Entries by Robert Kutella

This week we owe thanks to Gerry Dettloff who supplied a number of images to fill out this entry.  I will start with a review of several of the projects and then move on to the BIG job of the day.  Read on.

Glazing

Victor Humphreys was on call and started out by glazing some of the new windows for Chicago Great Western X 38 snow plow.

Motor Work

Paul Cronin pitched in by working on motor cleanup and repair for the next woodworking machine to join our stable, a large GREENLEE table saw.

Motor Work

Paul continued on the picky motor work.  He found old gunk, oily sawdust, and peeling paint caked on almost every surface.  The bearings for the motor have seen the needed attention already, and when all parts are primed and painted, we will attempt to reassemble it.

Door Work

Henry Vincent is making good progress on restoring a door for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  The rotted wood has been repaired with new custom fitted pieces and here Henry is trimming out the recessed panels with custom quarter round we made in the shop.

New Roof Boards

Gerry Dettloff and John Faulhaber have been working on repairs to the roof of Lake Shore Electric 810.  The new shop made boards and new tack molding are done for the north side.

More Roof Work

Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel are working on the roof of Michigan Electric 28.  Brrr!  It was chilly working out in the barn area.

Berlin Sander

Here is the BIG job of the day.  Our workhorse for many projects is the massive Berlin Sander which has an estimated weight of 12,000 lbs.  Two of the three drums needed new sandpaper and the machine has to be substantially disassembled to replace the sanding media.  First, the top drive deck is removed using a purpose built A frame and a custom frame jig.

Deck Off

The deck is off and many have never seen the machine from this perspective.  There are a LOT of parts, and many special tools we had to 'invent' to do the work.

How It Works

With that top deck off you may begin to understand how this machine works.  The three sanding drums may be engaged independently and there are synchronized drive rollers on the now removed top deck, and between each of the sanding drums on the lower deck.  The crew for this project included Dave Rogan, Jim Leonard, Dave Diaz, Victor Humphreys, Jim Foraker, Bob Kutella, and Rod Turner.

Access

To gain access to the drums ever more parts were disassembled giving more understanding to the design.

Wrapping

Then it was on to spiral wrapping with big sheets of sandpaper - each about 2 feet wide and almost 10 feet long.  They have to be smooth and tight.

More Hands

More hands make quick work of any job.  In this case maybe more could not fit in the picture (or on the machine).

Going Back Together

With the new paper wrapped it was time to start the assembly process.  I do not remember that casting being that heavy when we took it off.  Is this where it goes?

End of Day

People rotated in and out of the crew.  At the end of the day we had the top deck back above the machine, although not yet set and aligned.  These three guys were ready to do more - Dave Diaz, Jim Leonard, and Victor Humphreys.  But the parts which had littered the shop floors were back in place and hopefully tightened and aligned where they should be.  TO BE CONTINUED

I do not think I can compete with the Steam Shop news posted by Nigel Bennet, and in any event the turnout of volunteers was lower than recent weeks.  Perhaps due to the evening event scheduled.  On the down side we now have torn sandpaper on two of the three drums on our Berlin Sander and work will have to commence at once to dismantle the machine and replace the media.  Can it be done in a day?

Many to Go

With the Berlin out of service we moved to Plan B, that to continue milling stock for new roof boards for Michigan Electric 28.  Paul Cronin and Bill Peterson are set up run all those slats through the shaper, and that is only PART of them.

Done

WHEW!  Over 100 pieces done with new grooves milled to match the tongue side.  Bill and Paul look as proud as new parents.  Maybe that is only the relief at completing the shaper work on the third similar shop order in the last month.  Three differing profiles totaling about 2000 linear feet.

End View

Here is what they look like, each only two inches wide.  But there was still one more operation since these are to installed above the curved carlines on the roof and need to fit together closely.  Just as the carbuilders did, we ran than all through the table saw to create an 8.5 degree bevel undercut on the groove side.

Stacking Off

Finally Paul and Bill stack off the completed work for the last time.  You would not think that too hard a job, but it gets old and tiresome when every day starts by picking up the over one hundred pieces and now for the last time, stacking off the completed stock.

Locks

Victor Humphreys and Bill are pawing through the BUCKET-O-LOCKS to pick out door hardware for the new Chicago Great Western X 38 doors.

Glass

Victor measured and cut some glass for the new CGW X 38 windows and here shows that off to to Bill and Paul.

Second Door

Tim Peters was working on the second door to be restored for Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.  How many doors are there on that one car?  Maybe FOUR I can count right now.

Lamp Sockets

Keith Letsche was repairing lamp sockets for the 1024.  That includes cleaning the many layers of paint, inspecting, and repairing as needed.

Lamp Bases

On a different bench Bill Wulfert, now becoming known as the King of Lamps, was doing many of the same operations to a production line of lamp bases.

Molding

Finally, here is a picture of molding produced by the Pullman plant over 100 years ago.  Two similar types are found in many places throughout the 1024 and of course, nothing even close is contemporary today.  It presents several challenges to make and will require special tooling to be ground for our machines.  All of those steps may take several weeks so it is timely to start contacting suppliers now.

And in the wood shop area, as is our custom, we produced a lot of sawdust and chips.  Production is at such a high level, the collection barrel needs to be emptied more than once every day the machines are running.

Painting

Victor Humphreys is our 'go to guy' for painting and he does a fine job.  Here are the new cupola cab windows for Chicago Great Western X 38 getting the first coat of maroon.

Fitting

Dave Rogan does careful work in fine tuning the mortise and tenon joints for the second CGW X 38 door.  We make it a practice to completely assemble and dry fit the door before gluing, and on occasion, fine adjustments need to be made.

Worth It

And at the end of the day it is worth it.  The second door is in the glue press curing as Dave makes a final check.  The first door  is done to this stage and can be seen in the background.

Trimming

John Faulhaber and Rich Witt are trimming a new roof board for the Lake Shore Electric 810.  The new boards are being installed from the top down towards the tack molding. 

Sanding

John is on the belt sander now making the final fit fpr this piece.  Nothing ever comes out exactly perfect when working on an eighty year old car body, so the last piece is a custom work of art.

Results Count

And here is the car, outside in Barn 4.  Three or four rows of roof boards are done, and the new tack molding has been installed.  Wednesday morning it was about plus 7 F and these guys were on the scaffold first thing.  At least they were out of the wind!

Door Repair

Henry Vincent has completed the new pieces for the repair on this door for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  He has moved forward and is sanding old paint off, and preparing the mating surfaces for new finish before final assembly. 

Speaking in Tongues

Well, more properly, speaking OF tongues.  A good sized crew worked again throughout the day on new roof boards for Michigan Electric 28.  I think the goal is for something in excess of 1200 linear feet to be made.  That is not a trivial effort.  Here are the first boards off the shaper showing the new tongues.

Crew

Paul Cronin is acting as catcher getting the stock as it comes off the shaper, and Buzz Morisette is feeding the machine.  Not the only two working this project, others helped, but were not in this image.  Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel were outside in the barn, working on the top roof sheathing.

Progress was also made with the new Boston & Maine windows - beading, planing, and ripping.