August 2011 Work Weekend

Only a few more days until the 2011 Old Threshers' Reunion! You would have a hard time telling it from the casual attitude of the MCRR staff -- the cliche, "been there; done that" applies.

For starters at the August 2011 work weekend, a volunteer called to my attention this framed shot of the 6:















So much for the fun stuff...now to the tasks accomplished.

Last year, the boiler was removed from the 1's chassis for a closer look at the boiler mounts and other items hidden by the boiler. The boiler had been fastened to a DRGW flatcar since that time. One of today's chores was moving the boiler back to where it belongs (hahahaha...and not the scrap yard!).

The Pacha Crane Service crane, operated by Steve Pacha, owner, positions itself near the chassis - flatcar consist.















The MCRR staff assists Steve switch the crane's hook to a pulley/hook combination for lifting the heavy boiler off the flatcar.















Dave O. hooks some of the wire cable slings onto the crane's hook mechanism.















Positioning the slings near the boiler.






























Fishing the slings under the boiler.















The powerful crane easily lifts the boiler from the flatcar.






























A twist of the crane's base and the boiler is positioned over the chassis. Brian B. wonders about those safety shoes of another volunteer who is pushing the boiler into position. Steel toed sandals?















Within a few seconds the boiler was in position on the chassis.















Once the boiler move project was complete, the crane was moved to the west lot storage area. We needed to move a late 1800's turntable to repair a broken section of fence. Several members assisted Pacha Crane Service to remove the rails from the main turntable support beam.















Not satisfied with supervising the boiler move, Brian B. supervises the lifting of the curved turntable rails from the main support beam.






























Holding one of the sling ends, Brian B. awaits the repinning of the slings for further lifting of turntable parts.















The main support beam's pivot point is lifted away from the beam.















After much ado (and a swap of cranes!) the main support beam has been moved about 5 meters from its original position towards its new resting place.
















MCRR President Matt C. relays a message to the crane operator.

-steam.airman

It's a Good Sign!

In the past 10 months, several strong storms had changed our name from the "MIDWEST CENTRAL RAILROAD" to the "WEST CENTRAL RAILROAD", the "WEST CENT AILROAD" and finally to " ". (Well, the final change had some human assistance.)

Besides painting the shop building, the MCRR decided on a new sign with text and our logo for the north wall.

The middle portion of the sign...
















The tail end of the sign, along with the trailing logo, is added to the already installed center portion.
















Matt C. and Dan H. install the front portion of the sign.











































The finished sign.

-steam.airman
Photos courtesy Matt C.

Red not Yellow (updated 08 Aug 11)

Attention!

On your next visit to the MCRR -- don't be surprised if you drive past the MCRR Shop before you realize it.

This past week, the MCRR had contracted to have the shop building cleaned and painted. Instead of the chalky yellow of so many years, it is now red, matching the South Station -- and does it look sharp!

Here is a view from about 250 feet north of the shop facing south, which shows the building's north side. If you look closely, you can see the D-9 on the pit track and perhaps the Model "A" fireman's car on the middle track.














Standing about 200 feet north east of the shop looking towards the south west.














In a position very close to the above spot, this picture is facing due south showing the building's east side. For those that have "been here before" do you notice something missing? The thicket to the north of the entryway was removed -- partially for access to the wall for painting and partially because small animals used to get lost in there, never to be seen again!














One of the painters.














Wow! They even painted the fireproof cabinets. The cabinets used to be a weathered aluminum color.


























































This view is standing about 200 feet east of the building facing west showing the building's east side and main pedestrian entrance.














Standing southeast of the building facing northwest. This is a view of most of the building's south side.














This one may be a bit hard to make out; atop the freshly painted flag pole (see the Fourth of July entry) is a 36" American Eagle.



















After the bulk of the building's painting was complete, the crew returned to paint the trim.





























Trim paint completed, here is a view from the street west of McMillan Park looking towards the southeast.














The crew painted the hopper and tank cars. They had become rather "weathered" over the years and needed attention. The spur is along the west side of the shop building. This and the next view are looking east towards the building's west wall.





























This is the shop building's pedestrian entrance on the east wall. The deep green trim paint is evident on the door and canopy over the entryway.














The painting was performed by Cooper Gutter Service. Many thanks go to them for a professional job completed in a timely manner.

-steam.airman
Pictures courtesy Matt C.

July 2011 Independence Day "weekend"

July often gets the benefit of two work weekends; the weekend surrounding the "second Saturday" and the weekend closest to the country's Independence Day celebration. The blogger was there for the latter therefore there is lots of photographic evidence for that event -- but not so much for the former event.

With the painting of the shop imminent, it was noticed that our 50 foot flagpole looked dismal. After many years of service, the paint was either rusted through or dulled so much that it detracted from the appearance of the north yard.

On Friday night, several MCRR members dropped the pole to horizontal. The original installers recognized that occasional maintenance was necessary and fabricated an easy to use tilting base plate. Using the Case backhoe, it was an easy task to lay the pole over. Darkness prevented doing anything more than laying it over. The rest of the work had to be delayed to Saturday.

A particular nuisance to getting the pole away from its base and the base away from its concrete mount was the thick hedge that had grown up over the many years. Paul K. uses a large pruning shears to gain access to the base's mounting studs.














With the hedge cut down to size, Dallas K. and Paul K. discuss the next step in the pole's removal. Notice the shop's north face in the background; the "MIDWEST CENTRAL RAILROAD" sign is totally gone. Have a look at the previous blog entry and you will see why!














The staff used the skid-steer to pick the pole off the base and scoot it over to the shop. Once it was partially in the shop, the pit track's overhead crane was used to move the pole around in the building.














The base was as nasty looking as the pole. After the base was removed from the concrete mount, Wayne P. used the shop's sand blasting equipment to get the base ready for painting.














Meanwhile, the Six needed a bath to remove the winter's dirt, so it was an opportune time for Dallas K. to use the power washer.




























One of the projects awaiting personnel was the repair of the D-9's torque converter. In this picture, the torque converter had been removed from the engine assembly.














The blogger's paint equipment is spread out over the main shop table. That's a DeVilbiss "HVLP Finishline 3" gravity feed spray gun awaiting a load of ... Zimmerman's peanut butter? What's going on here?














The base and pole were coated with Valspar self etching primer.














This long view of the flag pole shows how much it drooped while in the "spray booth." The pole consists of what looks like 5 sections of Schedule 80 pipe welded together.














With the self etching primer complete, the pole and base received two coats of Valspar two part polyurethane paint. Look closely at the color; what else is using this paint?
























































Another project with high priority was the repair of the air brake pipe support, hand rail, and steps on the "Quinn Coach."

Sometime last year, the air brake pipe had broken loose from the support which let it dangle a bit to close to the ties and rails. It had received a temporary patch when first discovered, but something more permanent was "highly recommended." The hand railing was pulling away from the coach wall. The steps needed repainting.

Paul K. removes the hand railing from the coach in order to repair the wall and re-attach the railing.














While Paul K. works on the railing, Dallas K. removes the broken support bracket for the air brake pipe.














The blogger heats what will eventually become the new support bracket. Heating is necessary to bend the steel strap to the appropriate shape.














Dallas K. test fits the strap on the end beam of the coach.














Later in the afternoon, Matt C., Roger R., and Braden G. discuss what is necessary to fix the leaking o-ring in the D-9's torque converter. (Notice how clean the work table is for the torque converter repair?)




























-steam.airman