Steam Department

Well the first weekend of 2014 proved to be a virtual wipe out (or maybe white out) in the Steam Shop and probably most other areas of the museum.  The forecast made it clear that snow and brutally cold temperatures can be expected Sunday thru Tuesday but I had hoped that the snow was not to arrive until afternoon / evening on Saturday.  This looked plausible on the drive out from Chicago but, once I left the expressway, the last 8 miles to Union was an unpleasant surprise.  Wind was whipping drifts across US20 and it certainly looked as if new snow was falling even at 9 a.m.

The museum site was challenging.  The few who made it had to break thru a drift at the gate and dig their way thru a drift at the trolley loop crossing by barn #9.  5 of us made it to the Steam Shop and I found a similar hard core at the Car Shop.

At least we reached the shop

and a few reached the car shop

An arctic view of Main Street

We did a number of jobs to prepare for testing of the paint and spray equipment next weekend:

The small air reservoir was moved back beside the locomotive ready for fitting;

Jane painted the walkway and supports so that we can refit this tank next weekend;

The two large air tanks were moved to the South end ready for painting.

However the major task turned out to be the response to a phone call from Phil who, in attempting to be the 6^th shop volunteer had ended up in a ditch on US20.  Luckily Eddie has a 4WD pick-up so he, with Collin, Rick and a couple of sets of shop chains, went to the rescue.  Having got Phil back on the road they were also able to pull out at least one other driver who had encountered a similar problem.  US20 was deteriorating rapidly.

So, having completed the jobs above, we headed out at 11:30.  There was little sign of improvement and a definite forecast of much worse late in the day.  Much as we love the museum, I do not think anyone liked the idea of being stuck there for a couple of days that threaten record low temperatures.

So we can only hope that the weather next weekend is more helpful.

Nigel