Illinois Railway Museum Blog

The first day of the new year it was just myself and Evelina spending a few hours in the shop this afternoon. Evelina stopped by to paint a bunch of targets for the some switch stands in the heated shop, but also helped out on 504 in between letting coats of paint dry. The main goal was to put the cab heater on the fireman side back together with new gaskets and hose couplings to replace the dry rotted ones pulled off a few days ago. After cutting everything to size and putting new hose clamps on the bottom hoses, the cab heat system was charged with water. Just a couple of little areas weeped a bit, and tightening the flanges thoroughly appears to have solved that. The next step is to start it up whenever the next time happens to be and try it all out.

Photo: The FM side heater repairs.

Since the heater work went rather quickly, we started working on the platform that goes between the front of the main generator and the back wall of the front electrical cabinet. This is something that has been on the list to complete since 504's restoration a several years ago. Evelina wire wheeled the two halves, primed them all and painted the bottom side. Meanwhile, I spend some time drilling and tapping 15 of the 22 broken bolts that hold the platform halves to the framework in the engine compartment. We needlechipped and wire wheeled, then primed those areas in the engine compartment. Tomorrow I'll finish installing and painting the platforms, which will finally complete this small project.

Photo: The platform that goes behind the electrical cabinet.

Photo: The frame that supports the platform.