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Monday, November 28. 2011CTA 2153-2145 Report - November 27, 2011We have a lot of work going on year around at IRM, certainly more than I can observe and report. This story is courtesy of Dave Fullarton - story and photos by Dave Fullarton - thanks, Dave. Generally the work on these cars has been fixing many years of "sit-itis," the problems that crop up after years of inactivity. The cars saw a period of activity and actually ran a few trips on our mainline in the 1990s, but have remained mostly idle until late this past summer. So far they've had some cleaning done, and the lighting restored.  Lit
Up The cars, with lights on, late on November 12th.
Given the small number of items on the property with flourescent
lighting, they are VERY easy to see at night, compared to most of our
other cars with incandescent lighting. The battery charging circuit has
also been restored, and the batteries themselves are strong. Currently
we are working on restoring the interior climate control and blowers.
Built in 1964, the 2000s are IRM's newest electric cars and their
electrical systems are very complex compared to most others in the
collection.  Ground Work Richard Schauer is
replacing a corroded electrical contactor beneath the train (this one
is important - for the 2154's brakes!) Of course, there are the "little
things" which are being fixed too, such as a motorman's cab window that
would not open. It is now freed up after Richard worked on it today. Aside from electrical systems in the cars themselves, we're also working
on rehabilitating two trolley bases/poles for use with these cars.
Monday, November 28. 2011Burlington Northern 9908 body work
On Sunday, November 20, we moved the BN 9908, an E9Am, deep into the shop to begin some steel work around the cab and continue interior prep, prime and paint of the floor. Jim West has spent the summer working on sealing up some of the water leaks around the carbody and engine room, and needle chipping, sanding and cleaning the engine room floors, under the cab, and in the nose. It is all primed and is about ready for paint, but needs the heated shop to complete it. E units are pretty close to F units in where they rust and rot around the nose and sides of the cab. Our plan is to spend one month doing as much steel work as we can before other projects will need the same space in the shop and 9908 will have to be moved out. Back in 2006 we were able to do all the same steel work on the CNW 411 in about five weeks. That story is available here in a photo album. After the work is done on the 9908, it will be painted back to its existing green and black scheme for the short term. Sometime in the future, it will be restored back to CB&Q 9976 with stainless steel side panels and will be used as backup power for the Nebraska Zephyr.
Some of the typical places of rust and rot are around the lower base of the nose steel against the anti-climber, and where the sheets were welded together along the beams of the cab side, and all around the nose door. Also around the sand fillers and step wells on both sides. We are starting around the anti-climber and nose door and will work our way backwards as these areas are completed. There are many more photos available than are shown in this blog, and are shown here with the most recent being shown first. This photo album will more than likely be updated more often than the blog, but we'll do our best to keep both up to date. |
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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 [...]