Around The Museum
April 27 & 28, 2013
San Bernardino Railroad Days
Volunteers from RailGiants Train Museum and the R&LHS Southern California Chapter staffed their booth at San Bernardino Railroad Days. The annual festival was held at the Santa Fe Station serving Metrolink commuter trains, Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, and freight trains of BNSF & Union Pacific.
Visitors to our booth received information about our museum, activities, and benefits of membership. Several items from our museum’s gift shop were also for sale there. Though we weren’t able to bring any of our famous steam locomotives to the festivities, one member did bring his “O” Gauge scale model of Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotive #4014.
AT&SF steam locomotive #3751 arrived just before noon on Saturday to a thrilled crowd, while welcomed by The Redlands Fourth-of-July Band performing John Phillip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever March.
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Many of our members pose in front of Santa Fe #3751 with its engineer soon after its arrival. Members later talk with #3751 crew members regarding steam locomotive operations.
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April 2013
Riveting the Outer Harbor Terminal Locomotive
Members Rick Brown and Paul Guercio prepare rivets until red hot from a special furnace. Keep your face and hands a safe distance away from your computer monitor, as these rivets are HOT!
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Below, Paul uses a pneumatic air hammer to form the red hot rivet into shape, while Rick bucks the rivet from its other side.
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Nickel Plate Pullman Business Car
Mark Herrera and Jason Leach drill holes in the new diaphragms for the Nickel Plate car. Diaphragms are used as a mold, cushion, and shock absorber when coupling passenger cars.
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Larry Blair works to remove the Nickel Plate Pullman car windows so that they can be rebuilt.
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June 2012
Work on the Outer Harbor Terminal Locomotive Continues
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| Placement of the Cab on the Locomotive |
A major milestone was achieved when the new cab was assembled in-place on the Outer Harbor Terminal 0-6-0. Members Rick Brown, Paul Guercio, and John Shatsnider used the gantry crane to lift each section of the new cab into place on the locomotive and assembled them together. Each section was previously assembled on the ground as a sub-assembly and painted with an epoxy sealer for waterproofing, and a polyurethane clear-coat for UV protection. Final painting will be done when the new cab is completed. In the near term, the plan is to leave the cab in its natural color so visitors can enjoy the beauty of the fine quality wood procured for this project.
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The 0-6-0’s Cab assembly was completed in several steps, shown above. Each wooden piece was moved by gantry crane and held by rope & chain while our craftsmen carefully bolted each in its correct alignment and position. Shown above in the middle of all the action are our members Rick Brown and Paul Guercio.
Much additional work remains to be completed before this locomotive is back in good cosmetic condition. A new roof, windows, and other trim work need to be added to the cab, and a number of other attachments re-assembled. Painting needs to be completed on the locomotive, and the piping re-applied. Work will follow on its tender.
January 2012
Construction of the Outer Harbor Terminal Locomotive’s Cab
Volunteers working on the No. 2 Outer Harbor Locomotive continue to make good progress on the restoration of this showcase exhibit. The latest part of the restoration to be close to completion is the rebuild of the engine’s cab. Pictured below are some of the volunteers putting the pieces of the cab together before final construction, so it can be determined if they all fit together properly. Look’n Good!
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| Volunteers Paul Guercio, Jesse Tomory, and Frank McCaffer fit a side panel of the Outer Harbor cab in place. |
Volunteers (L to R, back) John Mastrobuoni, Rick Brown, Frank McCaffer and (L to R, front) John Shatsnider, Paul Guercio, Shelley Hunter pose for a picture inside the Outer Harbors new cab. |
A Generous Donation – The Depot Gets A New Window
Ernie Flament, a rail fan and supporter of the RailGiants Museum, generously donated his time a talent to make the Depot a beautiful new stained glass window. The old window was broken in a past rain storm and a new one was desperately needed before more rain came. Frank McCaffer, a R&LHS member, thought it would be a good idea to ask his friend Ernie, if he could make us a new window. Ernie is a avid stained glass hobbiest, who has done stain glass work for us in the past and several windows throughout the years for fun and profit. He generously volunteered his services to create the beautiful window pictured below. It follows the old style of the depot’s original window with a blue, red and yellow border, with the name of Rail Giants Museum in gold, old English style lettering. It’s quite a special accent to the look of the Depot and we will enjoy its beauty for many years to come. Thanks Ernie!
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| Frank McCaffer and Loren Martens install the new stained glass window created by Ernie Flament. |