Behind the Scenes

This was the last day of Day Out With Thomas for this year, and it rained pretty much all day, but that doesn't stop us here at IRM. The parking lot was full, the trains ran on time, and everybody seemed to be having a good time, considering the weather.

I was scheduled to be the conductor on the 4391, but it never left the barn, leaving me at loose ends. So I paid a visit to the nerve center of the Museum. Here we see (L to R) Steve Jirsa, Andy Chmura, Harold Krewer, and Al Reinschmidt masterminding the operation. They're actually busier than they might look. But with their vast experience, everything goes smoothly.

Most of the public areas were crowded with families and their children, but let's look behind the scenes.

The Zephyr was over the inspection pit in Barn 4, getting ready for its momentous journey on the Burlington from Chicago to Quincy and back next month. Tickets will go on sale soon, so don't be left out!

(R) Tim Peters has an unusual neighbor.

So I helped my old buddies Jeff Brady and Norm Krentel for a while. They were working on the Michigan Electric 28, of course, and Jeff has set up a system for steaming the wood strips that need to be bent over the curved end of the roof. (L) This is the boiler. I got to regulate the fire, so Jeff wouldn't have to keep running up and down the ladder. With proper care, we'll have perfect 150-proof moonshine.

Jeff and I carefully regulate the system. We're hams from way back.

Up on the scaffold, Jeff inserts a strip of wood into the pipe where it will be steamed for 20 minutes or so to make it flexible.

And when it's medium rare, he takes it out and nails it into place over the end of the roof. As you can see, there are dozens of these strips to be individually cut to shape and fitted, and there are two layers. But after a lot of work, this end of the roof is nearly done!

In other news, when we got back from vacation, we found that somebody had dug up and severed the cable to our block of townhomes, so we were without internet, phone, or TV. That's been fixed now, so after a delay I'll start posting pictures from our recent vacation. There will be lots to see.