I have been delinquent in posting current news but trust me, there has been a LOT going on in the Freight Car Department with every day this week seeing work done, as we try to make the most of an unexpected late fall spell of good weather. For our B&O wagon top boxcar project, some significant milestones were reached.
We began by hiring a contractor to sandblast the roof areas to white metal, to remove all the rust and remaining traces of old deteriorated paint.
John Faulhaber looks over the results on the roof. By spending money here we avoided an entire summer's worth of volunteers sweating it out on top, and got a completely clean surface.
The contractor was finishing up, touching a few more spots, and blowing off all traces of the blast media.
John Faulhaber and Buzz Morisette were able to change their schedules on short notice and come out to help on a Monday. The new primer is being sprayed on the roof.
A bit of a breeze came up in the afternoon and the paint crew coped with that by using a sort of shield to minimize blow away. Behind them is the painted roof area.
On Wednesday Rod Turner and John Faulhaber were fitting and welding new steel onto one of the rusted out ribs on the corner of the car. In previous weeks we had fabricated some of these tricky pieces of sheet metal, and now the results came to hand.
John Faulhaber checks the work before prime painting. This will complete repairs this season on half of the right hand side of the car.
Within the scope of the world debt crisis, this did not cost a lot of money - we got a good price, and struck while the weather was good. But we REALLY need your help and support to pay the bill. OR - perish the thought - I will have to dig into my meager billfold to cover the costs. Any donation, large or small, to restricted fund R 374065 will assure that restorations like this will continue to proceed. THANKS!
Comments
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...
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]