At Long Last
It took enough time, but over the last two days we got the 205 painted Indiana Railroad orange. Finally!
I took Friday the 30th off of work and headed out to the museum early. I removed the side windows from the car (below) and opened up the can of IRR orange we had procured a year or two ago. I wanted to get some of the more time-consuming painting out of the way as well as paint around the windows, so that I wouldn't have to leave the car with the windows out for longer than necessary since it's in a public barn. So I painted around the side windows and also did the anti-climbers at both ends, the fold-out roof access steps, and edged around the door windows. Afterward I went up to the station to see what was running; Chuck Amstein photos of the day's trains are in the previous post.
Saturday I again got out to IRM early and met my father. We got to work on the remaining portions of the 205, starting with the letter board and then continuing onto the side sheets, the ends, and finally the doors. For the letter board and side sheets my father ran the trim roller (below) while I did corners, rivets, and touch-up with a brush. We covered a lot of ground quickly; once we got down to the ends and the doors the roller work was pretty much done so I tackled those areas with the brush while my father headed over to Barn 8 to the CA&E woods. It took about five hours but we got the entire car done with the results seen at the top of the post (after I put the side windows back in).
So what still needs to be done? First, I need to buy more IRR Green paint. The west end anticlimber and steps still need to be painted and I'll need the green to do the lettering and striping. Other than that, there are a couple of pieces of wood trim I'd still like to replace; I still need to install new door edge rubber; and I need to vacuum the interior and wipe down the seats. Then this job is done and the museum has a nice, presentable display piece.
When I was done painting the 205 I headed over to Barn 8 to help out my father, but I believe a separate post on our activities there will be forthcoming. I eventually ambled up to the depot where there was a truly impressive array of equipment in operation. As shown below, there were two steam engines in operation - 0-6-0T 126 is shown on Station Track 1 with a caboose train and the "Leviathan" is on Station 2 with a coach train.
In addition the Zephyr was running (and even serving lunch!), the bi-levels were out, South Shore 803 was doing light engine moves for photographers, and of course the CA&E was well represented with the 319 and 308 in service. I took the below photo; hopefully I'll be able to do a more faithful re-creation of this shot sometime soon.
And there was more to see, including the UP turbine set out on the West Wye along with the Union Pacific's own (operating) Centennial, shown below. The festivities aren't over - there will be a lot of neat stuff operating throughout the weekend. Hey, you've been looking for a good excuse to visit McHenry County; why not come to Union this weekend and join in the fun?
That little 0-6-0 saddletanker is quite the little puller. But the most astounding thing to me was meeting and talking to Barney Grammling. On Friday it has been reported that the engine had developed mechanical trouble. I WOULD SAY SO. One of the cylinder heads needed to be replaced. In the space of about 24 hours on the clock, the offending head was removed (not nearly so simple as unscrewing a light bulb), Mr. Grammling drove to the home base, removed a like head from one of his other locomotives, drove back to Illinois, installed the new head, and had the loco fired and under steam. I am used to getting some sleep every night; I do not see how they could possibly make the diagnosis, travel, and repairs in that short time period. Yet I ventured into the cab on Saturday PM and can attest it was hot and cramped in there, and the locomotive was doing its intended job.
ReplyDeleteBob Kutella
Frank,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting the #205 back to being part of the Indiana Railroad. Cosmetic repairs usually means a coat of paint; but not in this case!
You repaired doors and windows, replaced hardware and un-did the changes made in the Portland era.
Most of the several IRR cars in museums are restored for their original owners such as the #205. There is a Pacific Electric car at Seashore Trolley which once ran in Portland. Portland Traction was a rolling traction Museum in 1958.
The Western Railway Museum is well along in re-building the Portland Traction #4001 ex IRR #202. So the traction preservation movement has the best of both worlds; two sister cars displaying different parts of their history.
Ted Miles
IRM and WRM Member