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Tuesday, February 17. 2015Energy in the Steam Dept
The first weekend of February was a busy one. Here are a few highlights.
 Curator Tom Schneider repairing a pipe that fits on the air compressor of 1630  The riveting gang working on cab of the UP 428  The same four including Jane, Stu, Bob, and Christian  Dennis our welder taking a break from welding parts for the 1630  The crew after an look-see on the side rod of the 1630  Here is Eric Hoyem one of the few steam shop machinists working on the lathe making a new side rod bearing for the 1630 Monday, February 16. 2015Car Shop Progress on the Chicago Rapid Transit Cars 1024 and 1797 from Buzz MorisetteTim, Bill, and friends have been working away on 1024 1797 Wood EL cars all winter.  The old tag excavated from 1024’s car body - Photo by Buzz Morisette Hard to see in the photo above, but it is a tag inscribed in pencil “North West Railroad car 1/17/39” The original car No. was N.W. Elevated 24.  3rd rail beams for wood elevated car 1797 that Bill has been working on - Photo by Buzz Morisette  New custom-made quarter sawn oak ply for 24’s ceiling - Photo by Buzz Morisette  Bowling Alley seat frames under restoration for 24 - Photo by Buzz Morisette  Completed seat next to one about to be stripped - Photo by Buzz Morisette  72 new white oak windows manufactured, stained, and glazed by Tim in the shop - Photo by Buzz Morisette  Closer view of a sash with the restored brass hardware - Photo by Buzz Morisette  Bill and Keith working on the light fixtures for N.W. El 24 - Photo by Buzz Morisette  The amazing transformation of said fixtures - Photo by Buzz Morisette  Finally from the Wood El department was Painting and testing of the corner outside marker lamps - Photo by Buzz Morisette The fixtures seen in the image above have been completely manufactured new from photos, as the originals were removed long ago. Tim made a pattern for the body to be cast and Rod has machined and soldered the cap and lens mounts. A huge effort here to restore the car to original.  Tim here with the lamps being tested - Photo by Buzz Morisette Inset in the image above is a catalog photocopy that was scaled to the pipe size in order to get dimensions for the parts made. Sunday, September 8. 2013Photo Ops - September 7, 2013 Out For Some Sun This astounding sight greeted me as I entered the Museum yesterday. A long line up of steam locomotives on the car line trackage - pieces which rarely see the light of day, even one of them. The event was last Thursday and Friday when IRM was host for location shooting for the new hardcore action movie, TRANSFORMERS 4. At least that is how the studio describes it. It is scheduled to be released in June 2014. As you can see, service on the car line had to be annulled for the day, and probably today also. I saw the wood L cars running on the main line. But Friday, the studio was out en mass complete with car chase scenes and two helicopters in the air. Apparently there are fans of this sort of thing and they came to IRM to try to get a peek at the action and celebrities. By late afternoon Olson Road was lined with 30 or 40 parked cars, and the occupants along our fence peering inside. Movie security kept them at bay. But it has been reported from reliable sources that MARK WAHLBERG was seen inside our diner snacking and visiting with staff. That is not all you will find outdoors for photo opportunities. Virtually all the pieces that live inside Barn 9 are out and spotted in some location around the property. But hurry, they will not be there for long, since operating tracks need to be cleared for next weekend. |
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Comments
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?
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...