Illinois Railway Museum - Diesel Department Restoration Projects - CB&Q 504

Restoration Projects

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 504

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 504, an operating EMD SD24, was brought into the diesel shop in February 2002. Currently in BN paint as 6244, this SD will soon be restored to Q paint. The first steps will be back dating the steps on all four corners, replacing a couple patches to some rusted steel around the short hood, and moving some of the sill doors to their correct locations. The photos below show much of the progress to date, the photos are displayed with the most recent near the top to the earliest near the bottom.

Note (1/5/2004): Starting this month, we'll be using 500 pixel wide images instead of 400 pixels. This is to show a little more detail of the work as it progresses. The page may take a bit longer to load, but we hope the wait will be worth it.

| 2006 | 2005 |

| 2003 | 2002 |

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October 2004

Most of the rear pilot is assembed and mounted. The footboard supports need to be drilled and kick plates mounted. Photo by Rich Witt, Oct 30, 2004.

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September 2004

The assembled center section is mounted to check its fit. Photo by Scott Nauer, Sep 17, 2004.

The first few parts of the pilot being welded together. Photo by Scott Nauer, Sep 17, 2004.

Here are all the parts for the new rear pilot, in kit form. Both the front and rear pilots are being restored to their as bulit appearance. Photo by Scott Nauer, Sep 16, 2004.

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April 2004

The sill doors on the firemans side have all been welded back on with new hinges. Once we prime and paint the first coat, we'll re-install all the door latches. Also note the smooth side of the electrical cabinet behind the cab. Photo by James Kolanowski, Apr 11, 2004.

A patch was welded in the hole in the electrical cabinet. Photo by Scott Nauer, Apr 4, 2004.

The firemans side tool box door was straitened and new hinges welded on. Photo by Scott Nauer, Apr 4, 2004.

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March 2004

The entire floor in the front nose will also be replaced. This is the bottom of that floor. The only area that won't be replaced is under the block of concrete. Photo by James Kolanowski, Mar 27, 2004.

A stroll under the cab floor found a few more problems, all the steel covering the motor blower ducting will need to be replaced. Much of it is as thin as you see here. Photo by James Kolanowski, Mar 27, 2004.

New sill doors were made for a few areas, to replace a couple badly rusted doors that were too thin to patch, and to replace a few that were not correct for this side of the locomotive. Photo by James Kolanowski, Mar 20, 2004.

The electrical cabinet filter box that was added in the BN days was removed. The hole in the frame and the walkway floor was filled in, the hole in the electrical cabinet wall is next. Photo by James Kolanowski, Mar 20, 2004.

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January 2004

Here we are checking the shade of red that was matched by a color chip, and another shade of red that was crossed from the old duco numbers. The Metal Halide work lights in the shop made things really interesting, we had to paint some smaller parts and compare in many different lighting conditions, mainly sunlight. Photo by James Kolanowski, Jan 7, 2004.

The bottom half of the pilot was removed, new hose pockets and foot boards will be reinstalled as it was when built. All the unused bolt holes were welded in. The hand rail was heated on the corners and bent slightly to fit the proper width of the pilot. Photo by James Kolanowski, Jan 3, 2004.

To backdate the step wells from 5 steps to 4 steps, the foot opening for the second step was filled in with a steel plate, and the depth of the 3rd step was extended to the length it was when built. A 3/4 inch thick triangular plate was also welded in, this is where it was cut out to access the cut levers (which will also be backdated) from the step well. Photo by James Kolanowski, Jan 3, 2004.

Here are some of the old, and the new steps. Both pilots and step wells are being restored to the as built configuration. All have been primed and will be painted red before being installed. Photo by James Kolanowski, Jan 3, 2004.

All the door latches have been removed and sand blasted so there are no rust streaks when the paint job is done. These have been primed with an acid etching primer. Ths is only about a 1/4 of all the latches. Photo by James Kolanowski, Jan 3, 2004.