Greetings,
Last week much activity occurred during the week at HVRM. Les took this picture
of coach 899 when he came down on Wednesday to do some more putting
primer on the peeling paint spots. For some reason the paint did not stick very
well when the car was painted, so try again. The manlift provides a good platform
to stand on, not having to move a ladder every 2 feet, an is used for this work
on railway equipment now all the time.
Saturday dawned hot, and got hotter as the day progressed. Thursday, Cory and
Mark Kniebel inserted new ties in the old Erie right-of-way to the southeast towards
IN 10. Friday, Cory and John LaOrange put in new ties again. Saturday Cory,
John, Dave Cook and Mark inserted more ties. A total of 160 ties were put in.
Now all those ties need to be spiked. A large job for any museum. Bing Ringsley
took his skidder down to push old busted up ties into a pile for pickup later. How
years ago all the track that was put down, was all done manually. Now we have
a backhoe that takes out and inserting ties with brute force. The payloader
hauls down 20 or more ties at one time and dropping them on the steel rails
to be put in later. Yes manual labor is still needed for aligning, inserting
tie plates. Spiking spikes is now down with an air compressor and spike driver.
I worked on the payloader garage today, painting boards before nailing them
on the building. I took off one large 1x12x10 foot board that just was impossible
to fix with a curved edge that would not accept batten boards flat on the boards.
I had to make a trip to Norwaynes Lumber at 11:30am for more boards, but was
so busy I had to return at 1:30pm to pick them up. So now I have enough boards
for trim on the corners. Pre painting sure saves a lot of time in the long run.
Humidity was a factor today that made it difficult to nail on the building, sweat
was getting into my eyes an had to wipe them every so often. A couple of trips
to the HVRM depot to sit in the a/c an cool down. Next week I hope to get the
trim corner pieces on an finish up the building. The east wall needs another
coat of paint, so I got a can of motar gray for that latter on. The one coat just
did not cover the bare board that well. Its impossible to fix everything on the
garage, but is painted outside and looks good. Now the motor car shed needs
some serious work done to it soon, or the roof will come off. The walls are
in dire need of paint an new wood.
Work on Grasselli tower was evident by Steve Newland, Fred Boyer an Steve
Hendrics when he was on break from train duties. Fred was working on
window sills again. Steve working on wood projects inside.
Depot was staffed today by Bruce Emmons and Bob Barcus. The depot was
a welcome spot to cool down in during the day. Engineer for the first run to English
Lake was Todd Flanigan, a long time member keeping up his quals. Also noted
was Steve Hendrics, Bjarne Henderson, John DeGan working. Randall Downs
and Joe Kingsbury were car hosts. The passenger car a/c worked well today.
Passenger counts were about 50 or more on all three runs. The run to La Crosse
must of been exciting on the way back to North Judson. A huge lightning an rain
storm came thru Starke county about 3:40pm with high winds and possible hail.
Passengers were most likely moved from the open air cars to the passenger
coach for protection against the storm. Rain totals from Fridays storm was over
5 inches of rain, filling the parking lot with water. I left at 4pm in the middle of
the storm an was difficult driving. Lots of standing water in the roads. Flood
watches for Indiana counties were in effect.
Open house at HVRM is slated for September 13th. Mark that day down on your
calendars.
Bob Albert worked on the Illinois Central caboose floor, sanding it to bare wood.
Getting one area done first, then moving items inside to that area. Still a lot of
work to do before reopening. Bob had trouble getting the monster floor sander
inside, very heavy for one person. Bob Barcus assisted in getting that item up
inside.
All outside work had wrapped up by the time the storm came thru North Judson.
I rearranged the Erie shed making more room for ladders and putting some
work tools back into the stand. It is now open to walk into without climbing
over some item. The backhoe, heard from Bing, blew a hydralic hose, spraying
oil all over.
In the coming Saturdays, spiking ties will most likely be done. It is hard work,
and the spiker is heavy to lift around. An air hose handler is needed to help
keep the lines out of the way. It is east to get wrapped up and falling down
is dangerous. Track work is not easy. Don't overdo it out there in the heat,
drink plenty of water an take breaks. Remember, we are not young anymore,
physical work is not part of our lifestyle. Be CAREFUL out there.
Have a good week an watch out for those school busses loading an unloading
students.
Tom Travis HVRM Restoration
Last week much activity occurred during the week at HVRM. Les took this picture
of coach 899 when he came down on Wednesday to do some more putting
primer on the peeling paint spots. For some reason the paint did not stick very
well when the car was painted, so try again. The manlift provides a good platform
to stand on, not having to move a ladder every 2 feet, an is used for this work
on railway equipment now all the time.
Saturday dawned hot, and got hotter as the day progressed. Thursday, Cory and
Mark Kniebel inserted new ties in the old Erie right-of-way to the southeast towards
IN 10. Friday, Cory and John LaOrange put in new ties again. Saturday Cory,
John, Dave Cook and Mark inserted more ties. A total of 160 ties were put in.
Now all those ties need to be spiked. A large job for any museum. Bing Ringsley
took his skidder down to push old busted up ties into a pile for pickup later. How
years ago all the track that was put down, was all done manually. Now we have
a backhoe that takes out and inserting ties with brute force. The payloader
hauls down 20 or more ties at one time and dropping them on the steel rails
to be put in later. Yes manual labor is still needed for aligning, inserting
tie plates. Spiking spikes is now down with an air compressor and spike driver.
I worked on the payloader garage today, painting boards before nailing them
on the building. I took off one large 1x12x10 foot board that just was impossible
to fix with a curved edge that would not accept batten boards flat on the boards.
I had to make a trip to Norwaynes Lumber at 11:30am for more boards, but was
so busy I had to return at 1:30pm to pick them up. So now I have enough boards
for trim on the corners. Pre painting sure saves a lot of time in the long run.
Humidity was a factor today that made it difficult to nail on the building, sweat
was getting into my eyes an had to wipe them every so often. A couple of trips
to the HVRM depot to sit in the a/c an cool down. Next week I hope to get the
trim corner pieces on an finish up the building. The east wall needs another
coat of paint, so I got a can of motar gray for that latter on. The one coat just
did not cover the bare board that well. Its impossible to fix everything on the
garage, but is painted outside and looks good. Now the motor car shed needs
some serious work done to it soon, or the roof will come off. The walls are
in dire need of paint an new wood.
Work on Grasselli tower was evident by Steve Newland, Fred Boyer an Steve
Hendrics when he was on break from train duties. Fred was working on
window sills again. Steve working on wood projects inside.
Depot was staffed today by Bruce Emmons and Bob Barcus. The depot was
a welcome spot to cool down in during the day. Engineer for the first run to English
Lake was Todd Flanigan, a long time member keeping up his quals. Also noted
was Steve Hendrics, Bjarne Henderson, John DeGan working. Randall Downs
and Joe Kingsbury were car hosts. The passenger car a/c worked well today.
Passenger counts were about 50 or more on all three runs. The run to La Crosse
must of been exciting on the way back to North Judson. A huge lightning an rain
storm came thru Starke county about 3:40pm with high winds and possible hail.
Passengers were most likely moved from the open air cars to the passenger
coach for protection against the storm. Rain totals from Fridays storm was over
5 inches of rain, filling the parking lot with water. I left at 4pm in the middle of
the storm an was difficult driving. Lots of standing water in the roads. Flood
watches for Indiana counties were in effect.
Open house at HVRM is slated for September 13th. Mark that day down on your
calendars.
Bob Albert worked on the Illinois Central caboose floor, sanding it to bare wood.
Getting one area done first, then moving items inside to that area. Still a lot of
work to do before reopening. Bob had trouble getting the monster floor sander
inside, very heavy for one person. Bob Barcus assisted in getting that item up
inside.
All outside work had wrapped up by the time the storm came thru North Judson.
I rearranged the Erie shed making more room for ladders and putting some
work tools back into the stand. It is now open to walk into without climbing
over some item. The backhoe, heard from Bing, blew a hydralic hose, spraying
oil all over.
In the coming Saturdays, spiking ties will most likely be done. It is hard work,
and the spiker is heavy to lift around. An air hose handler is needed to help
keep the lines out of the way. It is east to get wrapped up and falling down
is dangerous. Track work is not easy. Don't overdo it out there in the heat,
drink plenty of water an take breaks. Remember, we are not young anymore,
physical work is not part of our lifestyle. Be CAREFUL out there.
Have a good week an watch out for those school busses loading an unloading
students.
Tom Travis HVRM Restoration
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