This day was HUGE in the work and progress made on the Russell plow. Weather was good and many willing volunteers turned out to lend a hand. This very productive day made up in part for the recent dog days of near 100 F temperatures where neither man nor beast was able to function for long outdoors. BTW the next three days are forecast to return to 90-95 F.
Dick Cubbage has moved on to the rear of the plow, seen here working on the rear end sill. Both he and Kirk Warner spent some extra days on the project this week and the progress really shows.
Tom Bernacki did many tasks throughout the day, seen here inside the box, grinding welds smooth on the rear wall.
Victor Humphreys also spent all day on the plow, seen here inside the shop drilling holes to mount a new left rear corner post. The counterbores were done earlier in the day by John Faulhaber assisted by Tom Bernacki. They provide relief for the many rivet heads inside the box. In the morning this was just a stick of wood, by the end of the day it was fitted, prime painted, and installed.
Victor was inside the box here, knocking out old bolts and metal stubs that at one time held the original framing timbers, now gone. To his left you may be able to make out new framing for the right side door, fitted and installed.
From the outside here is the door completely framed out - note the shiny fasteners around and above the opening. To help make this possible, earlier Mike Alterio helped by straightening the right grab iron which had been bent up in its earlier life. Tally for the day was five new pieces of framing completed and installed.
Kirk Warner spent much of the day needlechipping and here he is working "In the Curl" of the front of the plow.
The project has benefited greatly from the loan of a boom truck from Dave Diamond and the B&G Department. Thanks, Dave! Kirk Warner is in the distance on some scaffolding while Jim Leonard is in the bucket.
Jim is one of the nicest guys out there, but in this pic, he looks like he really means business!
Tom Bernacki here is wire wheeling the last nubs of old paint away on the lower left corner.
Jim Leonard was back in the bucket to begin priming some of the cleaned areas by mid afternoon. That truck really improves mobility and safety, AND - there are no wasps living in the boom!
Kirk Warner had the primer and was applying it to the end sill and about one third of the back wall.
Big report, big crew, big list of completed work! Thanks to one and all for supporting the project.
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 [...]