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Tuesday, August 14. 2012Steam Department Update 08-11-2012A short and late update this weekend as I was in Michigan for my son's wedding on Friday. This did at least mean that we had smaller groups working both Saturday and Sunday. On 1630 work continued on the key tasks: · Between the two days we managed to remove 5 of the fireman's side smoke box bolts so we now have 10 of 11 out and have started to source the replacements. None have shown any sign of moving when hammered. So now we first cut off both the exposed thread and the head of the bolt in the smoke box:
Then we have to drill most of the bolt core away with a magnetic drill.
Only then can you drive the shell of the bolt out with an air hammer. Heaven knows how these were fitted - but they sure were not intended to come out again !! · Jason completed a full review of the flexible firebox stays and marked those where the caps must be removed for inspection and hammer testing. Most of these have been done leaving about 20 for next weekend. · The pipe to replace the corroded lines down the side of the boiler has arrived and marking up to bend and connect the replacement sections can now begin. · With a family visit on Sunday, my wife spent much of the day sorting our supply of ferrules into sizes and removing those that were damaged.
These ferrules are a critical part of the re-tubing process. They are copper rings that are fitted in the rear tube sheet between the sheet and the tube when it is expanded. From initial count it looks as if we may have all we need but will need to match them up to the tube sheet in the next couple of weeks to determine if we need any more. The key objective is to ensure that we have all that we require in hand before we get to tube fitting. · Unfortunately we seem to be having difficulty agreeing a start date with the welding contractor who needs to finish the work on the rear tube sheet before we can schedule the internal inspection of the boiler. On 428 the machining of the axle boxes was started. The first box is now on the Bullard turret lathe and the process of machining off the lateral bearing has begun. The intent is to fit brass wear plates similar to those on 1630 rather than the poured babbit used on these boxes in the past.
Bob came by with the newly fabricated collar for the wheel lathe that now needs just final boring to be ready for fitting. With this critical piece in hand we are a major step nearer to being able to bring the wheel lathe into operation. Nigel Monday, August 13. 2012Wood Shop Update - August 11, 2012As usual, there was a lot going on around the property, and a major effort to continue to set up and be ready for the first day of the Thomas Event, Friday August 18. Here are a few pics I caught in our wood shop.  Arrested Lorne Tweed and Eric Lorenz are working and doing some tests on a lightning arrestor for our Cleveland Transit System 4223. On this PCC car there are a number of functions that get mounted to the new trolley boards on the roof. Here is a lightning arrestor, electrically a LARGE capacitor. It is connected to the hot lead at 600 volts DC and the other end is wired to the car frame or ground. Under normal operations it acts as an open circuit, infinite resistance. In the event of a lightning strike to the overhead or near infrastructure, it goes to zero resistance and provides a path to ground, hopefully safely dissipating the voltage before damaging the car or its occupants.  Paint Lorne was busy painting the finish enamel on many of the components to comprise the roof mounted hardware. That little casting in cream paint is a sort of elbow to be mounted on the metal roof and through which passes the 600 volt cable to power the car.  Beading Buzz Morisette volunteered for an unexpected or last minute job, to make new custom profile very thin molding to be new window beading. Jon Fenlaciki had removed the rear window of our first car, Indiana Railroad 65, and was working to refinish and reglaze it. The old beading could not be salvaged.  Plan Ahead We all know how important it is to plan ahead. In this case that can only be done by looking behind at old plans and drawings. It is really amazing how much technical data was saved for many of the cars in our collection. Bill Wulfert is working on restoration of two sign boxes for Chicago Rapid Transit 1797 while Tim Peters studies an old print to resolve an issue. Thursday, August 9. 2012CGW X 38 Update - August 8, 2012 Framing Good progress again yesterday on the X 38 snowplow. We installed eight new pieces of interior wall framing, on the rear wall, shown here, and on the north side. The next three pieces were cut drilled and are ready for paint.  North Side Jim Leonard took to the high scaffold and continued the last little bit of needlechipping, wire brushing, and priming on the north side. Most of that should be done on Saturday, weather permitting. Then the focus will shift to the finish color coats.  Air It Up Jim Leonard, Dave Rogan and Victor Humphreys are hooking us shop air to the plow for the first time since it arrived at IRM. Several volunteers have worked steadily over the past few weeks, to reassemble air piping which had been dismantled, to replace and add new piping where needed, and now it was time to try it out. Baby steps. We blew out the lines to eliminate debris or scale, then the last few nipples and fittings were installed by Dave. As expected, a number of minor leaks and fittings needing attention were discovered and these will be addressed. Still, a milestone in the restoration process. |
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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 [...]