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Monday, April 9. 2012Bureau of Forestry - April 7, 2012Our Buildings and Grounds Department, led by Dave Diamond, is just like maintaining the many functions found in our towns, villages and cities. Today the Bureau of Forestry volunteers were recalled from unpaid leave to work around the campus. Actually, our volunteers are unpaid whether on furlough or actively engaged in the work.  Damaged Goods For decades many have enjoyed the shade from a tree just north of our office. During one of the severe storms of last summer about half of this tree split off and was removed. Now it was time to finish the job.  Removal The first operation was to trim off any branches and there was equipment on hand and willing volunteers to load it into one of our dump trucks.  The Grand Trunk Of course not the railroad, but the remaining trunk was the last to stand. I think that is Tom Opolony up in the bucket. The crew continued through the day trimming trees, for example in the Depot Street Shelter area, and also in Electric Park. Do not worry about the 'employees'. Throughout the year you will likely see them engaged maintaining the buildings, campus landscaping, or working in the Streets and Sanitation Department, for Snow Command, or in constructing improvements throughout the campus. And do not forget the fleet of special equipment needed to do this work - keep it in good repair and ready for use on what sometimes is a moments notice. Sunday, April 8. 2012Steam Department Update 4-7-2012A good deal of progress was achieved on 1630 today despite a low turnout that was to be expected at Easter weekend. The main effort was heavy duty cleaning. The objective was to clear the abrasive and associated dust from the locomotive top down so as to minimize the amount above the wheels and motion before the sheeting could be removed. This was achieved and she now looks recognizable again with the wheels and rods uncovered ready to shunt next weekend.
Matt spend several hours inside the boiler sweeping, shoveling and finally vacuuming the sand from the boiler barrel. There is still some more to remove from the sides and top of the firebox but the barrel itself is now clear and open again at both ends. Looking in from the front the view is open thru to the firebox again. The tubes are clear of the sand that could be seen in the views last week. The strange rod running between the tube sheets was being used to measure lengths for the super heater flues.
The scale of the effort over recent weeks can be judged from the medium removed. Each of these tubs is about 80 pounds and there are several more that did not fit on the pallet!. Paul, Ed and I were kept busy shifting the material that Matt pushed out while also cleaning the outside of the locomotive, tender and surrounding areas of the shop.
The decision was taken not to use sandblasting on the footplate. We will needle chip the back head as the effort of removing the medium would outweigh the gains of quicker cleaning. The diesel department moved the rotary snow plough from in front of the shop so, weather permitting, we are now ready to shunt outside next Saturday. The objectives then will be steam cleaning to remove any remaining residue and prepare for painting as well as lifting out the throttle valve body for lapping. We were also able to start work on preparing the super heater flues for refitting (safe ending). The preparation is complex because there are small but significant length differences between different areas of the tube sheets so the final length of individual flues will vary by about 1/2 inch. The length of each flue is currently different depending upon how much was lost in cutting each one out of the boiler. There is a limit to how long the narrow section can be so each flue must be measured to determine if it can be fitted by attaching a safe end just at the narrow end or if it must be extended at both ends. Once this is done work will begin on cutting the required extension pieces matched to each flue. After we had removed the sand blast material from the area, Mike was able to restart work on the firebox patch. Progress here will depend upon availability of our welding expert to build up the mud ring. In other areas: · Steve, Bob and Ed were working on the hydraulics that will drive the planer. This machine will significantly increase our capability to machine axle boxes and wedges, which is currently a very slow process. · Cameron was using the shaper to prepare the sections that will be used to build up the axle boxes for 428.
Nigel Friday, April 6. 2012Wood Shop Update - April 4, 2012Most days in the shop, I never seem to take the time to snap a photo. This week it seemed that whenever I turned around there was one of the many volunteers working on one of many projects. So this will be more of a quick photo tour rather than long or not so long stories.  Window Trim Buzz Morisette is shown setting up to make new exterior window jamb and trim pieces for some of the many new windows he fabricated over the winter for caboose ATSF 1400. Later in the day he was seen working on wood for a new ELECTRIC PARK station sign for Dave Diamond and our B&G Department.  Window Details Victor Humphreys is demonstrating how we routed a weatherstrip half round recess into the bottom of the new windows for IC 3996. The step ahead of this was squaring up exactly the bottom of each sash. And after the routing, he and Dick Cubbage helped cut a 10 degree bevel on each sash to match the sills on the car.  Jointing I was not immune from the photo taking spree as Al Reinschmidt snuck one in unknown to me, while I was running some wood through our jointer to try to take out any warp, cup, or twist.  Hand Brake Frank Sirinek is shown by the drill press with a modified hand brake assembly for Chicago & West Towns 141. He and Mike Alterio worked on those for the two ends of that car.  Getting Even I got even with Al Reinschmidt by catching him renewing some of the hundreds of window tracks needed for our PCC project car, Cleveland Transit 4223.  Window Frames For the same CTS 4223 project Lorne Tweed continued on the often frustrating task of dismantling aluminum window frames so defective glass and weatherstipping can be replaced. It seems that they are assembled with hardened self tapping screws and galvanic action and years of exposure make removing each screw a project in itself.  4223 Paint Dave Rogan pitched in on a number of things throughout the day, seen here painting primed interior panels for the rear area of the PCC.  Pipe Dreams Pete Galayda is showing Jan Nunez, our Office Manager, some of the finer restoration points of electric conduit piping for Charles City Western 300 steeple cab locomotive. John Nelligan also worked on this project, among other things, fabricating new Crouse Hinds conduit box covers.  EX Siding We are always excited about new pieces for any of the old warhorses. George Clark continues here, painting a new batch of siding boards for Lake Shore Electric 810, an interurban freight trailer.  Brakes A very dedicated group of volunteers has made remarkable progress in rebuilding a truck for Milwaukee Electric 972. This work is being funded by donations to the TMS (Two Milwaukee Streetcar) project. Over 70 new hardened bushings have been fabricated in our own shops and installed, and all of the new hardened pins have been made. This photo shows the reassembled set of levers for one of the car's brake heads.  The Hopper No, not the current tv ad for a video gadget called the HOPPER. But Victor and I crawled underneath our GN 70104 three bay open hopper to take some measurements of the mechanism for releasing the doors. |
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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 [...]