What a year!.
Another Saturday somewhat disrupted by the Winter weather. There was a reasonable turn out at the shop
but a lot of people left at lunchtime as the rate of snowfall increased. For those of us that stuck it out, the snow
did cease by evening and the slither down US20 to the expressway was what we
are becoming used to.
It was definitely a day for work
inside the shop and the absence of some key people and parts meant that testing
of the paint sprayer could not proceed.
However work progressed in a number of other areas.
On 1630:
Brian
did a great job in cleaning out the rust scale from the tender tank. The treatment applied a few years ago has not
proved successful and a layer of rusty metal has largely scaled off the bottom
of the tank. During the test steaming we
had some issues with blockage of the water flow to the injectors. From Brian’s handiwork it is clear why this
happened. As the rust and muck lifts it
tends to be drawn forward to gather in the area from which the water is being drawn
by the injectors. After several hours of
work in the tank he had extracted a couple of gallons of rusty debris. This was a foul job. We can use the ducted fan to circulate air
but you still have to work in clouds of rusty dust;
The
reverser reservoir is now back in place so that the valves can be moved using
air pressure;
Jim
continued the job of masking the lettering and this is now largely complete. After all this effort we are wondering if we
should stay with blue lettering !;
Matt
primed the area of the engineer’s side walkway that was cleaned off last week;
On the Shay:
Phil
is progressing well with the bolster for the truck. With the lugs for the springs now completed,
it has been primed and now painted on one side at least. Now we just have to turn it over and do the
other side, once it is dry.
We
made good progress on the bolts that fit thru the frame and truck pivot
casting. We had been working on the misapprehension
that these simply secured the pivot into the frame. Jeff reminded us that some of them also
secure the large fabricated draw bar that runs down to the wooden front beam
and on which the coupler is mounted.
Having made that connection, we found that new bolts were acquired a few
years back and stored with the drawbar.
Each hole needs to be cleaned and reamed slightly to allow the bolts to
be fitted. However, with the parts in
hand I was able to fit the first of them by end of day. Looking at the front of the frame member, the
bolts in the 4 outer holes secure the drawbar while the 2 in the middle (which
are currently occupied by locating pegs) only secure the pivot casting to the
beam. The drawbar fabrication has a
recess that fits around the nuts of the two center bolts. The first of the new bolts is in place in the
lower left hole and the holes for the remaining five can now be reamed to allow
the bolts to be fitted.
In the shop in general, some
significant reorganization was achieved:
With
the swager gone, we were able to relocate the air pump for #428 so that it can
now be worked on while allowing free access thru the door. (It does not look like free access in the picture
but the forklift is actually standing in the exit with a pallet of parts ready
to drive out to the boxcar ……. Once there is not 6 inches of snow and ice in the
way !!);
Phil
did a great job sorting and cleaning the steel stock storage area.
So overall a successful day despite the weather.
Nigel
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 [...]