Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Windows

I bet you are getting tired of seeing this caption over and over again.  But here, Tim Peters has a whole stack of windows being worked on, and which will see installation in CRT 1797.  Behind him is a new 'invention' that will allow Tim to basically paint both sides of a single sash at the same sitting.  It is amazing how productive the volunteers are, and how they squeeze every cent of value from every dollar spent.

Signs of the Times

Not of this time exactly but of new signs being painted for the Passenger Car Department, to be used in our Rock Island coaches.  John Faulhaber is doing one, and I am doing the other.  See me?  Right behind the camera?

You did not think I would let you get away without some views of our hopper car restoration, did you?  I know it may not seem to be balanced reporting but this major effort by the Freight Car Department is near to my heart, and I could not help but take a lot of images.

Trucks

Victor Humphreys continued work on the truck sideframes, completing the finish painting on the right side of this car.

Dimensional Data

I suppose modelers treat such notations with only passing interest as long as some generic stuff is shown on a car.  Not so with our restorations, seen here complete on the right side of the car.  There are a lot of letters and numbers painted here, each one having a meaning and significance to this car.

Coming Out

There were needed switch moves in Barn 8 and also Barn 4.  Our beloved hopper got outdoors for the first time since lettering efforts began and this 3/4 view from the B end shows much of the efforts to advantage.

A End

A similar pose is this view from the A end, and yes, some lettering has been applied here also.  Keep hoping for good weather for this pace to continue.

Right Side

This is a more traditional straight on view of the right side.  Amazingly, there are four more blocks of decorations to be painted on this side.

On the Move

Too soon, the locomotive coupled up and the hopper was off to be put away.

B End

This close up of the B end, shows nearly complete lettering for this end, some of it still wet from being painted an hour previous.