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Tuesday, March 6. 2018UP 428 Improving the Possibilities
First, let me say that on recent visits to the steam shop I was duly impressed by how many volunteers there were. Counting 25 would not be an understatement. Working on five or so different projects has created a number of teams. These teams are comprised of like minded Men and Women concentrated on various tasks to get the job done. Incidentally, there are also two father and son teams that regularly volunteer in the shop. Here are the teams working on the 428.
 Rich Thomas has begun installing and fitting the new steel floor underneath the firemens side  Here he has laid out the new steel floor and some parts that will be secured to it!  Dennis, our in house welder, working on a support bracket for the boiler  Another new volunteer from Quincy Illinois has built two new doors for the cab!  Rich is cutting the sheet steel to fit.  Here the new floor is being test fitted onto the frame. Yes another new volunteer from northern Illinois is assisting him.  Another view of the test fit. The object is to get the new floor in place so that we can finally install the cab frame.  Just a view of part of the shop. The reader should remember that this is one of three steam locomotives currently being worked on.  This last Sunday February 4, saw the last cross head shoe being filled with hot molten metal. The temperature is about 1600 degrees. Sure could quickly fry a hamburger!  The molten Babbitt is being poured into the frame. This also has to be heated and thinned to accept the hot metal.  Another view.  This is the final result. It takes about three days for the metal to cool! This is another team effort. Those involved are getting pretty good at pouring. They better for the next big project will be pouring the Babbit into the driving wheel journal boxes. This team was comprised of Tom, Nick Dey, Jeff, Chris and Monday, March 5. 2018Soiree 2018
Here are a few pictures of the 2018 IRM Soiree held at the Old Warsaw Inn.
 The Buck brothers among the crowd.  Say hello to Harold  Steve you look lonely there  The place was packed with members  Two Nicks and a Rich  The table with a beer and pitcher of water. The conversation was really flowing Sunday, March 4. 2018A UP 428 Thank You!
Just a short note to thank all of you who participated in the Union Pacific 428 Challenge grant. I will give you a little background for those of you who missed reading about it in an earlier blog. I wrote about a benefactor who offered a challenge of $5,000. to the 428 fund if donations could be matched up to that amount! Yes, he would contribute that amount! The response so successful that the time limit as well as the match was extended. The challenge grant was increased to $8,000 and time limit was extended thru the last day of February. I am happy to report that most of that grant was matched bring the total to $15,389. As a direct result of the interest generated there has been an uptick in activity on the engine. Already, in the steam shop there are three teams working on various jobs concerning the 428.
 Taken two months ago  One team is working on the 90 inch wheel lathe so that we can reshape the 428 wheel profile. |
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Comments
Mon, 09-08-2025 08:22
Good job on the Burlington Nortern 9976. OK.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:56
No new news that I have heard of thus far.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:53
I'll also be doing another update on it soon. Keep en eye out for that.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:47
A little work was done to it for Diesel Days this year. You'll see photos floating around for the temporary short term job that was done to make it [...]
Wed, 08-06-2025 13:01
Is steam car CN 15444 going to be coming to museum several times it was to be moved to muesum
Sat, 07-19-2025 18:56
Yeah, sadly it's still there as of 7/19/2025
Thu, 06-12-2025 19:14
Its been 14 years guys, where is the unit? Like really? Did you guys misplace it? Or are repairs taking that long? At this point be might we will have [...]
Wed, 04-09-2025 17:40
Jamie Thanks for the update. She's gonna shine like every thing else you guys do! Smeds
Thu, 03-06-2025 16:28
Yes, there is a wye. Those two have been MU'ed on diesel days a year or two ago.
Wed, 03-05-2025 14:04
7009 number boards look good. Is there a way to turn a locomotive around at IRM? In case you ever had a mind to connect 7009 and 6847?
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...