Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Here is a fairly long post of progress on the new baggage doors being made for the ME 28.  Lots of images, short on text, all from the camera of Ray Schmid, Gwyn Stupar was the photographer.

Berlin Sander

We continue to make good use of the massive Berlin Sander obtained from the Milwaukee Cold Springs Car Shops over 35 years ago.  Finally exhumed from our IRM storage and restored to use a few years ago, it serves us well.  The new doors are almost four feet wide and there was no problem running through the sander.  L to r, Bob Kutella, Jim and Tom Windmeier, Norm Krentel, and Ray Schmid run one of the doors into the feed end of the machine.

The Gathering

Bob Kutella moves to the outfeed end while Jeff Brady, Norm Krentel, and Ray Schmid gather, ready to receive the door.

The Catchers

Norm K, Jeff B, and Ray S are the 'catchers'.

Smooth

The top surface seen has already had a few passes through the sander.  You must remember that the real work is done on what is the bottom surface.  We have the drums set to be very conservative, only removing 0.005 inch or less per pass.  More passes are needed, but this allows one to carefully monitor and inspect the surface, to decide when 'enough' has been done.  OR - we could be more aggressive and run enough passes that it would be thin enough to serve as a window sash.

One More Pass

Do we need one more pass?  Norm K, Ray S, and Jeff B inspecting the latest side surfaced.

On the Bench

Both doors are complete through the Berlin Sander and back on the bench. Ray S is checking the panel smoothness (these are thinner and were not touched by the Berlin).  The blue patches are thin layers of filler applied to correct some divots or defects which would essentially 'never' get sanded out.  This is not an issue since these doors will be painted both sides.

Resting Easy

Ray S resting easy now that the big hurdle is over, having come through the sander with a fine job, no damage, and the machine worked well.

Filling

This particular filler is polyester glazing putty and the ME guys were not too familiar with its use.  I demonstrated what little I know and was happy to back away after smoothing out the corner.

Smiles All Around

Ray S and Jeff B satisfied with a good job well done!