Illinois Railway Museum Blog

This post will cover a lot of ground and a lot of projects, not strictly like the winter work centered in the woodshop

On the Pit

Aging

I suppose some will consider this preaching, but hopefully preaching to the converted.  On the left is CNS&M 749 over our Barn 4 pit for inspections and maintenance.  It was painted and lettered a handful of years ago, and has enjoyed Barn Space.  It looks as good as the day it was completed. Clean, sparkling, and glossy.  On the right is a shot of one of our Rock Island coaches, also painted and restored in the last ten years or so.  The paint job is weathered, dull, spotty, chalky, and the carefully applied lettering has all but disappeared.  I bet you will come to the same conclusion I did - that the best investment we can make is to protect the equipment under roof inside Barns.  We cannot afford to start doing things twice.

A Polecat

Maybe I left a space out on the above caption.  What I meant was that Randy Hicks is a hard working 'cat', here working on restoring two trolley poles (a pole cat) for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.

Roof Priming

The next series of pics will focus on the good progress made on Chicago Great Western X 38, our Russell snowplow.  Bill Peterson withstood the unusually sunny day and scrubbed a lot more paint from the roof, and is seen here closing the deal by applying primer.

More Priming

Victor Humphreys continues with the priming theme working on the truck sideframes and flanger blade of the X 38.  Ray Pollice finished cleaning the last of the rust and paint from half the blade earlier in the day.

New Sills

Buzz Morisette worked to custom make some new window sills for the X 38 early in the day.

Windows Without Sills

Buzz moved out into the heat and was working in the cab/cupola of the X 38 to prepare the framing and openings for the sills he made earlier.  Note the north end of Bill Peterson facing south as he continues priming the roof.

Plow Side Door

Victor and I continue the exercise to hang the first new door in the X 38 plow body.  Should be simple, right?  Well, needless to say a lot of fussing and adjustments although now looking good and ready for glazing.  We also finished the interior lining on what is now the south side of the plow body.

Wired

Eric Lorenz made a milestone step forward by routing and installing a lot of the interior wiring in the front end of Cleveland Transit System 4223.

Boxes

And Rich Witt continues on his mission to make several replica First Aid Boxes for the CA&E cars.  A few weeks ago there was an incomprehensible pile of odd looking pieces of wood.  Now it becomes clear as the boxes and their hinged covers take shape.