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Thursday, July 21. 2011News and Views - July 20, 2011Even though there is a wide diversity of subject matter in this post, I am lumping these together in my Wood Shop category since the extreme heat resulted in volunteers looking for work indoors and out of the sun. But to begin - -  A Baggage Car NICE! CB&Q 993 basks in the hot afternoon sun after reaching COMPLETION by the Wednesday Special Projects Group. This group of midweek warriors have completed restorations on six cars in the last dozen years!  CTA 30 Jerry Saunders continued to lead a team of volunteers preparing CTA 30 for re-painting. The car body has been scuffed and flaking paint removed and it is nearly ready for the priming. I do not know how Jerry, Eric Zabelny, and Fred Zimmerman worked in that heat outdoors, in the sun. But we encouraged them to take frequent breaks and drink a lot of water, which they did. Tough guys that they are, they claimed the heat did not bother them.  CCW 300 Those of us who are wiser (and older) took refuge in our shops. Pete Galayda is working on new hood running boards for the Charles City steeple cab locomotive.  Station Door Victor Humphreys has applied primer to both sides of the new wood door custom made in the shop, for our depot.  CAE 36 Rich Witt was quite content to continue on repairs to a window for CA&E 36, in our cooled shop. Sanding was completed and then the task of applying white primer began.  Brass Polishing Simon Harrison and John Faulhaber took some more turns at restoring brass hardware for the Sand Springs 68. Here they are seen working on the first two seat handles for the car. These are new castings which need to be smoothed and worked through the polishing and finishing steps. We ordered new felt 'bobs' and these were quite effective at getting to the interior surfaces.  Production Production at the end of the day included two seat handles and another four of the window lift assemblies. These were then cleaned and clear lacquer applied for protection. This is another example where volunteers can learn and master old crafts and techniques. Our shops have a collective experience not matched and which are not found in commerce today, in many cases. What would you like to learn? Thursday, July 21. 2011B&O Boxcar Update - July 20, 2011Boy it was hot - triple digit on the thermometer (in the shade) and there was no SHADE! Heat index topping 110.  North Door So what did our intrepid team of volunteers choose to do? Work with the acetylene torch on repairs to the B&O boxcar. The north door opened reluctantly and had suffered decades of use and some bent areas, causing binding. By getting an early start, Gerry Dettloff, John Faulhaber and Victor Humphreys tried to beat the worst of the heat.  Guide Gerry is heating a door guide on the right side which had been knocked inward at some time in the past. Then John and Victor would attack the cherry red steel with tools to straighten and reposition the offending items. Several small adjustments were made, and the door can easily be opened and closed by one person now!  Rivets Since the torch, tools, and crew were already out, they were convinced to start on some of the needed carbody repairs. Deteriorated steel sheeting will be replaced and in this case it was riveted to the car frame. Gerry is heating a rivet head to burn it off. Then the rivet stub is pounded out to allow for cutting away of the steel sheet. Did I say it was hot? |
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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 [...]