In the midst of all the other activities at IRM these days, Barn 9 is getting the frame inspected and fixed as necessary, and new panels installed.
And so the Zephyr is stored on the new cutoff track, to keep it out of the way.
It's nice to have both AC and DC power available in Barn 8. The first thing I did was to paint the sides of the ventilator doors in the 36, since these will be kept open from now on. Then more work on the vestibule.
There's lots of work going on in Barn 4. Nearly every car in the west half of the barn had people working on it. Here Gerry and John F. are working on the air piping under the 810.
Lorne is painting and installing the baseboard heater covers for the Cleveland PCC. They look great.
Work is progressing on the Charles City engine. The cab has been completely rewired and repainted.
Pete proudly shows off the work so far. The box is the test panel for the contactors, which John N. designed and built.
And as Frank mentioned before, work is starting on the right side of the front of the Michigan car.
This is the left side, with the new steel all bolted together in preparation for riveting.
And then Ed Oslowski and John Arroyo are working on the interior of the Electroliner.
In the vestibule, among other things I made tracings of all the lettering for the blue paint scheme. It's still in pretty good shape, so with careful sanding, it comes out well. These were later painted over with primer.
And apart from the brake valve, which I might want to take to the shop, the motorman's area is painted.
And also more of the ceiling, including the box for the buzzer interrupter.
Out in yard 11, Mark Secco is working to get the big C&NW Bucyrus crane working. He plans to use it along with the Ohio crane to lift the Denver turntable off the flatcar when it arrives.
Dan Fenlaciki is working on finding leaks and fixing the air system. It's quite complicated.
Here are the winding drums.
And then I had more touchup painting to do, such as around some of the corner seats. This was fixed, but I forgot to take an "after" picture.
And by the time I left, a lot of new panels were installed on Barn 9.
And Max was removing the power lines so work could progress safely.
And as usual, there were several projects going on that I missed.
8 comments:
What was the problem with barn 9?
The barns are just getting old. Barn 9 is approaching 40 years. In particular the baseboards, as I'll call them, tend to rot out and are being replaced. By pulling the skin off, inspection and repairs to the wood structure are easier. Beyond that, Dave could probably give you a better (or at least more dramatic) idea of the scope of the problem.
Over the last several years IRM has used its Building Maintenance Fund [a set aside fund generated from admission revenue] to stabilize and improve many aspects of our "weatherproof' post frame structures. Barn 9 in particular was in need of attention. We have completely re-roof the building and last year began to turn our attention to the failing side sheets and rooting splashboard and long defective doors. Complicating the project is significant rot to the posts [28] at the north end of the building that will be addressed in this project. We conducted an extensive survey of the building in 2013 when a large portion of the Barn was switched out for movie productions. Side doors are being configured to better align with doors throughout the Zephyr for ease of access as well. This is one example of needed repairs to buildings that will be an ongoing cost to maintaining IRM. DD
Thanks, Dave, that's excellent.
I just remembered something I meant to include in this post: Mark told me he found documentation that our C&NW Bucyrus crane, #6363, had been used by the North Shore to lift several cars including the 251 and 749 after a derailment. The North Shore did not have a big hook of its own and would rent one from the North Western if needed. And he happily offered to provide the crane if we wanted to restage this event. I don't like to be a wet blanket, but I didn't hold out much hope of that.
This post should be marked with a star. It's one of the most informative ever. From AC power to the Zephyr it's in here. You'll have a hard time topping it, Mr. Hicks. But it'll be fun reading the next few as you try.
Thanks for all you do for all of us who can't.
It is true that 6363 was used in the wreck with 749 and 251, at Chicory Rd near Racine. In that accident the frame of 251, the lead car, was badly damaged, but the railroad desperately needed combines and was forced to rebuild the car. During the rebuilding they converted it to a silverliner. Car 749 was the last car of the train. While it remained mostly upright, it suffered a deep gash down the side sheets on the toilet side of the car. When we stripped it to repaint it, the new steel was evident. There are photos online somewhere, but I have photos of 6363 lifting 749 at the accident site. We joked around that someday we could have a re-enactment out at IRM!
Perhaps 6363 was also used to upright the 763 as well. I think the 763 damage is still evident although hidden.
Randy Stahl
While they are fixing things on building 9, is there any hope of ever getting the streetcar line webcam repaired and back online?
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