Chicago Great Western X 38 Russell Snow Plow

Saturday saw some work continuing on several smallish aspects of the restoration project and one much larger effort.

Tracing History

The day started by taping up a sheet of mylar to the south side to trace and document some of the lettering.  Who knows what future generations will want with this equipment?  It is important to document and preserve its history at any stage.

In the Shop

In the woodshop, Buzz Morisette volunteered to help me out with both of us fabricating several new pieces of millwork for the project, and Buzz prime painting some of them.  This view shows the remaining stop jambs needed for the south door, and three pieces of drip caps that Buzz made for his work on Milwaukee Road equipment.  We also made two small stop blocks for window framing and two large nailing timbers for the rear two inside corners of the plow.

Rear Wall

A big thank you to Fred Ash who spent virtually all day on the rear wall, on the business end of a needlechipper.  Almost all of the remaining old paint is gone as we race the calendar to get this wall primed and finish painted.

This project is an interesting study in volunteerism at IRM.  In just four short months of summer work, a new crew has made remarkable progress in preserving and restoring this plow.  They have developed new skills, a strong sense of ownership and pride in their work, and made new and lasting friendships.  It shows what can be done with limited financial resources but with a willing and ample supply of volunteer labor.  Wouldn't you like to part of such an effort?

Come on out and join this TEAM, or if you rather, see me about putting together a few of your friends to start work on your favorite car in our collection.  We have plenty to go around!  And do not let the approaching cold weather stop you.  We plan to work indoors throughout the winter fabricating new doors and windows for the plow, and there are several other varied and diverse projects waiting in line.

Wednesday was a very busy day on our snowplow and some major work got accomplished by a very good crew.

In the Bucket

While one crew worked on our B&O boxcar (previously reported) the others made progress on the plow.  Jim Leonard was up in the bucket truck (Thanks Dave Diamond) and was cleaning rust from the underside of the front plow roof.  Dave Rogan was installing the last remaining door threshold on the south side and making plans and measurements for more air piping.

Rare Mileage

As soon as the boxcar work was done, a train was made up that fans would describe as 'rare mileage'.  The consist was certainly rare.  The plow was being moved on Track 41 to the east door of Barn 4.

On Arrival

There it is ready for the repair work.  Several things were accomplished, as we had hoped they would. 

Welding

There was a tear in the heavy sheet metal that comprises the plow wedge as it arrived at IRM.  Due to some mishap lost to history, but there was a three to four inch rip and resulting hole.  The acetylene torch heated the area, and Dave Rogan squeezed his way inside and bent the petals of metal back to close to where they should be.  Then our welder took over, stitching it back together and filling the low spots.

The Old Grind

Dave Rogan (shown) and Jim Leonard took turns grinding down the weld, and finished up the area including adding prime paint by day's end. We also removed an offending piece of steel strapping up near the roofwalk on the west end, finished making a new piece, and got that installed and bolted in.  That allowed us to finish up the last piece of timber framing inside the box, on the west end.  Oh, did I mention we also squared up the last window opening on the north side of the body, fit a new window sill, and started on the stop jambs and trim.  But wait - there is more.

Sheared Rivets

Also as the plow arrived we noted a half dozen rivets on each side of the ramps had the heads sheared off.  There are several ways to suppose how this happened, but it was certainly many years ago.  So the torch was used to heat the rivet stubs from below, and a hefty drift pin and sledge hammer punched them out.  For now the affected areas are securely bolted up and serviceable.