Illinois Railway Museum Blog

I usually try to resist making a lot of short entries on the BLOGS but I guess I have to break my own rules this time.

Window Work, Again

Roger Kramer and John Faulhaber are shown using the router, cutting copes on the top and bottom rails for the current work order for nine new windows for Illinois Central 3996.  Previously in the day, cheek cuts or tenon stop shoulders were cut on all of these.  Mass producing multiple copies makes the involved tool set up more productive as any cut can be reproduced accurately.

Door Work

Tim Peters is working on the many door panels found on and in Chicago Rapid Transit 1797.  They get stripped of old paint, repaired where wood parts have deteriorated, and all joints re-fit and re-glued.  Using epoxy based adhesives for this means one step equals one day, allowing time to cure the epoxy two part mix.

There was a pretty good turnout of volunteers on this last day of 2011.  [Note to self - remember to type 2012 from now on].  I guess the hardy volunteers are not the type of late night revelers planning to celebrate the turning of the calendar until the wee hours of the morning - or maybe they are?

Mortises

Buzz Morisette is quietly working in the background, under the radar, making new sash for caboose ATSF 1400.  He has fabricated a whole stack of new parts and here is cleaning out the mortises in one of the stiles.

On to Gluing

Time to mix the glue with the frame on the workbench dry fit and assembled.  It is always a good idea to study the directions on the can.

In the Press

Later in the day we see that Buzz has completed three new windows and they are glued up, in the press for 24 hours.

Beading

When we make a new window sash the job does not end there.  After sanding and painting, we find we have also made a number of small beading strips to be used for holding in the glass.  Victor Humphreys is cutting and mitering each one to fit.

Glazing

It is finally time to add the panes of glass.  Victor is installing eight of them in the new windows for Norfolk and Western 2050.

Window Tracks

There was lots of other activity, and here Eric Lorenz is giving us a 'clinic' on restoring the window tracks for Cleveland Transit 4223.  There are many pieces needed to install just one window (five if I remember) and all of them need to be restored.  Clean off corrosion, straighten and repair, replace lost or missing parts.  There are many windows for this car, so any hardy volunteers that want to learn a new skill - come on out on a Wednesday or Saturday.  The shop is heated and work continues through the winter months.

Hardware

Time Peters continued on the new windows for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797.  The windows are mostly glazed, fit and painted; so now, shiny brass hardware gets installed on each sash.

As I said many other projects saw work being done, but here is a bit of trivia.  At least two of our vintage woodworking machines were manufactured by GREENLEE in nearby Rockford, IL.  It can be a challenge to date when any of these were built but other research has yielded the following formula.

(First three digits of the serial number) minus 68, divided by 12 and added to 1900 equals the date built. 

It seems very convoluted but has worked - dating our mortiser for 1925 and our glue press (seen above in this report) for 1924.