-installed several telegraph 'instruments' and the resonator. They are beautifully restored and are in working condition. If anyone out there wants to donate a pad of old train order forms, they would indeed be useful in this new display. We have a supply of the once common double sided carbon paper that was used for copying train orders.

Trolley Base

Eric Lorenz is working with new volunteers Stan and Tom Bernacki on dismantling the old trolley base from the roof boards. This is the equipment that was on the Cleveland 4223 when it arrived from Toronto. We also have some of that area that was salvaged from a Boston PCC. Neither of them appear to be 100% accurate for this car as it was in service in Cleveland.

Stuff

On to the quiz and prize portion of the program. What are we looking at here? OK, I give up. This is some of the electrical equipment that must be restored and then roof mounted adjacent to the trolley pole spring base (seen above) and before the hot lead goes down into the car body. There is a large capacitor which serves as a lightning arrestor, a coiled length of wire which serves to provide the inductance, a fuse box in serious disrepair, and two deteriorated wood planks which served as trolley boards on the roof.

Paint

Victor Humphreys is applying primer to areas of the side of the B&O wagon top boxcar. Most of this area was wire brushed and cleaned by the famous TWO BERNACKIS. Actually, those new volunteers asked to help on this work. Welcome and thanks, fellas.

FACES IN THE NEWS - - - -

Conductor

Our reliable shop worker, Rich Witt, looks pretty spiffy as he dons the apparel and volunteers in train service on our operating railroad.

Time Warp

Saturday was Scout Day at IRM and several docent led tours and events were being held. I happened to see this elegant lady from another time and place. Actually, Nancy Ring greeting visitors before they went on tours inside our private Pullman cars.

Steam Department Update 5-12-2012

nospam@example.com (Nigel Bennett) — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:44:40 -0500

Generally a successful and productive day in the shop.

The best news is that Tom was sufficiently recovered to be back at the shop.

A lot was progressed on 1630:

· There was a change to the plans for the thickness testing as Ralph's brother will not be able to come back to complete this for several weeks. However, this is not necessarily an overall delay as we already have enough information to start reviewing the calculations for the form 4 (engineering analysis of the boiler) with Bob Hunter, who will prepare it;

· We did an initial review with Bob, who is now working with the previous form 4 data to determine what operating pressure we should consider. I now have a bunch of "homework" to plot all the measurements on diagrams of the sheets. One benefit of the second set of measurements being later is that we can review these with Bob and decide if we need any additional data points on the main sheets before Tom next comes;

· All the remaining sections of the boiler are now marked up with points for testing aside from the dome top. In view of the successful sand blasting set up noted below, it was decided that this part would benefit from sandblasting before we test it;

Dome cover before sand blasting

Hopefully we will have an "after" view soon !!

· Collin and Jeff did close examination of the back head braces using a boroscope. These braces are of particular interest as it was calculation of the loads on these that resulted in the reduced operating pressure from 2001. They are very inaccessible (running from the top of the wrapper to the back head above the inner firebox and among a forest of crown stays). The conclusion is that their condition is excellent. The camera shows no sign of wastage and, where we can get to them with a micrometer, they are still pretty much at the size shown when the boiler was built in 1917. So, if the conclusion is that these are not considered sufficient for 180 psi operation, it will be due to requirement for a greater safety margin than historically required rather than any wear or damage;

The mounting of a back head brace among the crown stays

· Jeff and I worked on the firebox stays. All the stays must be proved to be sound either by demonstrating that a tell tale hole is clear thru to the head of the stay or by removing the cap and hammer testing. Most have tell tales that we have ensured are clear but a number are solid so must be hammer tested. This was a job approached with considerable concern as the caps look very rusted and, should they break as you try to remove the caps, the stay must be replaced. Each replacement would be a substantial job. Much to my surprise this task proved not to be as bad as feared. Having identified the outer ends of the stays to be examined we started heating each one and then tried to remove the cap with a wrench. To our great surprise, once heated, each cap unscrewed smoothly from its socket. The rusting is far more superficial that appearance suggests and, once heated and the cap removed, the stay head looks relatively clean. Building on our success in removing the required 9 caps on the engineer's side wrapper we tried some on the back head. While these do have good tell tales we were concerned from appearance that the sockets were so rusted as to require replacement. Again the experience was not only that the caps removed without issue but that the sockets are actually much thicker than they appear so few if any require replacement. Altogether a lot of potential work avoided.

Flexi stay caps

The three lower stays, now with the caps released, looked like the row above earlier in the day. Amazing how much of the apparent rust damage is actually superficial.

Elsewhere Stu, Matt and Glenn fitted the new cast face to the small rivet furnace. This is now ready to cast the fire brick interior. Once this is complete we can hopefully complete the cab for 428.

Stu and Matt prepare the new casting

The furnace case is now complete

Bob has de-winterized the water supply ready for Leviathan, which is expected next weekend.

Jeff and Phil set up for sand blasting parts outside using material recovered from the boiler cleaning. After a few issues with screening the used material, the process was established and proved using the hood of the Bay City. Now it is proved we can set up quickly and next week should be able to work on parts of 1630 and 428.

Paul and Bob continued on the Shay truck. One small but time consuming job is caused by the fact that a number of the raised metal washers that stop the springs moving are missing. In this view you can see what should be two rows of 5 spring retainers. The wear around each shows where the spring resting against the bolster carried the weight of the locomotive. You can see in this view two washers missing leaving just a broken pin.

Spring retainers on top bolster

These prove to be held in place by rivets driven into a blind hole. This is no great problem where the rivet has pulled out but "great fun" where the rivet has sheared off and must be carefully drilled and then removed in pieces to make the recess into which a new rivet can be driven.

One that was removed, as it was loose, shows the way in which the rivet expands into a groove to hold the assembly into place.

Construction of the spring retainer

Significant progress was made on the bull rings for 428 where Mike was finalizing the machining of the third ring while Tom and Ralph were starting the fourth and last one.

Starting work on the last bull ring

Nigel

B&O Boxcar Update - May 9, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:57:37 -0500

Spring is here and that means on good weather days, the Freight Department crew is at work in our outdoor 'shop'. Here is a sort of photo essay (not much text) on work this week, lots of participants and onlookers encouraged to learn and get a 'feel' for this sort of blacksmith work and tools involved.

Rust Out

Gerry Dettloff is getting ready with an acetylene torch with Dick Cubbage and Simon Harrison looking on.

Cutting

Some sections of the side at the bottom were badly rusted out. The first step here is to use an acetylene torch to burn off the old rivet heads. Gerry is using the torch and Victor Humphreys ready to help as needed.

Peeling

The metal is being peeled back by Victor, Gerry, and Dick.

After cutting the rivet heads form the outside, shards of old metal siding and layers of rust are removed. Some additional grinding of the torched off rivet stubs might need to be done. Then out with the small sledge hammer and a punch pin to poke the rivet out the back.

The Stubs

Not much left after the torching, but some medallions of remaining metal sides need to be peeled away, pried away, or otherwise coaxed to leave.

Punching

Then on to the satisfying part of punching out what remains of the rivets. Sort of like an 'aggression therapy' session. Jim Leonard takes a turn. That entire section is complete. The next step is to fit and cut a new metal patch, drill it for placing new rivets, weld it in, grind, fill, paint - you get the idea.

TMS Project Update - May 9, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:37:21 -0500

STOP THE PRESSES!

Wheelsets

THE WHEELSETS HAVE RETURNED TO IRM!

Recall that the goal of this project is to restore two operating streetcars to service at IRM. As they say on TV, do it big or go home. The wheelsets are back at IRM with new steel tires applied, and they look spectacular.

Here is a short summary of the project to date. New steel tires were ordered and custom made, enough to apply to both streetcars. The trucks were removed from the TM 972 and extensively rebuilt. One truck has had essentially a total rebuild as we found badly worn pins and bushings in the linkage, rods, levers and brake systems. This was not something anticipated and was discovered after the trucks were being dismantled.

What is one to do, stop everything? In the true IRM spirit we had to repair these items while the truck was out and disassembled. Such is the life of a restorationist. We could have had the needed parts custom made and waited until September for delivery and another six weeks to install them. Instead we made these ourselves in the machine shop, and heat treated and hardened them on site.

This saved us months on the timeline and saved us about $4000 in costs. See where this is going? It also added up to about $8000 in unanticipated expenses, so money in the fund is running very low, about non existent. We have spent money ahead on common parts for the CNS&M 354 to get the same treatment but need your support now to see the TM 972 running this season.

We are ready to begin final re-assembly of the trucks NOW and will keep you updated of any 'new' discoveries. Please keep this major project on track and moving ahead with a donation to fund RTMS. We really need this and the money is not squandered.

Wood Shop Update - May 9, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:14:53 -0500

Pedestal

Simon Harrison is showing us one of four pedestals used on CTS 4223 for mounting the trolley pole to the roof. It seems an odd and maybe overcomplicated system to an old guy like me, not used to working on anything newer than 1940. Anyway we are moving along to get a trolley pole mounted to the car. These parts were salvaged from a car to be scrapped by cutting out an entire section of the roof where they were mounted. Needless to say there was some torch work, grunting, and cussing. But there are now the needed four of these, cleaned up and ready for paint.

Interior

Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard worked inside the car installing some fussy interior panels.

Running Boards

Frank Sirinek was using the air powered needle chipper to remove many layers of paint from the metal fittings on the running boards of Vera Cruz 19, our operating open car.

Windows

Randy Hicks and Rich Witt were working on refinishing window sash for CA&E 36. Dusty work and fussy work, not too glamorous. We are lucky to have tireless volunteers like Rich Witt who are willing to work on any task at hand.

Parts

Tim Peters was doing some "hot work" with the torch as he continues for needed parts for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797. Burn off those rusty bolts, Tim. You may have read elsewhere on the web that Tim is working on a mate for a wood L car in the 1200 series to match and go with the 1268 which he completed about a year ago. Not exactly. The 1268 is a control trailer and not motorized. The 1797 was at one early point also a trailer but was modernized and converted to a motor car, a completely different design and series. But both are painted brown.

TMER&L D 13 - May 5, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:08:49 -0500

Gerry Dettloff has submitted some images for you to pore over. He is not too much for words, so with apologies, here we go.

The Car

Here is the car as of 2003. This is an iconic but seldom preserved piece of electric railway work equipment. Ours is from The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, or TM for short. It is known as a DUMP MOTOR since it is operational and self propelled and the pan between cabs could be dumped to the side, either left or right. It was built in 1920.

Front

Gerry, has been helped for some years as he works on this, by Henry Vincent and John Faulhaber. This series of pics focuses on the cab at one end of the car, as they strip the roof to bare framing and painstakingly make new wood parts. Above focuses on the new front end of the roof and tack molding.

Letterboard

At the side of the cab was a wood letterboard extension that had no two square sides to it.

Almost Ready

Here is the new roof almost ready for new canvas, showing the trolley lead which will be mounted to the trolley base.

Cab Rear

Wood was repaired or replaced at the rear of the cab also.

Work Light

There is a five bulb series of lights (5 x 120v = 600v) on the rear of the cab and this has been extensively rebuilt.

Wood Shop Update - May 5, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:35:38 -0500

GN Herald

Here is the herald by the end of Saturday. Two more letters and the outer circle which really defines this and makes it recognizable. Not a lot of square inches covered by white paint, but a LOT of really fussy hand painting. There was some good news, as I fretted a few days after my last post where there appeared to be a smear of white paint to the right of the N in NORTHERN. No smear! Just a reflection of the flash used for the photo.

Side Cutting

Our intrepid Victor Humphreys largely keeps his head down and stays below the radar. In recent weeks a lot of effort was put in outdoors on the restoration of our B&O wagon top boxcar. A sure sign of spring. The interior has had stored materials relocated and repositioned to allow work on the next quarter of the sides. Nothing to see there folks, please move along. This week he accomplished slotting and cutting work for ultimate removal and replacement of damaged and rusted out side panels.

Open Car

Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek are shown by Vera Cruz 19, our operating open car. Last year almost all the seats were repaired and refinished, and so far this spring the floor and traps have been repainted. It really looks GOOD! Hmmm, I wonder if that is the right color? Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

The Old Grind

Eric Lorenz continued the amazing work and progress on out Cleveland Transit System PCC, 4223. Here he is removing old paint and crud from a fabricated bar plate that is part of the needed support for adding the trolley pole.

Trolley Boards

From here on, the report is all Rapid Transit, all the time. Tim Peters has fabricated new trolley boards for the roof of CRT 1797 and is just finishing the second coat of paint.

Interior

Largely unremarked, Frank Kehoe is restoring much of the interior of the same car. There is a LOT of work here, and trust me, a lot has been accomplished. Thanks, Frank.

More Windows

Every report here within memory has mentioned window work. I thought we were going to break the pattern but at the last minute I noticed Buzz Morisette restoring a window for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797. Earlier in the day Buzz had repaired a pattern/form for the steam department. And of course all the other work I failed to capture. Maybe we should sell a shop access admission and let folks stroll from project to project, fascinated at the work and with mouths drooping open. I could spend a day like that. Insurance? Nah.

Steam Department Update 5-5-2012

nospam@example.com (Nigel Bennett) — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:44:42 -0500

A rather subdued day at the steam shop.

The planned work on 1630 went very well. Ralph's brother Tom, who is an inspection and testing specialist, spent the day working with Collin on ultrasonically testing the boiler with professional equipment. This is a far cry from the simple manual tester we have used in the past, providing a clear indication that the signal and measurement is acceptable and an automated documentation trail. By the end of the day they had measured thickness at more than 200 points covering front tube sheet, barrel, firebox wrapper and back head. In a number of places the surface was too rough to get a clear measurement and minor grinding will be needed to make the measurement. We also still need to do the inner firebox, siphons and dry pipe but probably 70% is done and so far all looks good. A further day of preparation next week and then hopefully the testing can be completed in two weeks time.

Eric and Kurt did a solid day on the fireman's side firebox stays. The tell tale holes on the majority of these have now been cleared and checked. They also tackled the job we have all been dreading, moving the grate sections out into the tender to give clear access to the rest of the stays.

So major progress was made on the critical boiler inspection phase.

I am not posting any photographs this week. Major progress in this phase is measured by checked stays, circles on the boiler and computer files of thickness measurements, all of which take us steadily closer to a working locomotive ........... but do not provide much to be seen around the locomotive or shop!!.

A major offset to this good progress was that we heard our shop foreman, Tom Schneider is unwell and scheduled for a medical procedure on Monday. Our thoughts are with him. His presence and vast experience is sorely missed.

In other areas:

· Glenn progressed the Bay City crane towards mobility;

· Jeff completed repairs to the lubrication system of the Brownhoist. This had been "red tagged" as far as crane operation is concerned for a while as the lubrication feed to the rotation mechanism had failed. With this done it is now available again for lifting; and

· Work progressed on the repair of the rivet furnace.

Nigel

Wood Shop Update - May 2, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:11:50 -0500

Rocky

Selfishly, I will show this here, as we continue to handpaint the famous "ROCKY" Great Northern herald on the right side of our hopper car, GN 70104. It may seem a random act but trust me there is method to the madness. The white needs two coats and that has been done on the goat and the four lower letters. Stay Tuned.

Exsiding

Here is Lake Shore Electric 810 with the last of the new siding in place. Both sides and ends!

Clear Coat

We would like to welcome back Mr. Richard Witt to the shop work, following knee replacement surgery. We all missed you Rich. Here he is applying clear coat to aluminum sash windows from Cleveland Transit System 4223, after they have been cleaned up.

Benchwork

Jim Leonard was caught in the act of installing pieces of sheet metal for the rear seat bench and surrounding wall panels in the 4223.

Corner Piece

Jim has just done the final fitting on this piece of corner trim, and is on his way to the car. Also on this project, we missed getting a pic of Simon Harrison who was laboring on cleanup of STILL MORE window track pieces.

Parts

Henry Vincent was finding new treasures in a cache of parts and fasteners donated and sent by a member in Ohio. A belated thank you, Charley.

There was still more car work being done on several projects including the CCW 300 steeple cab locomotive, CRT 1797 rapid transit car, and other work I am failing to recognize.

Snow Plow Update - May 2, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:47:16 -0500

CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN 4051

IT IS HERE, safe and sound! Now all we need is some snow.

Front and Right

Left and Rear

Builders Plate

This winter was not typical but who knows what the future will hold. Here is the plow as it sits today on our Yard 8 Connector Track. It has been little modified over its life, but there are some changes we will probably do like close up the doorway cut into the rear end of the plow. And of course make new windows and doors to replace those that are missing.

Diagram

Here is a railroad diagram sheet of the plow supplied by Erich Russ courtesy of Chicago & North Western Historical Society.

The plow was delivered as number X 38 and sported at least three color schemes on the CGW. More research is needed, but it seems right now that it was maroon with the railroad name and Corn Belt logo, then maroon with black plow faces and roof and reporting marks only, and finally all over bright orange. That could change as we get more research done. Morning Sun Books has published data so if you have a copy of their book, please review that section.

The final scheme was in C&NW yellow with the ball and bar herald (after the merger) but still retaining CGW reporting marks, renumbered as 4051. Note that there was a temporary drawbar that was removed from the plow when working snow to provide a smoother face for shedding the snow. If we were to paint our plow in the maroon scheme, it would be a perfect match to our restored CGW 601 caboose, and could stage a credible plow train consist for photos.

Amazingly, it seemed to sport only these few color schemes over its service life, and of course was always lettered for CGW, even after CNW absorbed that line.

I would be remiss if I did not take time out here to recognize our member, Mr. Lucien Opperman, who has supported the project and done a LOT of legwork and research into the history. He resides over 2000 miles from us in Union, but has taken the effort to help on this. Isn't the internet wonderful? Thank you!

But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. The FIRST thing we need to do is to cover all acquisition costs which may include purchase, transportation, and associated track charges. We have had some very generous support, especially from IRM members, and some of these were making good on pledges made five years ago when the possibility of first acquiring this plow first came up. I have a list and if any of you are unsure of your promise, please contact me separately so I can refresh your memory.

But as new equipment goes, this happened quickly and on a fairly small budget. Getting this plow - PRICELESS. PLEASE, let's begin its IRM history by erasing all charges and starting off with a clean slate. Donations may be sent to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union IL 60180

And designate it for the CGW Snowplow or for fund R 4051.

Permanent Collection

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:00:18 -0500

It has been a long standing tradition that pieces of equipment at IRM have been placed on what is called the Permanent Collection List. I cannot for sure tell you what it means specifically. Having the membership vote to place something on that list also means only a vote of the membership can remove something from that list.

Presumably (by me) that means a piece of equipment is regarded for long term preservation at IRM.

Dave Diamond Photo

Over FOUR DECADES ago we acquired a wood bodied gondola, Chicago & Western Indiana 1185 (circa 1913), which is unique to our collection and has an interesting historical story to tell. It is the ONLY freight car on or published roster to have been built by Haskell & Barker. However no member support was forthcoming and only $300 of donations in total over 41 years.

Mother nature has taken its toll on this car and at this year's membership meeting the consensus was that this car is not listed as part of our PERMANENT COLLECTION. This is a hard decision to make but clearly this is beyond our resources to save any longer. I do not think it can be RESTORED at any cost, but a REPLICA could be built using some of the parts at an estimated cost of $60,000. As it sits it is a hazard and there is some question it will hold together enough to be moved on its own wheels.

So do not be surprised if this car 'goes away' soon. This state did not happen in the last two years or five years, or ten, so do not ask me why I did nothing about it. I suppose many will read this as an obituary and in a way it is. We celebrate our victories and mourn our fallen comrades.

There continue to exist many wood bodied freight and passenger cars sitting outdoors year around in various states of repair or disrepair. What can we do to assure this does not happen to more of our collection? If we do not have the labor or funds to work on them immediately, the simple answer is that we MUST raise funding to place them inside the next Barn Building to be built. Placing them under roof will serve in effect to arrest over 95% of any continuing deterioration and buy time until the 'next generation' may devote time and energy to them. Please donate to INDOOR STORAGE SPACE for either of the above departments or to the restricted fund for any individual favorite car.

Model Railroad Public Display - April 28 , 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:44:56 -0500

The project has seen considerable work being done more or less behind the scenes. To give a short summary of the progress, below is an approved concept sketch of what the front of the building might look like.

Facade

We have settled on a site, three lots, on our Main Street alignment, and developed a pretty good description of the building specifications. It is envisioned as a steel framed permanent structure with clear span of 50 x 70 feet. Those specifications have been sent to many possible contractor bidders and prices have been coming in. There is the building of course, but also the other things that go along with new construction. That includes, site preparation, electrical, concrete work, mechanical and heating, specialty windows and framing, the masonry work, storm water remediation, insulation, finish site work and grading, etc.

Interior

We have also developed a very preliminary Space Use Plan for the interior space. I stress that this is preliminary and many good ideas are on the table.

But of course, the next step is to get the building. It looks this will run between $125K and $150K so donations are urgently needed to accumulate funding. We will not go for a building permit and place orders until we know we have enough on hand to pay for that. As a reminder, donations may be specified to restricted fund RMRD.

Steam Department Update 4-28-2012

nospam@example.com (Nigel Bennett) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:59:45 -0500

A rather brief update this week, not because of lack of progress but because I spent most of the day in the rules and safety sessions so was not directly involved in the work in the shop. While this was a day away from the shop for a number of us it is essential that we have a team able to control movement of equipment and these sessions are critical to ensure that this is done safely.

Work progressed steadily on 1630:

· Collin, Eric and Jason made good progress on cleaning and preparing the tube sheets. Both front and back tube sheets have now been extensively cleaned and checked. The good news is that no signs of cracking have been found. Work is progressing on smoothing and preparing the holes to take the new tubes. This will take several weeks to complete but good progress was made today.

· Dennis, Bob and Mike continued building up of the mud ring ready to for fitting of the corner patch. Over the next couple of weekends this will move out of sight as the section inside the firebox is built up and the rivet holes on that face are rebuilt.

· Plans are in place to do the thickness testing next Saturday. This weekend we were marking out the points at which measurements will be taken. Each section of the boiler plate work must be measured to assess its minimum thickness which then forms the basis of the calculation for the form 4. Clearly each part of the boiler is only as strong as its weakest point so the calculation is based upon the thinnest point found in each section. Measurement points are identified in a random pattern across each plate with a focus on the areas likely to be weakest such as the belly. Here the guys are cleaning off and marking measurement points ready for next weekend.

Cleaning and marking the points for testing

Nigel

CNW or CGW 285 Which is it? Work continues

nospam@example.com (Roger Kramer) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:49:00 -0500

Bondo Bill

This last winter the Wednesday retired crew have been busy prepping this combine for partial restoration.

Bare metal

The combine is currently located in the diesel shop waiting its paint job.

Joe wirewheeling

Nobody knows when the final coat will painted but I can attest to the fact that the Wednesday crew has completed their part of the job.

Cleaning trucks

This car would make a nice passenger addition to the fleet but the diesel dept is still using it as a parts car.

caulking windows

Maybe they can move the parts and the coach dept can place it in future service.

Rusty vestibule

Please voice you opinion, should we place this combine back in service? Donations can be sent to the CGW 285 fund. It needs a new buffer, traps and stairs rebuilt, and interior restored but it's possible.

Wood Shop Update - April 25, 2012

nospam@example.com (Robert Kutella) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:46:49 -0500

Rapid Transit Restoration

To change the order of things a bit, I thought you would all like to see the west end of Chicago Rapid Transit 1797. Tim Peters has been working on this end and now it appears to be complete, shiny paint, all the extras installed and in place.

East End

And here Tim is being helped by Victor Humphreys as new end panels are getting installed. Sharp eyed viewers here may notice that this car was moved to a new spot over the weekend, and is now on Track 42. Tim is rapidly approaching the point where the majority of this car exterior is done, from the roof down to the bottom of the car sides. Do not worry, Tim is not one to take a rest and most of the car interior still needs attention.

More Herald

The Great Northern 70104 hopper also shifted its spot. Victor set up a relocated scaffold and I managed to transfer the remaining artwork to the car side and started on the white lettering. You will note the guide lines for adjoining letters and border. Why am I so slow?

Art Work

Bill Leider is restoring lettering on an early photo mural showing Pennsylvania Railroad steam. The item was damaged and if you read these entries regularly, Henry Vincent has constructed a frame and mounting backer. Bill is a talented graphic artist and he is painstakingly touching up damaged areas.

Windows

What would shop work be without WINDOWS? Early in the morning we reassembled and glued up one of the clerestory windows from the Sand Springs 68, and Victor here is sanding a repaired window sash for Boston & Maine 1094.

Beading

Whenever new sash are made, and in many cases when sound sash have to be reglazed, the small 'beading' must be recreated. You simply cannot go anywhere and purchase the correct cross section and in matching specie of wood. Victor and I fabricated something over 100 feet of this small mahogany molding for some of our Pullman car windows. In this case it resembles a quarter round with 5/16 inch radius but is cut assymetrical with two differing straight sides.

Rear Bench Seat

The worker bees for Cleveland Transit 4223 were not idly watching the other work, although many of them continued to receive the safety review and training. But Lorne Tweed has cleaned, primed, and painted the sheet metal box for the rear seat in this PCC.