Chicago Great Western X 38 Russell Snow Plow

This will be another fairly short report.  I am on the horns of a dilemma.  If there is a small crew my hands are full of tools doing work (my preference) so there are few pics.  If there is a large crew, I take time off to take more pics, but then suffer the derision (just kidding) of the folks bearing the brunt of the work.

In the Bucket

The weather was fairly pleasant and Jim Leonard showed up early for an hour or two that developed into ALL DAY.  Thanks Jim.  He immediately set to work in the bucket working on the top edge of the roof above the nose.  There is a steel channel member there for structural support and he wirebrushed all the dreck and paint chips out of there.  It is fairly fussy, slow work with lots of rivets, inside corners to deal with.  He stayed at it and the area received primer by the end of the day.

Interior Lining

John Faulhaber started the day by cutting several boards to fit and serve as the interior lining of the plow.  Then he proceeded to prime them and Jim finished that off after lunch.  There is a sometimes confusing sequence of steps to finish off the interior timber framing inside the plow.  In this case, the finished lining must go on the back wall to be able to finish framing the two side walls and the roof timbers.  Hard to explain - you have to be there.

Installation

Be there?  VIctor Humphreys was there - and here is shown as we install several of the boards for the lining.  Raw lumber stock in the AM, cut to fit, prime painted, and installed that same day!!  Good work.  Victor also worked on final body work on the back wall and under the south door.  I added some maroon paint to the two framed and finished window openings.

Good Weather

A bit off topic but Victor also is working at full speed on our B&O wagon top boxcar.  Here he is on the last panel on the north side and it was primed that day.  Probably by this time next weekend the entire north side will be in finish paint, except for some areas still needing repair.

And as usual a lot of other work going on.  We have a vigorous and active signal department and they changed out a head on signal 116.  Once the railroad is built and working it is done - right?  Not so.  There is a lot of work to maintain it working and in good repair, all the while adding new features and improvements.  The signal guys do this work (thank goodness) in the heat of summer, cold of winter, and today in fairly pleasant conditions.  There was a swarm of volunteers over, under, and all around the Shaker Heights 63 PCC car trying to puzzle out the electrical system and perhaps get this car mobile on its own power soon.

Once again we are following the pattern with most of the volunteers for this project attending on Wednesdays, and, weather permitting, a large dose of 'progress' can be seen every week.

Back Wall

In the previous BLOG ENTRY we mentioned that Victor Humphreys continues on the B&O wagon top boxcar.  Arriving refreshed (exhausted?) from a recent trip, Victor is also the go to guy for much of the body work on the plow.  Here he is touching up some of the weld areas, where scrappers had once provided us with a torched out large opening.

More Fred

Fred Ash provide some much needed help in an area not very easy to get to.  All the work had to be done from a ladder much taller than I am.  But here he is, wirebrushing the last untreated steel on the rear wall.  It got primed later in the day ahead of the rain which was predicted, and which materialized.

Headlight

Dave Rogan used the bucket truck on loan from Dave Diamond to provide some measure of safety and comfort getting up to and an top of the plow roof.  He has removed the remains of the old headlight - not necessarily a simple job with well rusted nuts and bolts.  Jim Leonard is in the shop here with the old headlight base in yellow, and the new donated base in red, much of the old red has now been removed.

Winning by a Nose

The major work scheduled and hoped for on Wednesday was to beat the rain and apply the first finish coat of black to the nose areas previously in primer.  Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard are starting the process here, aided by use of the bucket truck for areas not accessible by ladder or scaffold.

Done

Here is the nose in its new black paint.  Quick to type it in here, but a substantial job of several hours for Dave and Jim, just finishing up here.  It makes a milestone leap of progress evident.

Built By

While the painting and other tasks were ongoing, I snuck in some time to apply more lettering to the plow.  Here is new art work done just this Tuesday at the home computer, and applied to the side of the plow near the front.

More Lettering

Anyone who had done modeling on any car quickly realizes there was a lot more lettering used on any car than its simple reporting marks, and this becomes really evident when restoring a full sized rail car.  Here is the SAFETY APPLIANCES block of lettering and a REPACK block applied to the north side of the plow.  All researched, sized, and placed to historical photos.

Framing

Jim Leonard was inside the box fitting some more framing timbers and I had just finished the big CGW reporting mark on the side.  Yes, there is still a lot more lettering to painted on, but this gives a much better view of what to expect.

This is going to turn out to be a very long report - a lot of work was done on many aspects of the project.  But for a teaser here is an off topic pic grabbed early in the morning,

Engineering Department

John Nelligan and Pete Galayda were poring over old drawings as they planned the day's work on Charles City Western 300.  This view simply does not belong here, but not another heading to add for just one pic.

Shop Work

Rich Witt was applying primer to parts in the shop, earlier two stop blocks, and here two new timbers for the corners inside the plow.

More Paint

Later, Rich switched to some gray primer for three of the new boards destined for the interior lining of the plow.

Back Wall

Last week most of the back wall needlechipping removed the heavy layers of paint.  Now, Dick Cubbage bent to the task of using the wire wheel to get it ready for paint.  Yes, there are a lot of steps to the finished product but all on the team are committed to taking no shortcuts.

Primed

By the end of the day primer had been applied - doesn't that look better?

South Door

Dave Rogan and Jim Leonard made short work of adding the three stop jambs to the south door framing.  That area is complete for now, ready for the temporary door before winter.

Interior Framing

Dave Rogan is fitting a new timber to the interior of the south wall.  This is the last major member we need to replace.

The Old Saw

And once the timber was marked, Dave was on the bandsaw making notches and later he used the drill press to bore holes and reliefs for rivet heads.  Then it was off to be primed and was was drying at the end of the day.  As an aside, by this time, Dave had already installed the plow's original pressure gauge having acquired a new pipe nipple to make it work.

North Window

Jim Leonard is walking past the north window.  Earlier he and Dave had completed all the trim work, and cut down some plywood to serve as a blank for the opening.  No, we did not repaint plow wing.  What you are seeing is the reflection of the orange body on the bucket truck.

In the Bucket

By far the largest task of the day was work to clean and prime the north half of the plow nose and wedge.  Eric Zabelny joined us for the day and promptly climbed into the bucket truck basket to needle chip the underside of the front roof, and then went on to the pointy wedge.  Here he climbed out of the bucket and is at work on the pointy nose.  Thanks especially for his all day hard work, and to the B&G department for loan of the equipment.

Painting

The sun is getting lower in the west and everyone pitched in to prime. Here Jim Leonard, Eric Zabelny, and Lorne Tweed are wiping down the surfaces and busy as beavers applying paint.

Primer Done

Almost half of the nose is now done and in primer.  This makes a big impact and involved a lot of areas just not accessible by ladder or otherwise.

Headlight

We received delivery of a new headlight for the plow.  This made possible by the work and generosity of a member who found it, bought it, and donated it!

Coming Attractions

By way of coming attractions, we hope to get more lettering applied to the plow, pending a warmup before winter, and hopefully a day without 25 mph winds.  Here is a transfer pattern held up high on the north side.

Homework

Not all the accomplishments happen out at Union.  Here are two more patterns drawn on the computer at home, printed out, and then cut by hand to reproduce the look of the stencils used when the plow was in service.

So yes, a very long report.  I held the captions short intentionally to give you all a chance at the many pics.  Hope you got this far and enjoyed it as much as the volunteers working on the team.