Chicago Great Western X 38 Russell Snow Plow

This was another productive day for the crew working in the Freight Car Department

Spreading Its Wings

Simon Harrison and Dave Rogan are the proud parents of a milestone accomplishment for our snow plow.  Pictured here, BOTH plow wings are now operational and can be extended or retracted.  At the lunch table we invited any of the volunteers on site to come over and get a chance to operate the wings - many did just that!

The wings may move about 36 inches outward, and many may have the misconception that they swing much farther.  As we got the plow it was repainted by the CNW into its yellow scheme.  But behind the plow wings lives the CGW bright orange from the 1970's.  Some say CNW stands for Cheap & Nothing Wasted, - in any case they apparently sprayed all around the exterior but did not bother to open the wings and finish the job.

Roofwalk

Jim Leonard continues to wrestle with well rusted nuts and bolts on the roofwalk.

New Flooring

Buzz Morisette is making good progress with framing repairs and now is laying down new flooring in the carbody box, between the doors on each side.

Moving Up

Simon Harrison is chipping high on the car side, only a few areas left to clean up on the north side, and then on to the finish paint.

Looking Down on the Crew

We do not look down on our volunteers, but I had a chance while up on the roof to get this unusual angle of Simon and Dave working just below the edge of the roof line.

Cab Details

Modelers may be interested in this shot of the cab roof.  It was almost a spotting feature of the CGW (their steel cupola cabooses also had this) that a handrail was installed around the perimeter of that small roof.  Most other railroads did not go to the expense.

In the Corner

The handrail was supported by eye bolts and at the corner it was rounded.

Also this week, a separate crew finished the second coat of new paint on our Borden's Milk Tank Car.  That was good.

Those of you patient enough to read this far - we would like to extend an invitation to all those members and friends who plan to come out for Museum Showcase Weekend.  On Saturday 9/15 about 1:30 PM we are going to do a demonstration of the snow plow wings in action.  And ANY of you physically able to get up into the plow, and to its cab (not yet restored) are invited to try your hand at the controls.  Of course, first come, first served, and if 50 of you are hoping for this rare experience, well - we will do what we can.  Did any of you wonder what it was like to run such a plow, to have the power in your hands to swing the wings, to have bragging rights over your fellow railfans or modelers?  Now is your chance for this rare opportunity not available to the general public.

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!

We split the crew today and got some work done on the CGW X 38 snowplow.

The Floor

Buzz Morisette tackled the job on the floor inside the rear end, completing removal of five floorboards whose ends had a lot rot near the doorways.  On the north side, the framing below those boards was rotted away to a large extent, so Buzz removed that, needlechipped and primed the steel below them.

In the Cab

In the cab Dave Rogan continued to work on air piping, checking for leaks and working to understand the maze of piping, valves, and fittings.

Air UP

Simon Harrison monitors the pressure gauge, here approaching 50 psi.  That is perfectly adequate to check for leaks and other defects before we move to the next stage.

The previous week we had started the process by hooking up air to the plow and charging the brake system.  The way this is designed, that train air line also serves to charge two large air tanks that supply the plow blades, and all the other devices needing air inside the car body.  It charges those tanks through two parallel valves and lines - one with a flow constrictor to limit air flow.  The other allows more rapid air flow, to be used when filling for the first time before the plow train leaves, but not during road service.  It fills the tanks faster but takes that air from the normal train line delivery system.  Why the second line that works more slowly?  Dave Rogan found out when he opened the rapid fill valve to save time and 'dynamited' the brakes providing loud noise and a surprise for everyone else in the car.  The second SLOW line does not steal the air from the brake system faster than a locomotive can supply it.