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Monday, September 30. 2013DODX 12661 Review - September 29, 2013Here is a short review and tour of one of our tank cars, restored perhaps over 20 years ago.  Switch Move Tank car? I don't see any tank car. Yet this often the first step in any work at IRM. US Army 8537 is lugging a string of cars out of Yard 14 so that the subject car can be pulled to a better location. A great example of how IRM works and how it preserves so many aspects of railroad history. This could have been a period photo from decades ago, in countless locations.  Left Side The left side of the tank shows the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE lettering on the silver tank car body with black trim. The car was used to haul heating oil and possibly other petroleum based cargoes to air bases and defense silos during the height of the cold war era. I will guess this would have carried heavy oil products, since the car is equipped with interior piping and heating coils to thin and liquify a heavy product.  Warning There is lettering on the right side of the tank defining an AAR warning.  Dome Here is the dome with it long string of lettering. You can see that decades of outdoor storage has resulted in the upper areas of the dome and tank suffering mightily from sun and weather.  Right Side The right side of the tank has much lettering and info, most of it mandated by RULE for cars in interchange service.  Tank End The end had the standard array of lettering containing the reporting marks, capacity, and other data.  COTS For this era, of the restoration, a set of consolidated lube stencils were used. As shown above the car has suffered from being stored outdoors, setting us up to doing another restoration of what was once COMPLETE. The car is on our short list to repaint and I expect it may yet see some significant 'wear and tear' in the coming weeks. If we are to repaint and letter it yet again, should not we work to store it indoors so the work will last? Yes this is the commercial asking for donations to fund R12661. Thanks in advance. Monday, September 30. 2013Tour of the Lake City - September 29, 2013Here is a short tour of the LAKE CITY, a new IRM acquisition in 2012. Ace reporter and upholsterer, John McKelvey volunteered to show us what he has accomplished inside this last season. He trundled over to take the pics and his work speaks for itself.  Rear Platform Unlike most IRM acquisitions the Lake City had seen decades of restoration work by a single individual in southern Wisconsin who made it his life passion. Here is the rear observation platform.  Observation End Interior The interior of this car is nothing short of stunning with rich wood paneling and inlay. Imagine yourself sitting in this area with the other captains of industry, enjoying the views. John has re-done several of the chairs, and it is an ongoing project.  Pullman Sleeping It harkens to the era that this car was built, as it has a Pullman open section sleeping! This is how it looks in the daytime, arranged for seating.  Mens Lounge There is Men's Lounge and smoking area. This new bench seat is wide enough for three men to share, side by side. The rear cushion back for this seat is not yet done and in this picture.  Womens Lounge Each of the lavatories had a lounge area with seating. This is the women's, with seating only wide enough for two of the ladies, side by side.  Next The next chair is in the shop as John is applying more new upholstery. I said this was an ongoing process, and John shows no sign of letting up. Sunday, September 29. 2013Its working...SPC Sandblaster
I and a few other members of the coach dept have been using the car department's sandblaster for about three years. Thank you, Rod, for letting us use the car dept's blaster. The question was always asked.... WHEN is the coach department getting their own to use? That happened early last year [2012] when we received a good used cabinet blaster. But it was never installed and made operational. This year with the help of new coach volunteers, Brian Gary and Kyle and the old timer, myself, we assembled it, adjusted it, attached it to the small air compressor and plugged it in to house electric power. AND.... It now works. It's amazing what a little effort and motivation will produce.
 Here is Brian testing the sandblaster You will see more pictures for him in the future . He likes sandblasting  Gary repairing our vise  Kyle with his new project  Before and after of polished seat handles  Brian and Kyle repairing a seat frame floor support bracket  After repair its all primed |
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Comments
Mon, 09-08-2025 08:22
Good job on the Burlington Nortern 9976. OK.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:56
No new news that I have heard of thus far.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:53
I'll also be doing another update on it soon. Keep en eye out for that.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:47
A little work was done to it for Diesel Days this year. You'll see photos floating around for the temporary short term job that was done to make it [...]
Wed, 08-06-2025 13:01
Is steam car CN 15444 going to be coming to museum several times it was to be moved to muesum
Sat, 07-19-2025 18:56
Yeah, sadly it's still there as of 7/19/2025
Thu, 06-12-2025 19:14
Its been 14 years guys, where is the unit? Like really? Did you guys misplace it? Or are repairs taking that long? At this point be might we will have [...]
Wed, 04-09-2025 17:40
Jamie Thanks for the update. She's gonna shine like every thing else you guys do! Smeds
Thu, 03-06-2025 16:28
Yes, there is a wye. Those two have been MU'ed on diesel days a year or two ago.
Wed, 03-05-2025 14:04
7009 number boards look good. Is there a way to turn a locomotive around at IRM? In case you ever had a mind to connect 7009 and 6847?
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...