Archive for Dover Strait
Update August 6 2008
Posted by: | Commentsok folks i have been less than chatty for a bit . as we pass through midsummer work times. Have been tied up with the streamliner set, getting things settled and dealing with maintenance on the Barn as well, so, while we have been out and busy every weekend, there has not been a lot of big splashy itemes to discuss Sorry…
Just to keep everyone up on our progress, not too many new photos but a few.
In barn 3 we now have opened Galt House for tours since July 4 Shelly continues to make is sparkle, and she has now reinstalled the end mirrors in the seating area. I hope to find time to get the kitchen lighting to work so she can go at it in there too. I finally got a few interior photos on the website.
http://www.irm.org/gallery/LN2726
elsewhere in Barn 3 we have opened a stepwell on Susan Marie, giving folks a chance to climb the platform for now, and /Mike is contemplating how we can enclose the bedrooms to allow folks to tour the car again. As much as we would like to do it now, it is sounding like a winter project, after the DLW coupler pocket repair.
speaking of the welding work, it is coming along, just a bit slowly as every portion of the pocket has to be rebuilt one step at a time.
Dover Strait is getting her stripes and letters, and a few shots of the progress, thanks to Kirk Warner The work is finally paying off! we are so happy for the folks involved and all their work over the years
http://www.irm.org/gallery/DoverStrait
Barn 11 has not been started yet, but the price has gone up! It will now be $180 per foot to build, so anyone that is interested in a car goiong in, now is your chance to help us finance the building! There are some donation links on the IRM store page, or send in your donation to the Passenger department indoor storage fund, which will reduce the need for cars to pay their own way in. If you want to contribute to a specific car, please feel free to contact the museum and earmark your donation. Every little bit helps!!!
Out in Yard 5 we still await electricity, so we are forced to operate on generators to simply feed the air conditioners, and that is only about half of what we need.
The progres son the RDC continues, with removal of exterior paint and clearing of more inside. The paint on the letterboard is 4 or 5 layers thick, and in the middle of it we have discovered Baltimore and Ohio. It forced us to slow down and try and preserve the lettering long enough to photograph it for history, because as soon as we clean the letterboard for CNW it will be gone.
Seat movements on one side have been repaired, and i hope to have the seating reinstalled in time for Thomas to make the set look pretty.
In addition, we have gotten the electrical cabinet figured to some extent and we now have the baggage rack lights working. The car is designed to be self contained, and run completely from its power plant, which is 64vdc. As a trailer we are much better off converting it to a more commn power supply, and a couple of eastern operators have suggested exactly that to Marc so after trying to avoid it, we will be changing the car to 110vac, and we have started to replace light equipment to allow that. With that decision made, it will simplify the cirsuirty, and our work will include all the fluorescent ballasts and incandescent lamps, plus replacing the blower motor. The advantage is once we have those few, relatively simple changes made, the car will be functional from our trainline generators, and the power from the pole when we get it.
For the CNW RDC fans , we also located marking on interior parts that confirm the car is in fact 9934 instead of 9933.
http://www.irm.org/gallery/CNW9934
Antique car weekend saw a warm up and a significant crowd, so in anticipation we added an other AC unit in the vestibule of Pacific Peak. It seems to make a difference as the Birmingham was able to keep its comfort level up without fighting the influx of heat from the other cars. My thanks to our donors, including Kevin Brown, who have continued to support the cars and made the funds accessible to make the purchase.
I promise to try and get more pictures listed and write updates more often, i simply got wrapped up in the day to day of the department and ran out of time.
Update June 11, 2008
Posted by: | Commentssorry for not being too talkative for a bit. Was out of town for over a week, and back last Sunday, spent most of the day just getting things “back on track” so to speak.
We are making progress on the electricity for Yard 5. Max got all three poles in the ground last weekend. YAAAAY!!!
Now we await the ordering of parts to install on those lovely poles.
In the meantime, the streamliner set is open for visits, but not running at 100%. We have perhaps half the power needed, and no power at all to the RDC or shop car yet.
In the meantime, we keep making progress on removing all that purple on the RDC. Marc has been plugging away at it, and it will be a task to pick away at for the rest of the season, I think. In addition, we have taken all the seats apart on one side of the car, and gotten the pullover seats to work again. We discovered that someone didnt want the seats to be movable, so they WELDED the frames shut. D’OH!
A couple of new pics in the RDC folder, hope to take some interior shots this weekend as well. The car is cleaning up nicely, and as soon as we have electricity in the area, I hope to solve the lighting issue as well. Just cant do a lot of experimenting yet since i dont really have a stable source right now.
http://www.irm.org/gallery/CNW9933
On the heavyweight front, The diaphragms are in on one end of the Dover, and of course they are gorgeous. Bob Hunter has fought them all winter and spring, fabricating and shaping each piece by hand one at a time. Next we hope to get someone to start sanding the corridor and perhaps get the car striped and lettered this summer.
Bessemer combine 25 has its windows back in, and Mike hopes to get it air tested this weekend. The brake valves for the DLW cars are back, and one is installed, hope to get the second one in next weekend.
B&M cafe car is quietly moving along as well. Jack is beginning to work on the coach area, and if the dining area is any indication, its gonna be great when he gets it done.
Wayne Baksic is making new step boxes for the barn displays, larger than previous stock, to make it a bit easier for our visitors. Once they are done, we will plan to open Susan Marie up for visits, as the ramp railing has been opened for a doorway.
We hope to get the barn reset this weekend, and give Andy a chance to assault the other side of the IC cafe car, plus put the Galt House in position to open for visitors.
This time of year, there always seems to be lots of things to do, and never enough time to do them. As always, if anyone wants to help feel free to join in. We have housekeeping to do, metalwork on some, paint removal on some, etc, etc, etc…..
Weekend Update May 10. 2008
Posted by: | CommentsHappy Mothers Day to all
Saturday was a decent weather day, made a good amount of progress getting the streamliner cars powered up and lit for visitors.
Sunday not so good…..
Chilly rainy until early afternoon, then an area wide power failure for two hours took the place down for awhile.
It was kind of fun being the only spot in the museum with electricity for a while. Kitchen was open and a few folks stopped in for a “cup and a sit”.
On the work front,
RDC paint removal made forward progress. Mark Gellman just keeps scrapin’ and scrapin’ and…..
photos in the car file http://www.irm.org/gallery/CNW9933
Streamliner cars got some of their joints weatherproofed, and some of the interior display pieces got put out.
Cleaning will be a perpetual process for a while, until we get caught up and full power restored.
While we are on internal power, we do not have enough electricity for AC so as a purely selfish reason we hope for cool temperatures for a while.
After two years of dependable service one of our generators is getting a bit fussy, so will have to do some maintenance next week.
Mike got the second DLW coach tested and it failed, so after attempting repairs, he pulled the brake valve from the icky baaaad DLW coach, and it failed too.So no added coaches this week.
Pete did get the CRIP coaches in position so Mike can go on them next weekend, add one for Memorial Day at least we hope….
Roger and Bob Hunter were out and both made progress on the Dover.
Wayne got the main signpost in front of Barn 3 installed between tracks 2 and 3 so we can do a nice display for guests.
Shelly keeps finding things to clean in Galt House. she also brought in the mirrors we need to replace so we hope to get them hung soon.
Mark Hoffman was a “tailhoser” Saturday, so spent Sunday getting the BLE 25 window re installed. Almost done. We have an ulterior motive as we need to assemble a Pullman train for a special event in late July
As always, if anyone is interested in work on a particular piece of equipment, they are always welcome to
ask questions or
help or
donate
and we will appreciate it greatly.
April 20 2008 update
Posted by: | Commentswell well it has finally happened
a decision on the move of the streamliner cars……we will be moving to the north track of Yard 5
The turbine is already moved, and the Used book store is already back in position. Now we have to await Max and his time to plan and install the electical connections for the train.
Of course, now that he is working, that may take a month or so. If we move in the meantime we will be forced to run on generator power for a while, but we have been forced to do that in the past, so it will be ok. Not necessaarily the best thing, but progress is good!
The other advantage to the north track is that is will give us a straight space with pavement for our visitors to use and hopefully make their visit better.
Watch out for Pauline to add photos of the turbine move et al.
On the other passenger front. the second door got into the CNW 7700 today, and all aligned and ready to go. Next week the car will be brake tested, and then its off to service it goes!
Mike plans to push forward with testing most of the commuter cars right away, and getting them all in service and “off our plate” of things to do. Then he wants to go back to working the vestibule of the DLW car.
Roger, Bob Mike Prendergast and Mark Hoffman all shared time on Dover today as well, which is nice to see. They got the bedroom lights going again for the season, and worked windows back into place
Shelly got the BLE 25 window just about done, and hope to have it in Marks hands next week to install.
With Nick back in town the bobcat work begins. Julie has given the passenger dept a signal cabinet to store paint, and it got moved into position today about 50 ft east of the barn. Mark will needlechip it (his current favorite pastime) and we will paint it red.
We finished the afternoon by cleaning up some more of the winter mess and improving the barn for the upcoming season.
Mark Gellman spent a chunk of time working the paint on the RDC, getting the purple removed as we want it to go back to CNW livery as soon as we can. Once we get it in line with our streamliner set, we hope to jump in and get it cleaned up for guests.
The AC system in Birmingham moved forward as well. I want to try and get it done before the move, so I have electricity to test each component. so we can focus on other housekeeping issues with the set when we get them in position. We need to purchase one more blower at a cost of $200 to finish so of course donations to the Silver Car Fund would always be appreciated.
Time and energy have been at a premium these past two weeks, so not many photos. I promise to try and get a few more done soon.
Dover Strait Page is Started
Posted by: | CommentsA new page has been added featuring the Dover Strait. This car was primed in August and early September then painted a NYC two-tone gray by the end of September 2007. The car will receive more painting details in 2008.
A six minute interview with Dover Strait project leader Bob Hunter can be found on the page too. Bob describes some of the history of the Dover Strait and a bit of the work he has done on the project. The interview buttons can’t be seen if you are using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for your browser for an unknown reason. The file has been tested and works great in Firefox, Opera, and Safari browsers, all of which are free to download and install on your PC.
September 22, 2007 two-tone NYC gray paint has been completed.