Entries by Robert Kutella

Well, I see that the BLOG site has the expanded screen size problem again.  So far as I can remember, that has only happened after Roger Kramer has made a post.  If I were Sherlock Holmes I would be beginning to make a deduction.  Hopefully Jamie can fix it again.

This will be very short since I seem to be in the 'fuzzy picture' mode as happened to me eight months ago.  The images are bad, even for my blurry vision.  But here are two.

Open Space Concept

As reported elsewhere on the web, we are hosting a national meet of the members of the Old Woodworking Machine group.  There are 93 registered this year which would make this the largest so far.  We spent Wednesday on the annual spring cleaning of the wood shop areas, and managed to fill the dumpster, and hauled some away to another dumpster.  The result is a clean and seemingly larger shop, with an open space concept.  Folks are on hand as I write this now, giving clinics and demos, and from far away places - including Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and California.  Did I mention North Dakota?

Ceiling Plates

The crew on the CTS 4223 thought they were all done with these, but during the cleanup, we 'discovered' another eight or so.  So Al Reinschmidt cleaned them up and went about the painting tasks.

The weather was nearly perfect for our Chicago Great Western X 38 open house.  A large crowd had assembled by 1 PM and after a few adjustments and bugs were worked out we were off and running.  Folks were in line and more coming in for almost two hours.  Nearly 100 visitors (maybe more) climbed into the plow and most took a turn in the operators seat.  The cost to them was only stuffing the donation can if they wished and the value to us of their smiles - PRICELESS.  We received many compliments, questions, and positive reinforcement from the visitors to continue the work.  Here are a few pics from Barbara Lanphier of those climbing into the plow.  Special thanks to Barbara Lanphier, Linda Lanphier, Buzz Morisette, Kirk Warner, and Victor Humphreys for working on the crew, and presenting  a personable and professional appearance and behavior for our visitors.

Priceless Excitement

Up the Steps

And to avoid this becoming stale and old news, here is shot we saw on Friday afternoon of Tim Peters doing some last minute painting on the west end of Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.  Much of this area has seen extensive work over the summer and it is almost back together with the gates and new cab window in place.  The underside of the end roofs and the tack molding are painted a dark brown described as "90% cocoa" and you can see the carefully matched bronzy green on the corner posts and siding.

Touch Up

The weather was not the best but the crew soldiered on through some periods of drizzle.

Under the Roof

Jim Leonard was up in the bucket truck and working under the front roof overhang.  That surface was previously needlechipped and now it was more overhead work.  Jim wirebrushed large ares of this steel in the morning.  I bet his arms were hanging heavy by lunchtime.

Priming

And Jim followed through on the job with prime painting up there.  Nick Rindt finished needlechipping some more area on the right side plow wing, and that also got primed.

Operators Seat

Victor Humprheys painted some more finish gray in the cab cupola in the morning and here we see Buzz Morisette wrestling with the restored operators seat on the right side.  Not much room to work up there, and not much room to stage a good photo.

Ready To Go

The seat is in, and most of the cab painted.  Victor Humphreys is enjoying this setting as though they were ready to pull out for plow duty.  Come out Saturday for our open house from 1-3 pm and place yourself in the spotlight.  Paul Cronin and Kirk Warner tested the operation and both wings work.  Paul and Kirk also did some blacksmith work by straightening a floor mounting plate for one of the flanger cylinder rods.

Pipe Dreams

We will close this entry with the last of the small diameter piping that had to be removed to allow the new windows to be installed.  Here is a gauge branch tee, two sets of window defoggers, and the whistle valve and piping.