Here are some new images 'hot off the press' from the camera of Ray Schmid. Last Sunday we welcomed some new woodworking volunteers, the father and son team of Jim and Tom Windmeier. Their project is to build many wood replica stepboxes in the style of the old metal ones long disappeared from railroad use. These will improve safety and access for those boarding our trains, young and old alike.
One of the first steps for Jim and Tom was to design the project, and then to proceed to build the first prototype, serial no. 1. This has a lot of tricky angles and cuts so they designed a number of jigs and fixtures to help.
One of those useful items is this sled designed to run in concert with our tablesaw. A number of blocks and stops are added so parts can be reproduced with a minimum of fussing and measuring.
The pieces are carefully fitted to check angles and conformance to the 'idea'.
Here the four sides (inverted) are held together and then checked. Now you see what he has been doing, huh?
Of course this image has nothing to do with the described project but someone who shall remain nameless caught Tim Peters and myself politely discussing an upcoming task. Sort of a laugh and reward for those that read to the end of this entry.
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 [...]