As those of you who have managed to visit Grasselli Tower at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson are aware, there were a number of levers missing from the interlocking bed when the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad donated the tower to us. Also missing were the timers, which the Harbor took out one day between our work sessions in East Chicago (Grasselli's old location) advising us that they needed them for Calumet Tower which was still in service about 3/4 of a mile north of Grasselli. The IHB finally took Calumet out of service earlier this month and the railroad granted our request to spend three days in Calumet where a number of HVRM members took out levers and hardware which will be used to complete the missing levers in Grasselli. We also received two timers, although we are still missing one. So thanks are in order to IHB for granting us the chance to finish Grasselli's interior.

For the record, we believe that Calumet was the last working railroad interlocking plant in the state of Indiana. Sad to see it go, but at least parts will live on in North Judson.

Les

Steve Newland of our museum, showed me the two timers that the IHB had saved for us so that we could install them in Grasselli Tower. One of the timers is in beautiful condition and still works. The other one is not in such good shape. The biggest problem is that the glass "globe" that is the timers exterior, is cracked and also has a piece of glass missing. Since these timers will be installed in Grasselli for display, I am somewhat worried about this broken glass. I don't need to have a visitor hurt, or someone to come along and inadvertantly complete the destruction of the glass. My question is this; are these glass exteriors available? If so, what do they cost? I realize that we may be talking about securing them from collectors. The good timer shows a circled GRS in script on the glass. I suppose there are different types of timers. I should have taken a photo, but neglected to do so. Sorry about that. Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to availability of this glass? Also, we are still missing at least one timer. Are any of these complete units available?

Thanks for any ideas.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

I won't guarantee that it would work, but I recall seeing such timers, and if I recall correctly, those glass covers looked about the size and shape of the glass covers that were on electric power meters. It might be possible to use one of those as a stand-in until you can find a proper cover.

Then again, it's possible the parts might still be available from GRS. . .you never know what's available in the back warehouse of such a place, might be worth an inquiry if you haven't done that already. Might be a bit pricey, but then you would have the right stuff.

I managed to get a couple of photos taken today of the two timers we got from the IHB. The first photo shows the two timers side by side. The broken glass globe on the one timer is readily apparent. Also, the GRS emblem can be seen etched into the glass of the other globe. The second photo is a close up of the better of the two timers although this one has a hairline crack in the globe which can be seen just to the right of the number 2 on the readout face. The globes measure 6-1/2" in diameter and are 6-3/4" tall. Again, we are looking to find out if these globes might be available from somewhere. Thanks for any help that can be offered.

Les

Since I recently posted the photos of the timers that will eventually be installed in Grasselli Tower, I thought I would post a couple additional pix.

The first photo shows the new door applied to the cabinet where the timers will be installed. When the IHB took the timers out of Grasselli before we moved the tower, they just took off the door with the timers remaining attached. Steve Newland of HVRM had to make a new door and this is the result of his efforts. Note the holes where one of the timers will eventually be attached. Additional holes will be drilled for the second timer.

The second photo shows the outside of this door after HVRM's Steve Henrichs painted it black.

The last photo shows Joe Baker of HVRM painting a radiator gray (a finished radiator is in the background against the wall). Although these will not be operational, we felt it was important to install them back in the tower. Needless to say, the cleaning up and painting of these radiators, is a rather tedious job.

Anyway, the work continues!

Les

Les:
Save those timer globes, there are no new replacements to be had ! Try Ebay for replacements, you will probably have to buy or trade for another complete timer with a good globe.
I am told that the US&S timers are the better of the two, they have more contacts.


Kevin K

We continue to work on Grasselli. Through the years, the spot in the floor next to the second floor door has seen a lot of wear to the point that it was "spongy" and needed to be replaced. The first photo shows Steve Newland drilling nail holes for the new floor boards that he had cut to size and was installing. These floorboards are of a different width that the other floorboards and because the rotten boards taken out were also of a different width, Steve says that this spot was obviously previously repaired. How many times it was repaired in the past in the 100 plus years of the tower, is an interesting question that will never be answered. Steve also has made new custom sized frames for the remaining windows on the second floor. He brought those frames up to the tower this past week, and Joe Baker primed the wood on Saturday. The second photo shows Joe doing some "housecleaning" with the one side primed frames shown leaning against the towers walls.

Les

You should be able to stabilize the 'cracked' globe with the products used to repair windshield cracks.

It looks as if most of the broken-out piece does not have a compound curve. So you might be able to have someone familiar with glassworking make up a piece with the proper curvature, grind its edges to fit, and then use some of the glass-repair compound to attach it without visible seam (the index of refraction intentionally matches).

Now, I have also seen products that indicate you can 'cast' a repair by taping across where the break is, and flowing the material in, the tape acting as a dam until the material hardens and also providing the surface finish. What I would think is that you could make a silicone mold from the other globe, and use this as the 'surface' against which the compound is poured. You might even arrange to spin the mold, open end up, so that the inner face of the 'patch' is appropriately curved (yes, I've figured out how to introduce the material while the whole works is spinning ...)

Might not be perfect, but would certainly pass casual inspection, and be safe for all comers...

Another alternative is to make up or mold a new globe, and either etch the GRS logo or use one of those bathroom-window security 'frosting' paints.

Have you thought of vacuum forming a new one out of plastic? Maybe even vacuum form a mold and make a clear, resin one for the interm.

It's been a while since I posted any photos of Grasselli Tower, so thought I would do that to show the interior progress being made. Most of this work has been done by Steve Henrichs, with assists by Joe Baker and Steve Newland. Much remains to be done, but things ARE moving along!

Les

I like the way it's starting to come out, with the floor still showing some wear under the paint, the radiators, the vintage cabinets, the chipped paint on the levers (wonder if that will be preserved?)--would make a great movie set!

(Oh, with all the money a film crew can spend, why do they so often fall short on getting things right, or at least to look right?)

What a great project. How did you re-attach the two halves of the building (upper/lower)? Were the original beams sawed in half for the move, then rejoined?

Check out the move of Grasselli Tower on the website here:

http://www.grassellitower.com/moving-grasselli.htm

I think it will answer any questions.


Les

A photo taken today (5/31/14) of Fred Boyer working on the badly deteriorated window sills on two of Grasselli Tower's windows. Fred has some stuff that is supposed to restore the sills to "like new". If it works, I'll forward additional info.


Les

Here's Steve Newland painting some of the chair rails for the towers interior.

Les