Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Entries from Monday, April 3. 2017

Monday, April 3. 2017

March Steam News Posted by Roger Kramer in General Blog Entries at 19:19

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March Steam News

I will begin and end with the vertical boring mill. Sure glad we have this machine!

I forgot to add this one on the last blog. Ben gets some assistance in machining yet another part for the UP 428

Stu assists Chris in the smoke box of the Shay

As you can see its definitely a team effort!

Machinist first class, Brian, is working on a part for the brass bearing on the 1630

Mike takes a moment out of his busy day. He has been working on the Frisco 1630 cross compound air pump.

There is sure a lot of maintenance to contend with when your operating a steam locomotive. The old saying goes... For every hour it runs there are two hours of maintenance to perform. This certainly true for the 1630.

Phil is working on the shay. This long bar is part of the new grate shaker mechanism.

Working on the annual spring hydro of the 1630.

Yes, that is Jane working on the riveting detail. She playing the part of ROSY aka the riveter. The three person rivet team is working on the cab of the UP 428.

Its hard to make them out but the three person team are all pictured here. They are riveting the overhang of the cab roof.

Not to be out done, both sides of the 1630 cab are receiving new primer followed by a new coat of black paint and correct lettering.

The restoration of the 975 SP 2-10-2 headlight is under way!

This is the 90 inch wheel lath that will be in service this summer.

This machine Ex Milwaukee Road planner has been operated many times this season. Here its being set up for another job.

Our vertical boring mill is set up for more machining of 428 parts. Ben stepped away for a few minutes. I got the shot!

As you have seen and read its been a busy first quarter for the steam dept. Now, the crunch really comes because it about one month till 1630 is due to run. If it continues to rain that might put a hold on some of the outside testing the locomotive has to go thru before its certified to operate. Again, remember to send your donations in to the Steam shop fund to support and fund the work on these "Iron Horses". Thanks Roger

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Comments

James Kolanowski about Milwaukee Road 33C update
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 [...]

AJ about Milwaukee Road 33C update
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...

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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, [...]

J Blustein about The Old Bag and the Silver Beaver
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.

Jason E about Progress update of the Multi Purpose Building
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 [...]

Thomas about It Happened One Saturday at IRM
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!

Ted Miles about It Happened One Saturday at IRM
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 [...]

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Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
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Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
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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 [...]

Alex Schneider about Dover Strait Progress Part Three
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Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
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