Here at IRM, we can't let too many days go by without a huge switch move. Today the west end of Barn 4 was shuffled, so among other things the 141 was brought out into the sun. 
It looks great! It's getting very close to operation; Frank says we just have to get the brakes working, and he'll be ready to test the motors! It's not legible, I'm afraid, but the car is signed for Brookfield Zoo. Let's go!
I got to help a little by pushing track carts out of the way. That's always fun.
And I helped unload some lumber that Tim brought in from the feed mill in Huntley. These are huge planks of white pine, 3x12, about 25' long. It took six or more of us to unload them, I don't even remember who all helped. Tim, Bill, Mike, Victor, Nancy, and myself. Tim will be cutting them down slightly to make running boards for the 1797.
Part of the time I was burning paint off the 36 again. I failed to take any pictures of this activity. But you're not missing much.
It looks great! It's getting very close to operation; Frank says we just have to get the brakes working, and he'll be ready to test the motors! It's not legible, I'm afraid, but the car is signed for Brookfield Zoo. Let's go!I got to help a little by pushing track carts out of the way. That's always fun.
And I helped unload some lumber that Tim brought in from the feed mill in Huntley. These are huge planks of white pine, 3x12, about 25' long. It took six or more of us to unload them, I don't even remember who all helped. Tim, Bill, Mike, Victor, Nancy, and myself. Tim will be cutting them down slightly to make running boards for the 1797.Part of the time I was burning paint off the 36 again. I failed to take any pictures of this activity. But you're not missing much.
I installed the motor circuit fingers on the reverser, cleaned the coils, and rechecked the operation. Just like downtown!
I cleaned up the inside of the reverser cover and painted it with Glyptol; it was then set out in the sun to dry. At some point I need to clean and repaint the outside too.
Me and my shadow.
With the cover installed, the reverser looks like this. This should have been done before the car left Cleveland, but better late than never.
And I also took the kingpin from the #2 end over to our friends in the steam shop to straighten out. It's about 3' long and 2" in diameter.
Here we see Matt Dowd and Ralph running the big press to bend the pin. I wish I had a video of this thing in operation, it's hilarious. The hydraulic pump chugs along, driven by two rods with valve-gear-like motion, and there's a huge counterweight. What a blast! Anyhow, they straightened it out as well as anybody could, but it still doesn't drop down all the way. So I just don't know.
We will be jacking up the car at some point, so this problem will be solved sooner or later. As a matter of general principle, we here at your Museum refuse to admit defeat!
We will be jacking up the car at some point, so this problem will be solved sooner or later. As a matter of general principle, we here at your Museum refuse to admit defeat!
I think the reverser cover for the 36 was in one of the steel cars, or another car and was not found until after the 36 was shipped to Union. It was not until all the cars arrived at Union that we had access to all of them, as the woods and steels were moved separately to Brook Park shops in Cleveland. I remember there were a few parts discovered in other cars later. We received notice the wood cars would be shipped very fast, something like come out this weekend on a Friday. It wasn't until we were preparing to ship the 36 that we saw it, it had been in the Central Rail shops and we were not permitted to visit it during the auction. Because of the missing cover and the huge amount of salt spray the cars picked up during shipping, we were much better prepared for the steel cars.
ReplyDeleteJoe