Wednesday, February 19th was relatively warm day and the following Saturday was cold. We had the propane heaters on both days to keep Gary and I warm and comfy. In spite of the cold weather, we were productive inside. Gary and I continued our planning for the 3 panel installation by drilling each steel panel with forty-five holes and then test fitting each panel into position. It does not sound like much but the planning and fitting is very important for the eventually out come. You want to plot the holes in the correct space and drill them only once. What's the old saying...measure twice...cut once. That's what we did. Gary and I must have moved those panels back and forth about 4 or 5 times before we decided to drill the holes. We are finally at the point of fitting, installing and tapping some one hundred 1/4-20 slotted round head screws back into the frame. Its a time consuming job and there was talk about an easier way but restoring an artifact does take time.
Our work is sure cut out for us.
Since it is too cold to start our little air compressor, allowing us to needle chip the walls and ceilings, we are manually removing the old paint with the help of hand scrapers. Not a very efficient use of time but it does get the job done. If any one would like to donate to the coach dept a larger air compressor the coach dept sure could use one!!
Believe it or not... 15 days till Spring!! In order to met our goal I would like to ask for a couple of new volunteers to assist us in our efforts. You can call at the museum and leave a message for me in the office or just show up on any Wednesday or Saturday. We generally have a good time and when you travel home at night you feel certain that you helped accomplished something. Hope to see you in back of barn 3 Thanks Roger Kramer
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 [...]