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Thursday, August 14. 2014Continuing the saga...RI 2612I have said this a number of times but "Work continues on 2612." There has been some doubt from various members whether we would reach our deadline of completing the 2612 before Thomas. You can be reassured that we have! With a great out pouring from the core of volunteers the coach will be in a train. We just don't know which train but it will be used. Here are pictures of the various team volunteers and their projects.  Kyle and myself standing by the 2612  Here I am bending down to install another newly painted seat cap  Jane and Austin helping with the 2612  Yes, we are welding away! John is cutting out another bad area.  Fitting new steel for the installation of the second stairs  The group shot of Brian, John, and Myself standing on the newly installed stairs. The stairs can take a lot of weight!  The second panel installed. The second stair frame is next .  Dan is making room for the advertising cards Wednesday, August 13. 2014Steam Department Update 08-10-2014It 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Tuesday, August 12. 2014Coach Department UpdateOn Wednesday, August 6th, Kevin Kriebs, Buzz Morisette, and John McKelvey put the Ely dining room table together and put it back in place in the Ely. A big thanks to all who helped! Shelly Vanderschaegen has been cleaning the Ely and putting the dining room back together as time allows. Shelly captured the following images on Sunday, August 10th:  Ely dining room as seen from the bedroom end - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen  The mannequin is back in place in the Ely dining room - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen  Another view of the nearly complete Ely dining room restoration - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen It was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday, August 10th. Michael Baksic, Ray Mormann, and Mark Gellman attached seats to the floor in the DM&IR 84. (Sorry no pictures.) Kevin Kriebs has removed all the decal adhesive and began scuffing the exterior of the 1st Exhibit Car using Scotch-Brite™ and a palm sander. It's a mighty big job!  Kevin Kriebs is scuffing the exterior of the 1st Exhibit Car - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen Mark hoffmann continued his work in the 2602 sanding areas where he had previously needle chipped.  Mark Hoffmann points out work he has done on the 2602 - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen  The 2602 end pieces are ready to be primed - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen Jon Habegger spent the day with visitor at his post inside the 1st Exhibit Car. John McKelvey continued upholstering Henrietta seats while Shelly Vanderschaegen stripped 4 more seats to be ready for John to epoxy and refinish. The rush is on to finish the seats for the Henrietta in time for the Thomas event.  John McKelvey just put the metal pieces on the coach seat back - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen  Shelly Vanderschaegen has replaced spring ties in many a bench seat such as this - Photo by Shelly Vanderschaegen Buzz Morisette cleaned windows inside and outside in the Ely and outside the Lake City. After lunch Shelly began vacuuming the Silver cars for visitors next weekend. At the Milwaukee Road Dynamometer, Chuck Trabert replaced the bottom 4” or so of the inside door panel on the bottom door with a new strip of galvanized metal. He then replaced about the same 6” on the outside panel of the bottom north door (no picture shown). Using his metal cutting blade on a circular saw and a straight edge he did a great repair job. These patch pieces were made two years ago by R&B Metal, not knowing when we’d replace them.  Chuck Trabert cutting off the lower panel area - Photo by Warren Newhauser  Showing the cut in the old panel - Photo by Warren Newhauser  Chuck lifting off the old piece of panel - Photo by Warren Newhauser  Chuck fitting the patch on the panel bottom - Photo by Warren Newhauser  The new patch in place - Photo by Warren Newhauser Warren Newhauser installed the small motor alternator (32VDC to 120VAC at 400 watts) in the electrical locker of the X-5000, after being rebuilt by a local automotive electric shop. This little motor alternator was originally installed to run a small freezer in the office area that would get filled with frozen seafood in Tacoma and distributed to employees in Milwaukee back when the Milwaukee Road ran to the Pacific Northwest. This way the main motor alternator (with high current draw) and Waukesha Enginator would not have to run if the car sat for an extended time. Warren recalled, "I remember my Mother regularly making baked salmon brought back by my Father, who worked on the car."  The motor-alternator installed by Warren - Photo by Warren Newhauser Warren continued: "The motor-alternator successfully hooked up and it works. The ball bearings, which I repacked with wheel bearing grease, or brushes or slip rings seem make a little noise so I’m a bit concerned, but maybe it just needs to break in. The 120V output wires head beneath the car with the thick welding-type cables for the generator and I wasn’t able to figure out where they go so I’ll have to use my RF circuit tracer to find their destination. They should go to the outlet by the office directly across the hallway for the freezer that was there. This will give us a small amount of 120VAC to use for lighting, possibly instruments and the kitchen while the car is in service on a train." |
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Comments
Wed, 04-01-2026 09:01
Good job on the barn 15
Wed, 03-25-2026 18:21
Exciting to see a new barn going up! What's next, after the RAIL project is complete?
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?