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Monday, January 23. 2012Steam Department Update 1-22-2012The snow made for a pretty quiet weekend at the steam shop. Only a couple of brave souls made it to Union and Saturday. I got there Sunday along with Tom, Jason and Brian. Jason and Brian made good progress on cleaning and needle chipping most remaining areas of the boiler and the various pipes running along the outside of the boiler ready for testing.
The area remaining to be cleaned off is the one that everyone dreads - the underside of the barrel. This is the real fun area requiring that you crawl under the boiler and brush / needle chip directly above where you are lying - gravity then ensures that most of what you remove lands on you!!. I just about completed the set up for swaging ready to bring tubes in from the box car. However that will now be of lesser priority than getting the inside of the boiler sand blasted. Potential contractors for sand blasting are not willing to do the boiler interior at a reasonable price so we need to do it ourselves. Given that this will require several days use of a respirator helmet and subsequent use for welding inside 1630's tender, we have acquired a suitable pump. It is now the first priority to set the boiler up so that dust is generally contained within it and can be exhausted outside the shop. The we can get on with the job. I also got the help of Bob Kutella on modifying the timbers of the McCabe flanger so that it can be moved more easily. Unfortunately this requires timber that we could not get on a Sunday so hopefully that will be done next week. No report from me next weekend as I am in Florida for a week. Let's hope that we have a lot to report in 2 weeks. Nigel Monday, January 23. 2012TMS Project Update - January 22, 2012Work continues on this exciting project, with the hope of having TM 972 back on its trucks and operating at IRM this season.  Truck Work Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady are working on one of the trucks from beneath this car while the wheel and axle sets are out at a shop. This is a golden opportunity to do what amounts to a substantial rebuild of the truck, while the wheels and motors are out for work. The frame is inside our shop, so winter weather is not an issue. Unlike a model railroad truck consisting of three molded pieces, there are literally over one hundred parts and pieces. Over time, some of those become worn. They may still work for a while yet, but the clock is ticking with every additional service mile logged. So the prudent decision is to the repair or replacement of items showing substantial wear and which are badly out of spec. Current efforts involve still more dismantling of the many pieces, but right now we are focusing on "pins and bushings". The brake rigging in particular involves several levers, rods, and assemblies which must pivot and move when the brakes are applied. Each of those joints usually is held together by a hardened steel pin which rides inside a hardened steel bushing. The bushing is a press fit into the respective casting it resides in. All of that work is well along the way. Remember this an active project, and as with any project, unforeseen work may become apparent along the way. In this case we have made the decision to replace many of the pins and bushings, assuring decades of relatively trouble free operation. But that also means purchasing many of those parts, those we do not have as spares in inventory. And this is the first truck, the other awaits the same treatment. So we are not at the final cost and donations are still appreciated. The restricted fund is RTMS and your generous donation and support guarantees you are PARTICIPATING in this progress. |
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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 [...]