Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Plow Extra Crew

We split the crew today, more on that later.  Here Dave Rogan and John Faulhaber are ready to try to open the left side wing on the plow.  They had already done some of the prep work and fixed more air leaks, and charged the reservoirs to 50 psi.  This had never been tried at IRM and perhaps not been moved during the previous 20 years.

First Movement

Many of the volunteers migrated to what we hoped would be a successful trial.  We had several working - Dave Rogan working the controls up in the cab, Henry Vincent watching the air pressure gauge inside, others to pass along verbal instructions.  IT MOVES!!!  We all expected loud squeaking and protests from the hinges, but it was completely smooth and quiet - we almost missed it.

Wide Open

Here, Henry Vincent, Buzz Morisette, John Faulhaber, Dave Rogan and Rich Witt beam proudly.  To deal with one of the leaks, we removed the whistle valve and capped the air pipe.  In the shop Rich Witt dismantled that, and we found the spring inside had been assembled in the wrong position - apparently an artifact from an indifferent mechanic on the CNW.

Behind the Wing

There it was wide open, and we peered to see behind what had been cloaked to all of us.  The CNW never opened them up when repainting, and the last CGW orange paint remained. Henry and Rich Witt look for clues

Roof Walk Strap

Gerry Dettloff fabricated a new steel strap to support the roofwalk.  One was missing due to a broken weld and we needed it in place to continue installing interior wood framing on the back wall.  The bolts pass through the straps, end wall, and the wood timbers.

Painting

I opened this entry saying we had split the crew.  Here, Victor Humphreys and Jim Leonard work to repaint the Borden's Milk Car.  Prepped and primed last week, it was now time for the first coat of finish paint.  In true IRM spirit they continued the painting during the plow wing moving tests.  Thanks guys!