It could have been one of the last really nice days for 2013 on Sunday the 10th and a lot of work moved forward that day. Inside the second Exhibit Car ceiling painting was continued by Shelly Vanderschaegen, Kevin Kreibs and Jon Habegger. Two coats of paint will be applied to the ceiling.
John McKelvey worked in the Barn 4 shop on seat bottoms from the smoking section of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway #84 coach. He is reupholstering them in a leather-look vinyl once the basic repair work is done.
Jon Habegger took a photo inside the DM&IR car smoking section to show some of the completed seat covers in place. It was completely dark in the car when the image was captured.
Buzz Morisette is making progress in the Ely dining room ceiling repair. Because of previous repair work done on the car, Buzz explained that the curve of the roof has been changed. He is correcting for this cosmetically as much as possible but said a new roof would be required to make it right and that would be a tremendously time consuming and costly project.
Milwaukee Road Dynamometer project leader Warren Newhauser worked with new X-5000 volunteers Dan LaKemper and son Brian on getting mechanical equipment operational while Chuck Trabert sealed the second bay window. The car is expected to be weathertight this winter.
As Warren and Chuck worked outside the Dynamometer car the streamliner cars were switched from their temporary mainline position back to Yard 5.
Mark Gellman helped with switching moves to get the streamliner cars back in their spot in Yard 5. It takes a series of moves to get the train set out of and into Yard 5 and it took about an hour of steady switching to complete the work.
After the streamliner cars were back in place, Mike Baksic, Mark Gellman, and Jon Habegger worked another two hours putting extension cords back in place and hooking up heaters so the cars could be warm for meetings.
Even with the approach of colder weather we keep on working in and around the 2612. Recently, we have resumed the removal of the second stair frame. It's not in as bad a shape as the other one but the support brackets that hold it on to the car need to be replaced. Soooooo..... off it came with the help of Paul Cronin. He, along with Gary Sherman and Mark Gellman have removed much of the rusted out steel on this one side. Now, the trick is to replace it with new steel and rebuilt stairs before the running season begins. I'll keep you updated on our progress. My thanks to the crew of Paul, Gary, Dan, Loraine, Jane, Jan and Mark. Don't forget to send your donations in for the next barn buildings, 13 and 14 . Let's build a couple of barns before we consider other grandiose projects. Roger
The advantancements are many this fall season in the interior of the 2612. The devoted crews have been slowly accomplishing the goal of needle chipping the remaining interior panels by falls end. Even with the approach of cooler weather our dedicated crew has made much progress. We now have moved two propane heaters into the interior to keep us warm during the cold winter months. Yes, we are planning to work in the car during the colder weather. Common scents prevailing. Here, now, are some of our latest efforts.
This was the last volunteer day in October. Now on to November's activities.
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 [...]