Entries by Robert Kutella

Air Brakes

As the saying goes - "In spring a young man's fancy turns to -  -   -  AIR BRAKES".  While it hovered barely above freezing, the sun was out. Kirk Warner and Victor Humphreys moved to the frozen tundra for more work on our wagon top boxcar, B&O 374065.  Perhaps in proactive mode, the existing service portion and emergency portion of the air brake control valve were removed and brought into the shop.  Here they are with the heavy brake parts in a box - I was too slow on the trigger to catch an image of them outdoors under the car.  Both portions were replaced under the car with spares we had on hand.   They also began checking the other air piping and replaced a missing union on the line to the retainer valve.

Interior Trim

Not a good pic but the work is EXCITING.  Eric Lorenz is inside Cleveland Transit System 4223 and most of the new window post caps are located and in place.  Eric is holding up one of the next features to be installed, a horizontal piece that goes above the standee windows and ties to each of the post caps.  Maybe you had to be there but each advance they make presents a big impact and visible progress.

Finished Door

This door for Chicago Great Western X 38 is nearly finished as demonstrated by Kirk Warner applying the maroon paint.

Second Door

The second door for the X 38 is following closely on the heels of the first.  Victor and Kirk are doing touch up filling and sanding and later primed it for the second coat.

Door Panels

Paul Cronin and Bill Peterson are drilling dowel holes using a special jig setup on one of the small drill presses.  About 88 holes later (no, really!) one of the panels was assembled, glued and clamped.

Panels

See, they really are ready to glue.  Paul, Bill, and Buzz Morisette are checking to make sure everything is in order and lines up before the glue is slathered on.

Step Boxes

Father and son team, Tom and Jim Windmeier were making many small parts to repair and recondition the custom railroad step box replicas they made last season.  They were well used last year throughout the summer, and now are being tuned up for operations this year.

Round Tops

Rich WItt continues to work on the two new round top windows for Boston & Maine 1094.  Here he is fitting the fussy mortise and tenon joints on each end of the bottom rails.  One done, one to go.

Fitting

We will start out this time with a series of images showing the work today for a new door for our 1851 C&GU (C&NW) depot.  I think it was still C&GU in 1851.  John Faulhaber fits an internal stile to the door bottom.  Careful work, fussy work, completed work.

More Fitting

Meanwhile Paul Cronin works to fit a similar member to the top rail of the door.

Routing

Then the overall frame was dry assembled and Paul and John proceeded to cut large chamfer 'scallops' for the members abutting the inside panels.  This was a common design element on doors of the period and can be found on some of the very old doors in the depot today.

Results Count

Paul and John proudly show off the results of their work near the end of the day.  This eight foot tall door is getting very HEAVY!  The four openings will receive raised panel inserts since it is to be solid exterior door.

Panels

No sooner than the door frame was assembled for final fitting did Paul and Jim Foraker lay out and start jointing and ripping the stock for the panels.  It can be quite a puzzle solving exercise.  The raw lumber is purchased in random lengths and widths as is common for hardwood lumber.  We always try to have sufficient stock for the job, but the challenge is to get all the best pieces for those boards and make the most efficient use of the lumber.

The Earlier Doors

Kirk Warner was visiting from Florida and gave a big boost to the doors we have made earlier for Chicago Great Western X 38, as he sanded  and primed both sides, touching up the woodwork along the way.  He got custom glass cut and he and Victor Humphreys finished glazing more of the windows for the cupola cab.

Windows

Meanwhile, Jim Leonard, Rich Witt, and Dave Rogan were at work for the very fancy round top windows we are making for Boston & Maine 1094.  Here they are at work on the router table profiling one of the bottom rails.  Once the stock is cut to the proper size the next work includes a roundover beading in the profile and creating a rabbet to accept the glass.

Tricky Profiling

The same profile must be created for the rest of the sash frame, including the round top and sides.  Rich and Dave made use of many jigs and templates to accomplish the work.  Here you may see some of the result, and by days end all that was done to satisfaction on both windows.

Drop Sash

Henry Vincent was seen stripping decades of old paint from a door drop sash for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  There is never a shortage of work and more parts to restore.  We often work on many elements at a time for productive volunteer efforts or when one small step is accomplished and there is more time left in the day.

Steel Door Panel

Welcome to volunteer Jonathan Soucek who is a grandson of Henry Vincent.  Here he is stripping paint from a steel panel, removed for restoration from CA&E 36.

Motor Work

Jim Foraker was working on reassembly of the AC motor to drive a new table saw for our wood shop.  This effort has been going along piecemeal for several weeks as time allows.  The popular book "Motors for Dummies" does not seem to cover three phase motors that are over a century old.

Handwheels

Jonathoan also pitched in by applying some finish paint to the handwheels to be used on the new table saw.

There has not been much news about the new barn planned over Yard 14, and I have been waiting to post some firm news or commitment.  I am sure our financial team is busy with fund balances, dotting every i and crossing every t.  For my part I have gone back over 6 months of weekly cash reports and manually created my own ledger sheets.  I am convinced that what I see shows we are at or very close to the fundraising goal for the new barn.  That is based on the estimated cost of the project, so understand it may have to be tweaked somewhat.  I would be surprised if that was NOT the case.

To start out there has been remarkable support for the project and I would like to publicly thank all members, donors, and friends who have contributed to the project.  That goes for any donation, whether to those items in my department, for another favorite department or single car, or in a general way to the overall project.  THANK YOU.

So these are my words, not official word passed down from the mountain.  I have paid particular attention to those cars in my department - remember I am carrying the burden of Collection Curator for the Freight Car Collection.  (At least sometimes it can seem like a burden)  We REALLY, REALLY need some more donations and support for two of the cars we hope to subscribe to Barn 14.

MILWAUKEE ROAD 97054

MILW 97054

This car is in the unusual position of having restricted donations on hand to cover its move inside the next Barn.  But there remain some expenses associated with its acquisition that remain to be cleared.  In the overall context of things these are relatively small and my fervent hope is that these may be cleared off the books to assure it will go inside under roof.

The background stems to when we first voted to acquire the car.  The railroads moving it to our site had indicated to us that transportation would be donated.  Somewhere along the way that did not come to pass.  We also had pledges to cover all acquisition costs, and regrettably those were not honored and fell into a crack. 

The car is the only covered hopper in our collection and demonstrates the development of milestone technology in the transportation spectrum.  This has very shallow hopper bottoms thereby increasing the volume of the carbody.  But most commodities cannot be unloaded by gravity with that design.  Enter the application of the AIRSLIDE.  This consists of a porous membrane inside the car, lining the hopper troughs.  Upon delivery of the car, compressed air is applied to the membranes and it escapes into the cargo, 'fluidizing' it and making it flow like water.  Can we all get behind this one and push it over the goal?

CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN X 38

Men at Work

This project is one of the great success stories at IRM.  We thought we had lost this Russell snow plow five years ago and yet managed to rescue it last year from the scrapper's torch, literally at the last minute!  Many of our volunteers have devoted hundreds and hundreds of hours to the restoration tasks - a real team effort..  Last September we were able to open it up for tours and give visitors a chance to operate the plow wings during Member's Showcase Weekend.  Over half of the carbody has been cleaned to bare metal and repainted and partially lettered.  Many wood parts in the carbody needed replacing, including carbody framing, floor repairs, interior wood lining, window and door framing, and sills.  Over the past winter volunteers continued the work in our shops constructing eleven new windows from scratch along with two new carbody doors.  The window and door work was done on a wish and prayer at very little cost, yet represents over $10,000 worth of woodwork if it had to be purchased from a custom cabinet shop.

As the weather moderates we hope to install all that work and continue the carbody restoration, repairs and repainting.  Should all that effort be for naught?  The opportunity is clear!  With more funding this also can go inside and be protected under roof.  The work will be saved from rapid weathering and deterioration, we can confirm the historic value and recognize the volunteer efforts.  The car promises to be a showpiece and be unique in displaying the character of its design, and its use by an iconic midwestern railroad fighting winter storms.  We are about halfway to the goal for this one piece of equipment and the end is in sight.

Any or all of you reading this probably check our website BLOGS on a regular basis so know what is coming next.  If you wish to donate using our on line feature, you may elect to send a contribution to Chicago Great Western X 38 (listed as an option under FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT), or to INDOOR STORAGE (again please choose the FREIGHT CAR DEPARTMENT option).

If by mail please send the check to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL 60180

On your check please use the memo line to specify your intended donation use.  Fund R97054 for the covered hopper, fund RX38, for the snow plow, or fund RISWFC to help with the balance needed for indoor storage of freight cars.  I will pledge that any new unspecified donation to the department, such as to fund RFRTCR will go first toward housing our historic equipment.

This is your chance to make a REAL TANGIBLE contribution to preserving history and safeguarding the equipment and the work that goes into them, for decades to come.  Having just re-read this before posting, I will sign off now as I go to find MY checkbook.  Let's not miss the train on this one!