Chapel car organ plays on!

In March Spike reported on the acquisition of an organ for the chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace.  In April Brian Tate and Wes Spore offered to rehabilitate the "new" organ by cleaning the reeds and repairing anything that wasn't quite right.  Wes put many of the rehabilitative hours into the organ and in the end even replaced the bellows, the heart of a pump organ.  The results are spectacular; check out the unique and awesome sound of this newly rehabilitated Estey pump organ!

The work that Wes has performed is truly remarkable.  Although the organ was functional when it was acquired, his work has restored its brightness and clarity to how we believe it sounded when it was new over 125 years ago.  His skill has prepared the organ for use during the chapel car's next 100 years!

Here is a brief description of some of the work Wes and Brian performed:

• Dismantle and blow out accumulated dust.
• Clean reed chest, action parts, keyboard, etc. to best remove old stains and previous tape repair gumbo.
• Clean reeds (gentle brass brush) replacing one previously ruined.
• Remove and clean all pallets – no insect damage noted.
• Repair several wood/felt rod bearings.
• Redo cloth hinges on front wood swell and back swell (two inner and two outer)
• Rebuild Vox Humana – removing old cardboard from grooves in center stick and glue in new cardboard.
• Replace broken drawknob end and replace action rod wood yoke.
• New spring wire felt pads and two new spring wires.
• Repair damage to two white key tops (hole carved into two adjacent keys).
• Clean and remove old cloth from pump feeders and main bellows. Redo with new rubber cloth.
• Redo flapper valves and main gasket. (This consumed half the labor!)
• Casework – cut away portion of previously added plywood at lower frame to allow for normal pedal travel. Add felt stop for pedals. Glue down portions of pedal covering and oil pedal hinges.
• Rework under keyboard front middle panels for correct alignment and removal.
• Tune reeds that are out of tune with majority pitch (about 12).
• Level keys – looks quite presentable but there is some slight twisting of a few keys.
• Test drive organ to discover any problems (usual couple of reeds sucking in dust and going silent; one reed slow to speak; otherwise working fine).

Thank you Wes Spore and Brian Tate!

Coach 218 windows, part 1

Bob McNall begins a

window installation

Coach 218 was built in 1912 and is now being prepared for its second century of service. Historic rehabilitation of this former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway coach has been underway for several years, but is now moving at a rapid pace with both a dedicated crew of volunteers and a full time crew advancing the agenda. Priorities for one of the last wooden coaches built for service on an American railroad include completion of the roof, installation of a new floor, and installation of exterior upper window sashes on.

Closeup of colored glass lights.

The exterior upper sashes are one of the distinguishing features of the car and include colored glass panels mounted in zinc came. Volunteers have been rebuilding the zinc and glass panels and they are now being installed in the carbody. Volunteers Tom Powell and Larry Fischer are responsible for the excellent job of rebuilding the panels and mounting them in wood frames. Each glass panel is individually soldered in place and sealed with glazing compound.

Bob drives in large wood screws just

like the original car builders, except he

uses and electric drill and impact 

screw driver.

Windows are attached to the carbody with large wood screws - #14 slotted screws just like the original Barney and Smith car builders used in 1912.  One change from the original installation is the use of acrylic latex calking around the perimeter of the window sash to improve water resistance and keep the sash from rattling.

Rehabilitation of the 218 is now underway in the Museum's Conservation and Restoration Center.  The project is being supported in part by King County 4Culture and the Nysether Foundation.  Substantial completion is planned for later in 2013.

Organ donor

Well, not quite, but at a price that felt like a donation! 

A "new" Estey organ arrived at the

Conservation and Restoration Center

on a warm March 27, 2013.

"One (1) Estey reed organ, cottage or school house model, mahogany, circa 1885.  Fully functional but missing one knob.  $125."  This is "pretty close" to the reed organ from the chapel car Messenger of Peace that the Estey Organ Company donated to the car in 1898, though the original was likely made from white oak. 
 
Mr. Dennis Shadduck offered his family's Estey Organ for sale through Craig's List; supporters Jay S. and Brian T. helped keep the Museum informed of available organs on that service and elsewhere. So locating a suitable organ has been another important milestone towards completion of the Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace rehabilitation.  Thank you Mr. Shadduck!

Main Street crossing reconstruction

"We've been working on the railroad" and there is another new highway crossing to show for! 

Railroad crossings represent one of the bigger funding challenges for the Northwest Railway Museum.  With a total of 18 roadway crossings, the Museum devotes significant resources towards maintenance and reconstruction.  This latest project cost was in excess of $51,000 and replaced a double track crossing in downtown North Bend, which was required to continued operating trains into the North Bend Depot.



Concrete panels arrive and await

installation on Main Street as an

excavator sets the grade.

Main Street was last reconstructed in 1988.  Normally, a new double track crossing of that size would have cost over $100,000 and there was no funding to perform work on that scale.  Fortunately, the Museum was able to leverage several opportunities to make the project viable.

The Museum learned about a small track removal project in the City of Redmond, about 20 miles from the Museum.  There, two concrete tub crossings that were installed in 1997 were being removed to allow installation of a new sewer.  Often, used tub crossings are scrapped because they are difficult to remove without damage.  So with little commercial value, the City of Redmond was able to donate the panels to the Museum.  In the end, of the 70 panels removed, 40 were reclaimed, repaired and reused.  This “saved” the Museum over $35,000 versus the cost of new crossing tubs.

The new crossing takes shape on Main

Street in North Bend.  Concrete tubs

eliminate the use of railroad ties in the

crossing.

 

The Museum was able to secure a grant from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (“WUTC”).  The WUTC is one of the agencies that provide regulatory oversight of the Museum’s railway.   They maintain a Grade Crossing Protective Fund, which awarded a $20,000 grant towards the cost of new welded rail and its installation. 

Other important project support came from the City of North Bend, which provided all the traffic control required to close the road and detour traffic, and forgave three years of user fees for the North Bend Depot for a combined benefit of over $11,000.

The crossing has been completed; it opened as soon as the

asphalt cooled.

And the Museum was able to secure some relay rail for the side track (new rail was used on the main).  As well, the Museum's dedicated volunteers were able to perform the required repairs on the used crossing panels.

The project allowed for six days of construction but it was completed in less than five.  RailWorks Track Systems, Asphalt by George, and Snoqualmie's Imhoff Contractor Crane Service performed the balance of the work. 

quid pro quo

Pavers at east end of the
Train Shed.

In December, Spike reported here on the disposition of an object removed from the collection.  A small steam crane was moved to Ballard where it will become part of a French bistro early next summer.  As part of the disposition, the new owner of the crane provided and installed pavers for part of the Railway History Center campus.

Workers from Pavingstone Supply were on site in January 2013 to complete the installation of paving stones.  Approximately 500 square feet of decorative concrete paving stones were placed along the east and southeast portions of the sidewalk just outside the building.

Worker from Pavingstone Supply
installs pavers in front of the Train
Shed.

The pavers were called out in the original design but were not installed during the original construction.  Rapidly increasing costs lead to a cost containment program and the pavers were deleted.  A short time later, the disposal of the crane to the owner of a paving stone company presented an opportunity to get some of the pavers installed.  Something for something.

Season's Greetings

Thank you to all our Volunteers, Donors, Trustees, Supporters, Members, Benefactors, and Patrons for a wonderful and successful 2012.

A railway museum is about more than just the excitement of a train: it is education, heritage and historic preservation, community identity, the economic sustainability of a small community, and  enjoyment.  Thank you to everyone who played a part in 2012.

2013 will bring many exciting developments to the Museum: completion of the chapel car, improvements to the interpretive railway, and expanded educational programs.  We all look forward to welcoming you back to the Museum next year!

--Staff of the Northwest Railway Museum: Richard, James, Cristy, Jennifer, Jen, and Jessie. 

A 12/12/12 marriage to remember



Messenge of Peace trucks and car body married again!

Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace has wheels again!  Messenger of Peace was married with a pair of passenger car trucks in a lengthy ceremony held on the much-coveted 12 December 2012, or 12/12/12.  The car lost its original trucks in 1949 when it was adapted for reuse as a roadside diner.  The rehabilitation work it is undergoing inside the Museum’s Conservation and Restoration Center includes elements of restoration, including the trucks.



The car body underside showing the

centerplate.



Railway car trucks are assemblies that include a frame, wheels, bearings, brakes, and a mounting plate for the car body.  For the chapel car, these trucks each have six wheels and are constructed predominantly of wood.  A blog post describing the removal process is here.

Car body centerplate and the truck

centerplate slowly come together.

Marrying trucks to a car body requires very careful alignment.  For the chapel car, 22 months of time on car stands had resulted in the car shifting slightly off center.  So the rehabilitation crew carefully nudged the car body back to the center of the tracks in a process that consumed hours.  They used a set of hydraulic jacks to undertake this work on the 60,000 lb car body.  Certainly a great deal was at stake should the car be knocked off the car stands!

Bob, Kevin and Gary roll the rear truck

under the car body.

The massive 15,000 pound trucks were rolled under the car by just three workers.  Then the car was gently lowered onto the center plate.

So 12/12/12 marks a marriage to last: the trucks and the chapel car car body.  And this is both symbolic and indicative of the final stages of this two year project to rehabilitate this national treasure.  Stay tuned for more reports about this incredible project!