Illinois Railway Museum Blog

GN Herald

Here is the herald by the end of Saturday.  Two more letters and the outer circle which really defines this and makes it recognizable.  Not a lot of square inches covered by white paint, but a LOT of really fussy hand painting.  There was some good news, as I fretted a few days after my last post where there appeared to be a smear of white paint to the right of the N in NORTHERN.  No smear!  Just a reflection of the flash used for the photo.

Side Cutting

Our intrepid Victor Humphreys largely keeps his head down and stays below the radar.  In recent weeks a lot of effort was put in outdoors on the restoration of our B&O wagon top boxcar.  A sure sign of spring.  The interior has had stored materials relocated and repositioned to allow work on the next quarter of the sides.  Nothing to see there folks, please move along.  This week he accomplished slotting and cutting work for ultimate removal and replacement of damaged and rusted out side panels. 

Open Car

Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek are shown by Vera Cruz 19, our operating open car.  Last year almost all the seats were repaired and refinished, and so far this spring the floor and traps have been repainted.  It really looks GOOD!  Hmmm, I wonder if that is the right color?  Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

The Old Grind

Eric Lorenz continued the amazing work and progress on out Cleveland Transit System PCC, 4223.  Here he is removing old paint and crud from a fabricated bar plate that is part of the needed support for adding the trolley pole.

Trolley Boards

From here on, the report is all Rapid Transit, all the time.  Tim Peters has fabricated new trolley boards for the roof of CRT 1797 and is just finishing the second coat of paint.

Interior

Largely unremarked, Frank Kehoe is restoring much of the interior of the same car.  There is a LOT of work here, and trust me, a lot has been accomplished.  Thanks, Frank.

More Windows

Every report here within memory has mentioned window work.  I thought we were going to break the pattern but at the last minute I noticed Buzz Morisette restoring a window for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797.  Earlier in the day Buzz had repaired a pattern/form for the steam department.  And of course all the other work I failed to capture.  Maybe we should sell a shop access admission and let folks stroll from project to project, fascinated at the work and with mouths drooping open.  I could spend a day like that. Insurance?  Nah.