Illinois Railway Museum Blog

It promises to be a busy few weekends ahead for #1630.  We are planned to run both weekends of Day Out With Thomas and then Labor Day weekend.

She ran well in recent weeks and I was able to see her in action and take a few pictures when I came for the Vintage transport Sunday.  My collection of photographs of her in action is limited as I am normally in the shop when she is running.

Arriving at the depot

Vintage transport

There was some pressure to get preparation work done last week / last weekend as it was suggested (as it has been several times before!) that the track contractor would be on site this week preventing #1630 being set on the service track. 

So a lot of effort went in to #1630 to ensure that everything is ready for three weekends of continuous operation.  The first two weekends will be particularly challenging as we need to be out at the depot by 10:00 to clear the way for the Thomas trains.  That will require a much earlier start time for the crews.

Aside from the usual coaling and watering, the boiler was drained and refilled with fresh water and the locomotive had a good clean.  The paintwork was washed and the rods cleaned and oiled.

Cleaning team in action

After all the work she looked a lot better.  The dust is gone from the top of the boiler but she is developing a “working” look as the condensation from the safety valves and generator slowly discolors the paint on the firebox sheet metal.

Looking much better

Good news for the firemen is that we have just about reached the end of the old coal and a new supply has been delivered.  The large part of what is now in the tender is the new batch.  So the hope is that we should be using less and burning better … which would be a big benefit to the firemen on a hot Summer’s day!!.

Good thing we believed the story this time!.  On Monday the contractor was on-site and hard at work. 

Work starts on the cut off

By early afternoon the track in front of the boxcar was gone and grading for the switch was progressing fast.  Difficult to recognize that this is where #1630 was standing in the previous picture.

The route takes shape

If work goes to plan, the switch and much of the cut off track will be in place before next weekend.

In the shop continued progress has been made on the Shay.  Over successive weeks, the under-side was first thoroughly cleaned by needle chipping and wire brushing.  Then mid-week Christian and his brother finished the cleaning and primed all the surfaces.  Finally, last weekend Jane put in hours of work in painting the whole area.  As the day progressed, it became clear that the overall area was far bigger than it first appeared.  There are all sorts of surfaces at different angles and it seemed that whenever she looked from a different angle, there was another area of primer still to be covered.  However, after a hard day’s work, she had it pretty much complete.  And very nice it now looks.  A couple of jobs on the truck and hopefully we can get it back in.

Painted underneath

The next couple of weeks may be quiet in the shop as we have intensive running and also the Thomas weekends that keep the site “rather busy”!

Nigel