Illinois Railway Museum Blog

A busy weekend as I had a normal day Saturday at the steam shop then spent Sunday in the diesel shop.  A lot of work was done in the steam shop on Saturday.  Unfortunately a new priority meant that far less of it than we had hoped went toward #1630.

During this summer there is to be a major redevelopment of the road on the West side of the site. So alongside the steam shop. This means that one of the major areas of storage for the shop must be sorted and relocated. Certainly not before time as it is a considerable mess !.  However we had been putting this off to progress the locomotive.  Unfortunately time ran out and B&G are now starting work in the area.  So several of us spent most of the day working with B&G to identify and move the useful material while they disposed of the rubbish. This is likely to be a significant effort over the next couple of weeks,

A lot of heavy parts for #938 before move

None the less, by the time a thunderstorm stopped work at around 6, a substantial progress had been made.  A significant area at the South end has been cleared of parts for #938 which have now been put onto new pallets and moved to the area by the Bay City crane.

Much space created by end of day

Big space where the #938 parts were

Unfortunately looming in the background are the saddle tank and cab of the Navy 0-4-0.  These are really awkward items that will have to be moved in the next weeks.

Other crews kept work moving on #1630:

·         Collin, Phil and Richard worked on fitting the wires around the boiler that will be used to secure the lagging.  They made excellent progress and most of the wires on the barrel are now in place.  It is good to see work progressing on steps that will clearly lead to her starting to look like a working locomotive again;

Wires to support lagging in place on much of the barrel

·         Jane finished wire brushing and painting the last of the cladding sheets.  This is another important enabling step toward being able to install the lagging, and cladding over it, once the first hydro testing is done;

·         Eric worked steadily at grinding excess material from the tube ends.  Those that are to be beaded must have a fairly accurate 1/4 inch projection all around.  Some have a significant excess in places so this is a job that will keep Eric and others busy for several weeks;

A lot of flues now ground to final profile

·         The main activity was the preparation for riveting the patch.  A group of us, led by Tom and Mike worked into the evening practicing and testing the roles in passing a rivet into the firebox, getting it safely into the hole and applying the bucker.  Mike and Tom have spent a good deal of time during the week setting up the timber staging in the firebox to hold the bucker at the correct level so that it can be accurately applied to the rivet immediately it is in place.  After a number of practice passes the process seems to be working smoothly.  Hopefully next weekend will see some rivets actually set into place.

Sunday in the diesel shop Roger and Jarod introduced me to the many tasks involved in starting the locomotives up for the season.  An interesting morning learning the delights of inspecting brushes on motors and generators, pumping large quantities of oil  thru the prime mover before it can be safely cranked and many other tasks.  30 minutes lying in a confined space squeezed under a traction motor, to get at the brushes there, certainly convinced me that steam are not the only group in desperate need of an inspection pit.  Thanks guys for an interesting day.

Nigel