Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Saturday provided a brief respite from the recent frigid weather in which the Winter work plan could be continued steadily.

On 1630;

The large copper pipes were annealed.  Dennis heated them to red heat with the acetylene torches and then Brian and I moved them into the water bath to quench them.  They are now ready to be re-insulated and then re-installed when the painting under their positions  has been completed;

Dennis applies the heat while Brian waits to quench

Ready for insulation

Jane and Stu finished painting the backhead in the cab;

Jane, Ed and I were busy preparing the front and walkways of the locomotive for painting;

Brian, Jerry and Jim worked with Tom on the plans for painting.  More advanced spray equipment is needed for the paint that has been donated for this repaint.  This will hopefully be available in the next couple of weeks and the first test spraying can then be planned;

We took the opportunity to get out to the boxcar and measure the dome cover in order to determine how thick the insulation on the dome should be.  With this information, Jerry will hopefully be able to complete the insulation.  The dome is the last piece remaining to be insulated;

The small air tank that serves as the reservoir for the reverser was painted with conventional spray paint to allow it to be refitted.  This is required to allow the reverser to be moved allowing measurements of the valve chambers for future fitting of replacement rings.

In other areas:

Phil put in a solid day with the air hammer caulking the tube sheet rivets on the Shay.  This is hard and essential work ensuring that the head of the rivet is tightly sealed into the boiler barrel.  With eight rivets to do, Phil was working with the air hammer for much of the day and most other people in the shop were wearing ear protectors!;

Phil caulking the boiler rivets

A team including Jim, Jerry, Matt and others fitted the wires to #428 that will be used to attach the insulation.  This is not an indication of an immediate start to insulation but rather reflects the fact that, since the boiler is currently bare, it is easier to install these wires before pipe work is fitted along the boiler;

Work on the planer suffered a set-back.  Having filled everything with oil, an initial attempt was made to test the hydraulic pump.  The good news was that the pump certainly develops pressure.  The bad news was that it was immediately sufficient to blow a gasket in the hydraulic control assembly.  Investigation is now under way to determine why this is not sealing correctly.

So the work continues steadily at the end of another year.  It is certainly good to be able to compare where we are now to where we were at the end of 2012.

Happy New Year,

Nigel