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Thursday, November 22. 2012CGW X 38 Update - November 21, 2012HAPPY THANKSGIVING The first order of business is to wish you and yours a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend. And to give all of you THANKS for your support and participation in ALL of the various IRM projects in 2012. THANK YOU. Yesterday at the IRM wood shop there was but a skeleton crew on hand. I can assume many were making preparations for today's time with family and friends, or traveling to do the same. That is entirely fitting and appropriate. In the shop we used the time to work on more windows. There was a time not too long ago when constructing and fabricating ONE new window from rough stock was a BIG EVENT. Yet here we are well along the process for making ELEVEN new windows, in the space of a few short weeks.  Routed Victor Humphreys and Dick Cubabge worked on eight new windows for the cupola cab of the CGW snowplow. All these share the same profile and shape, but of course there are four different sizes, and each pair has both a right hand and left hand version. Last week you saw the pile of prepared blanks, we referred to as 'window kits'. Victor and Dick worked to rout a unique profile for the beading on that stock as you can see above.  Full Profile The next steps were done on the table saw to slice two thin grooves and drop out the remainder resulting in the rabbet, which will be used to place the glass in the finished window. Here that is all done, three steps on each of 32 pieces of stock. We made fabrication drawings on the computer for each type and are using those to set dimensions and sizes. Four of the drawings lay before you in the above image, resting on three completed glue ups of windows. Behind them are the stacks of window kits, now with each piece shaped and rabbeted as needed. Maybe only barely visible but the pair of stiles facing the camera has had the layout lines added for plunging 3/8 inch slots on the mortising machine - the next steps. Monday, November 19. 2012Diesel department weekend updateSaturday was a short day due to the monthly board meeting. Afterwards, Dan, Rod and I switched track 104 to clear it so a few cars could be moved out of track 4 in Barn 10. This was done so the B&G department can store the Santa Fe sign in a safe place indoors. It will be stored there until such time as there is funding and a location to restore and display the sign properly. For Sunday, the morning started with Jim and myself helping out Will and Jen to finish the tear down of the Terror cars on the west wye. The bridge that allows people to walk between the baggage car side door and the box car door had to be disassembled and the modules stacked in the box car. Between the walls and the deck, they are pretty large pieces that take a few people to move. Once that was completed, me, Jim and Kyle moved to the days planned activity of moving the ComEd 15 (EMD SW1) over the electric car department pit on track 41 to work on the #1 gear box.  ComEd 15 no. 1 gear box Earlier in the year, CE 15 was taken out of service due to some derailment damage to the #1 gear box and a broken pin on the brake rigging. The brake rigging pin was replaced to allow the unit to make two passes for the Diesel Days Parade of Power back in July. The bottom of the gear box was bent and split open from a failed weld on a side sheet to the bottom. We were planning on removing it for repairs to be made, but found a way to do the job in place. We welded a large eye bolt to the center of the pan under where the gear was and used a bar and hydraulic jack to force and bend the bottom of the pan close to its original position and welded the seam that was cracked open. A few packs of gear lube was added and the loco was moved back to yard 2 to be prelubed and started. We then switched a few more cars around, using CE 15. The last four Terror cars on the west wye were put away on the turntable leads and there were three flat cars in yard 13 that were in the way of ballasting track 134, so they were moved to the yard 13 lead. The loco was put away and we retired to dinner at a reasonable time for once. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! Monday, November 19. 2012Storage in Barns PFE 68428 Much of the work at IRM involves moving stuff around and rearranging the equipment for better access or to do a scheduled restoration task. After all we bill ourselves as a MUSEUM IN MOTION. Here is a wonderful photo from Phil Stepek who noticed that cars inside Barn 10 were being moved around a bit. It gives a great opportunity to see this in good clear light and to appreciate a fact. Restoration was done about two DECADES ago. The lettering on this side of the car was done over FIFTEEN years ago and most of that time this car enjoyed indoor storage. Protection under roof can clearly be seen as THE ONLY WAY TO GO. It is NEEDED if we are to be serious about preserving railroad history. Please enjoy this pic of our 1928 Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator car, and consider a donation so we may place additional cars into the next project, BARN 14. Please donate to fund RISWFC, on line, or mailed to Illinois Railway Museum Box427 Union IL 60180 |
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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 [...]