|
|
Monday, July 25. 2011Steam Report - July 23, 2011Images and report are from Jim Opolony - THANKS JIM!  Scaffold Work started at 8:00 in the morning by shop members gathering the materials that would be needed for removal of the 1630's superheaters. Since there was a constant rain, placing of scaffolding in front of the 1630 did not start until 9:30. (Our Mamas told us to stay out of the rain when we were little, so we followed their advice.) Last week, steam team members made sure that the nuts holding the first row of superheater tubes in place, on their hangers, were heated and loosened so that the job of removing the tubes would be easier. The decision was made to use the boom on Glenn's truck to lower the superheaters to the ground. The tubes would be pulled out part way from the tubesheet, strapped and connected to the boom before being completely pulled out of the tubesheet. At the same time, they would have wooden blocks attached to their tapered ends to prevent damage.  Smoke Box At 10:00 the center superheater was removed from the tube sheet. To our surprise, the superheater was out of the locomotive and in the shop, on wooden horses, within seven minutes. The entire front row of superheater tubes were out of the locomotive, blocked, stacked, and tagged by 10:35. At this point the work slowed down. The nuts on the second row of superheater hangers had to be heated and loosened. In some cases, this took several attempts before the nuts moved. In addition, since the hanger bolts are cast iron, we had to make sure we did not break them. After the nuts were loose, it took until 2:30 to remove the second row of tubes. An additional problem was that the socket that fit the nuts in the first two rows would not fit into the space between the next row of tubes. Finally, Glenn found a socket that fit.  First Row Superheaters Once on the ground, they would be carried into the shop and tagged by row and their location in the tube sheet. The wooden blocks had been made by Bob Kutella and Victor Humphreys, of the Freight Car Department, for the superheater tubes now in the UP 428's boiler. They will make additional wooden blocks this coming week since the 1630 has more superheaters than the 428.  Second Row Superheaters Work ended on the 1630 with members of the steam team working to loosen the nuts on their threaded hangers on the third row of superheater tubes. Next Saturday, when these superheaters are removed, the nuts on the final row of superheaters will still have to be loosened so that the fourth row of superheaters may be removed. Then, the work to remove the other boiler tubes and flues will start. In addition we still need to find the time to remove the lagging and boiler insulation, and other accessories to allow full inspection of the boiler. Monday, July 25. 2011Barn 4 Work - July 24, 2011 Water Everywhere I mentioned in the previous post that I was forced to change plans, and that is why no report for Saturday. Here is the reason, a dim image that greeted me at the first crack of dawn, about three feet of water on our street.  Window Posts Tim Peters is now attacking the carbody posts on the north side of CRT 1797. This wooden L car originally was a semi-convertible design, and Tim has found evidence of that. It seems odd to me that the side windows could be raised up into and stored between the ceiling and roof, but that is the way it was. Imagine an 'open car' on the elevated!  Lifts Kirk Warner was able to join us for the weekend as part of an intermission on a business trip. We went into the Sand Springs 68 and started the installation of the hardware that the Wednesday shop guys have so perfectly buffed, polished and restored. Kirk is driving the four wood screws per lift on the first window.  One Done Then Kirk insisted I take a test drive, and they seemed to work perfectly. Monday, July 25. 2011ME 28 Update - July 24, 2011Due to a change in plans I was able to journey to IRM on Sunday and got these images of work on the ME 28. Progress continues.  Roof Panels Jeff Brady was installing the last two new roof panels. This has really been a lot of work and those guys are to be congratulated.  Front End Completing the curved roof sheathing on the front and rear ends cannot be far away. On the front end, Norm Krentel has installed a type J governor on the interior bulkhead and here he is fabricating and routing air piping for it. The governor is a device that senses the pressure in the air line and serves to start or to stop the compressor on the car as needed. Once the roof work is done access to this area will be severely limited, so the crew is doing some forward thinking to put this in now. Much of the wiring and other work in this area has also been repaired or in some cases installed new. |
Blog AdministrationCalendarQuicksearchSyndicate This Blog |
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 [...]