How many times has discovery yielded technical issues, diagrams and photographs that are puzzling and awash in indistinguishable details?  The solution to these problems lies in the use of visual aids.  Studies show that the most complex subject matter is rendered comprehensible, even interesting, through the use of effective visual aids.

As a certified instructor in private industry, Philip J. O'Keefe has long-ranging experience in teaching both technical and nontechnical subject matter to audiences ranging from blue collar factory workers to executive management.

In addition to being a Licensed Professional Engineer, Mr. O'Keefe is a recognized and awarded visual artist who has frequently been engaged as a technical illustrator and museum-quality model builder.  His demonstrated visual presentation skills and artistic abilities coupled with his technical expertise render him uniquely able to present even the most puzzling of technical concepts in an understandable manner.

Mr. O'Keefe's scale model work has been commissioned by museums and corporations across the United States. His clients include the Norfolk Southern Corporation, Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, Science Applications International Corporation, Trinity Industries, Morrison-Knudsen Corporation, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, and Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.  His scale models have been illustrated in Fine Scale Modeler Magazine, O Scale Railroading Magazine, and Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine. He was given an award by Dremel International in conjuction with Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine for writing an article describing how to building an operating scale model of a Chicago Surface Lines streetcar.

Adept at analyzing physical evidence, then simplifying its presentation through the use of diagrams, drawings, photographs, and models, Philip J. O'Keefe is able to elicit clarity in his reports and courtroom exhibits where none is readily apparent.  The article below will illustrate how Mr. O'Keefe was able to start with a dirty, rusty, and almost inaccessible piece of machinery and end with a clean, easy-to-understand scale model exhibit:

P.J. O'Keefe At The Controls of Chicago Tunnel Locomotive 508 in the late 1980s.

After reading Bruce Moffat's book, Forty Feet Below: The Story of Chicago's Freight Tunnels, I became interested in The Chicago Tunnel Company, a two-foot gauge electric railway that operated 53 miles of track through small bore subway tunnels forty feet below the streets of downtown Chicago.

At its peak, the railway had 149 small 4-wheel, 250-volt direct current mine locomotives and over 3000 pony freight cars.  When the system was abandoned in 1959, all but two of the locomotives and nearly all the freight cars were scrapped.

In the 1980s I gained permission to enter the abandoned tunnels and formed several expeditions to explore and document the remains of the railroad.  The goal of one of my expeditions was to photograph and measure locomotive number 508 which was abandoned in a tunnel under Lake Shore Drive near the Field Museum of Natural History.  The documentation would be used later to construct scale models of the locomotive.

In the photograph on the left, I can be seen sitting at the controls of number 508 in the late 1980s.  Although the locomotive appeared to be badly deteriorated in this photograph, it is actually complete and could be made operational again.

Locomotive 508 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1907.  It ended its long career of shuttling coal and ash cars between the Chicago Tunnel Company system and the Field Museum boiler room in the late 1950s. It was abandoned in the tunnel at that time because it was too difficult and expensive to remove for scrap.

In the mid 1990s, a construction project on Lake Shore Drive uncovered the locomotive, allowing easy removal.  It was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum where it was refurbished and placed on display as seen in the photo to the right.  By the way, the thing sticking up from the middle of the locomotive is a trolley pole that rides along a copper wire on the roof of the tunnel to send electricity to the motors that propel the train.

Locomotive 508 On Display After Liberation From The Tunnel

During the Field Museum expedition, I carefully sketched all of the details of number 508, took field measurements, and added dimensions to the sketches.  A typical sketch is shown to the left.

The sketches had to be complete, showing every detail on the locomotive in order to enable me to produce accurate scale drawings back at the shop. I happen to be the type of person who can use the right side of my brain to express myself artistically and the left side of my brain to take accurate measurements and figure out the workings of complex machinery.

The photographs, sketches, and measurements secured during the expedition were then used to create a 1:24 Scale CAD drawing of number 508 which is shown on the right.  "1:24 Scale" means that one inch on a ruler represents 24 inches on the model locomotive.  "CAD" stands for Computer Aided Design.  In other words, instead of sitting down at a drafting table and drawing by hand, I made the drawing on a computer with specialized software.

The CAD drawing shows all the important parts of the locomotive in great detail and in perfect proportion.  It's the next best thing to actually having the locomotive itself to work from.

Once the CAD drawing was created, I developed a sketch to facilitate making of the make brass patterns that I used to cast and mass produce the white metal parts that would be used to make the scale models of number 508.  This sketch is shown to the left.

Using the sketch and CAD drawing as a guide, I used machine tools to cut and shape the parts from brass bars and rods. I then soldered the parts together to form patterns.  The photo to the right shows the finished patterns for the locomotive sides, trolley pole, and speed controller.

These patterns were then used to make vulcanized rubber molds to cast white metal parts for the locomotive model.  The rubber is vulcanized by introducing sulfur into its chemical makeup to enable it to come in contact the molten white metal without burning.

The rubber molds were placed in a centrifugal casting machine. As the molten metal was poured into the molds, the centrifugal force caused the metal to fill up all of the intricate cavities of the mold and completely form the parts.  When the metal cooled, the parts could be popped out and the molds could be reused to mass produce more of the same parts as needed.

The photograph below shows all of the white metals parts made from the patterns that I created.  All the parts are required to make just one locomotive model.  Each part is numbered and identified for ease of assembly:

The parts above were used to assemble the locomotive model shown in the two photos below:

Philip J. O'Keefe, PE, provides engineering expert witness and litigation support services to attorneys and insurance professionals throughout the United States in matters involving patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, personal injury, product liability, and professional malpractice.  The initial consultation is free of charge.