The weather has been far too good lately...we are in for a long winter...
Saturday
the track dept was myself, Tom H and Frank D. We had a 30 second
reunion to start off the day because both Frank and Tom have been away
from IRM for some time and this was a historic momemt...well not
really, but ya know. The weather cooperated great. It's certainly fall,
but we couldn't ask for better weather.
Our original plan was to
build track in yard 11 or raise tracks in yard 11 in preparation for
the barn. Unfortunately we were not able to touch yard 11 because the
contractor was still occupying the building due to some unforeseen
issues with the metal siding... Still determined to get something done
we spoke with the electric car shop and they allowed us to use the pit
in Barn 4 to get some much needed work done on a number of our
machines. First for the day was the Model 50 burro crane which we had
gotten running last weekend. As in true IRM fashion, we had to jump
start the machine early in the day in yard 11. The engine was just too
cold to get going but once we got it running it ran great. Over the pit
we greased the entire underframe, topped of the transmission with ATF,
inspected/ greased the deck rotation gearing, troubleshot a bad
hydraulic leak (more to come on that), checked oil levels in the
engine, axle gear cases, coolant level and a number of other small
tasks. After we were pleased with that, we took the crane outside to
test everything and locate the hydraulic leak. It seems the boom
extension cylinder inside of the boom is the problem. When the boom is
extend and retracted what we believe is the hydraulic seal on the
cylinder itself leaks bad and drips oil out the backside of the boom. A
repair to this is pretty substantial due to the fact that the cylinder
is probably 30ft long and 6'+ in diameter and rests inside of the all
welded boom... A few plans are being cooked up now for a remedy, but
for now the boom extension is out of service but otherwise the crane
itself is not in harm and still in service. The crane is ready for
building yard track 11-4 when the time comes.
Continue reading "Track Department Update"
Comments
Fri, 03-29-2024 21:26
We're slackers and spend more time working on the equipment in the shop than keeping all you readers updated. We'll work on it, but I'm sure updates [...]
Thu, 03-14-2024 08:02
What happened to the Department Blog? It's been over 2 years and I still regularly check for updates, but nothing comes...
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]