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Tuesday, February 19. 2019Steam Department Mid-Winter Update
Steam Department Mid-Winter Update
Despite the Polar Vortex, work in the steam shop has continued unabated. Our shop crews have been hard at work on 1630’s annual inspection.  Conn testing telltale holes in the firebox.  Volunteers inspecting the valves on the cross-compound air compressor.  Phil inspecting and cleaning the sight-glass and water column passages.  Conn again, using an ultrasonic tester to chart the main reservoir’s thickness.  And Carina, painting it black again afterwards.  These volunteers worked their way down the frame of the locomotive, cleaning old grease off the rigging. Work on our auxiliary tender, which we are hoping to place in service this spring, has also continued.  Several patches on the front of the tender were laminating. Don cut out the bad metal and welded in new patches.  Holes were drilled to mount new steps.  And a new platform was installed to provide access to the brake wheel.  Don needle-scaled around the rivet heads.  While Carina and the Blakes gave the front of the tender a final round of sanding. Surface preparation on the tender is almost complete, and we are hoping to be able to begin painting in the coming weeks. Our machinists and welders, meanwhile, have stayed busy working on projects to support Union Pacific 428’s eventual return to steam.  I spent the last month machining new T-bolts for our wheel lathe on the 1940s vintage Boye and Emmes lathe.  While Ben has continued to bore holes in the brake rigging on the Kearney and Trecker milling machine.  Meanwhile, worn components were built up with weld so that they can be remachined. Although I do not have any pictures to prove it, work has also continued on the Shay. Following the successful steam test this fall, we are continuing to make minor improvements and we look forward to public operations this summer (dates will be announced on the IRM website once finalized). As a reminder, you can also follow the steam shop on facebook at facebook.com/irmsteam. |
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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 [...]