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Thursday, August 11. 2011Wood Shop Update - August 13, 2011I am going to post this in the wood shop category since all the pics show work in the Barn 4 shops. Yes, there is some wood work being done along the way.  Tarp Blocks John Faulhaber has cut a number of wood blocks to be used on tarps for our B&O boxcar project. We are struggling mightily with a contractor to make a milestone leap forward on the project and are trying to be prepared for when (AND IF) he shows up.  The Tie That Binds Toward the end of the day the blocks had been cut and drilled and Rich Witt was practicing tying knots and anchoring yellow rope to each block.  North Shore 757 John McKelvey is well along on the next seat back being re-upholstered for the North Shore 757.  CAE 36 Rich Witt continued on refinishing some windows for the CA&E 36, and was helped out in the afternoon by Fred Zimmerman. Fred had worked in the morning with Frank Sirinek on the Vera Cruz 19 open car.  West Towns 141 Speaking of Frank Sirinek, he looks on while Vince Alterio and father, Mike, are threading a rod needed to be fabricated from scratch for the door linkage on the Chicago & West Towns 141.
Monday, August 8. 2011News and Views - August 7, 2011We sure did not want to miss this year's Vintage Transport event - we hope you did not miss it.  CRT 1797 There was a monsoon like heavy downpour about 9 AM and that changed the plans of Tim Peters. So he retreated to the shelter of our wood shop and was busy fabricating new body panels for his restoration project.  Track Gang Both Saturday and Sunday the track gang was working hard on the project to relay track in Barn 3. They are gathered east of the Barn and doing some heavy lifting.  Panel Track The crew is being led by Adam Robillard and they are assembling new units of panel track which will be stockpiled and made ready to replace the badly deteriorated track 34 inside the building. Side benefit - they had a ringside seat for all the activity sorrounding the Leviathan.  First Move The 63 turned the first wheel under its own power at IRM Sunday afternoon. It had been fired just outside and to the west of Barn 2. It has just whistled off, the cylinder cocks are open, and the throttle is being cracked.  Heading For the Main Having cleared the yard 2 leads, the 63 waits for the signal to clear for a move east onto our mainline. Monday, August 8. 2011Michigan Electric 28 Update - August 6, 2011Roof slats, roof slats, and more roof slats…. Since the Northern Illinois mosquito population decided to hold a meeting in Barn 4 last Saturday, Jeff Brady and Ray Schmid thought it would be better to avoid them by working on cutting the ME 28 roof slats in the woodshop. Between the high humidity, heat, and the numerous mosquitoes, it was a good decision. Jeff planned ahead and brought out enough five foot basswood planks to create all the thin roof slats required to cover the car ends with two layers. We needed to produce over 300 slats. This was a slow process to begin since you do not want to rush the table saw setup or you will have 300 unusable slats with the wrong dimensions. But, once the setup was verified, Jeff and Ray stayed at it all day making the saw dust fly. Pictured below: Jeff setting up the table saw. Ray and Jeff making the first cuts.
Pictured below: Jeff measuring the thickness of the thin slat. Jeff holding up the first good roof slat only 300 more to go!
By day’s end, the count was nearing 250+ slats. Additional time was taken to clean-up the Woodshop and put away all the tooling and finished slats. The remaining slats will be cut next week. Pictures by Ray Schmid |
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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 [...]