Illinois Railway Museum Blog

I was very busy on and off the property (at the Pullman Library) this week so no fresh images from my camera.  But fast and impressive work continues on the repainting of our MILW caboose.  To give credit where due a lot of the painting itself is being led and being done by Jamie Kolanowski inside the heated portion of Barn 2. 

EDIT(from comments):I want to add that credit is equally due to Roger Broms and the rest of the crew that did the prep work. Roger and I, as well as others, have worked on the last half dozen painting projects as a team and its great that we know what needs to happen and when, without having to wait or say anything to each other. It makes the job go so much faster and smoother.

Jamie has created a Photo Gallery section devoted to this project on the IRM website, but for those who have not visited there, here is a sample of the images.  Not to leave anyone out, Buzz Morisette intitiated this project, secured grant funding, and has spent days in preparing the body, sanding and filling.  And he spent most of last winter manufacturing new window frames in the wood shop!

Lettering Bands

After priming, bands of maroon were applied where lettering would later be placed.  This allows us to exactly match the lettering color, and create this in the same durable Centari paint finish.  Some projects at IRM have used custom vinyl letters, but it is hard to color match using those and they have proven to have perhaps only a 5-7 year lifespan.

Masks

As soon as the maroon is dry enough, large masks are applied using custom cut low tack masking tape sheets.

Time for Orange

Then the finished color coats are sprayed on over the maroon and lettering masks.

Window Frames

The window frames are painted separately since many are new or have been removed from the carbody.

The Finished Product

After the finished color is applied, the lettering masks are peeled away to reveal the stunning finished product.

You may see more images along the way in the Photo Gallery created by Jamie at http://www.irm.org/gallery/MILW01984restoration