Spectacular Sunday

On my way to the Museum on Sunday morning it was raining heavily, and I was doubting the weather reports that predicted clear weather.  Are we ever going to be able to get out of the barn?  But by about 10 it had all passed, and the rest of the day was magnificent.

The first train out was the North Shore 749 and 251.  It was still cloudy early in the morning, but the sun soon came out.  The 251 has the important advantage of allowing us to carry wheelchairs and provide access for passengers with limited mobility.

And then there was the CA&E 319 and 309, with our 48-star flags for Memorial Day.

The Shay was running all day.  

Finally, Zach has been promoted from the North Shore to the heavyweight train, with the luxurious parlor car Pawnee on the end.

You might notice that the 319 has been wyed.  This puts the oval window on the visitor side.  It also makes two other third-rail beams more obvious.

These are the two we got from the 315 about 25 years ago, and they have some rotted wood. So these will be next in line to be replaced.  At least I have all of the parts; only the wood has to be changed.  I'm never going to get away from this project, I'm afraid.

And here's the crew.

We had a full train on almost every trip, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.  Another rewarding day at IRM...

And there will be even more spectacular equipment running on Monday!  Don't miss it!

Friday Prep Work

 There weren't very many people in the car shop on Friday, but quite a bit got done anyhow.

My first task was to get the CA&E train ready for operation on Sunday.  This requires getting under the car and getting dirty, so it's not something you want to do in your spiffy uniform, and it's best to get it done beforehand.  I had to connect the air hoses and control jumper, check and fill the compressors, test the brakes and buzzers, and so on.  Then I ran it back and forth a few feet in the barn to check that both cars were motoring, etc.  All is well, so we should be ready for service early on Sunday.

Going Uphill?

When we first got the 36, it seemed to be going downhill.   I thought we had that problem solved, but I guess not.  Now it looks like it's going uphill, at a worse angle than before.  I just don't understand how these things happen.  Maybe someone else can solve this conundrum....

Having given up on that, I went back to work on the third rail beams.  I painted most of the one in front black, as seen here.  Then the one in the rear, the last of the current set of summer beams, got the bottom surface and most of the rest of it painted black also.

Here we see Fritz proudly standing in front of the Michigan Electric 28; this paint job looks superb.

Fritz also helped me by using the impact wrench to free up some bolts on the third rail scrapers, so I could clean up the fuses and reinstall them.  And they all get brand new metal clips for holding the fuses out from the wood, so it doesn't catch on fire when a fuse opens, I suppose.  This beam should be ready for installation once the paint dries.

Tim is always hard at work; here he's cleaning up some more wood for the 268.

This is something I didn't know before.  Since the 268 is a trailer, it doesn't have ordinary electrical cabinets like most cars.  So the door controls are located in a small compartment right at floor level next to the sliding door.  You have to get down on your hands and knees to turn things on or off.

Finally, the B&G department was very busy today.  Contractors are replacing the south wall of Barn 7.  Dave points out that the barn is now more than 40 years old (inconceivable!) so this is scheduled maintenance.  Barn 8 will be done next year.

And then Dave and Carl were working on installing the magic bridge for the trolley wire over track 41, so that when the rolling door is open cars can pass through without a problem.

I hope it works!

Simms Collection -- Northern Indiana Railway

The Northern Indiana collection consists of smaller prints than usual for some reason, but I think most of these images turned out pretty well.  Almost all of them have good info on the back, which I've copied verbatim.  (Updates from Art Peterson in italics)

 

George Krambles photo
South Bend    8/7/32

NI 300 series at Elkhart, Ind.
City Birney (600 series) behind

George Krambles photo
Michigan City    9/6/33

5-30-40
Southbend Ind.
Notre Dame Ave.

5-30-40

5-30-40
Southbend Ind.
Notre Dame Ave.

5-30-40
old grand trunk bridge at Southbend

#221 at South Bend
Aug 25, 38
Orange & cream
Richard H. Young

#805 at Mishawaka
Aug 12, 38
Orange & cream
Richard H. Young

#601 at South Bend
Nov 7, 37
Orange & cream
Richard H. Young

Northern Indian Ry. #352?
On Ship St.   St. Joe, Mich. -- 2 St. Joe
Benton Harbor Birneys   #6th So St. Joe  

Finally, I think this is hilarious.  Just like Nick's Used Car Lot!   Low miles on this beauty....

By the way, if you can't read it, the message painted on many of the South Bend city cars is as follows:

  WARNING

THE LAW PROHIBITS

 AUTOMOBILES

PASSING THE REAR

OF THIS CAR WHILE

STOPPED OR STOPPING

I would think that by the time a driver has read this message, it's probably too late!

Monorail Preservation

I just happened to be passing through downtown Seattle, and since I rode the famous monorail once about sixty years ago, it seemed like a good opportunity to visit it again...

The monorail is an idea whose time has come and gone, I would say.  But it's still a rail-way, although one that would be particularly difficult to preserve in operation.  Downtown Seattle has the only original Alweg system, still running in daily service.  

Incidentally, I hadn't realized that "ALWEG" is actually the Swedish inventor's initials.  I would have guessed it was a German abbreviation -- Anhangs-Linie-Weg or some such thing.

The system consists of two parallel tracks about a mile long, each with one four-car articulated train.  There are no switches or anything; each train runs back and forth on its own track.  The track is just a large concrete beam.  Power is collected from two third rails, so to speak.

Maintenance must be a real headache.

One end of the line is at the famous Space Needle.

Anyway, let's go for a ride!

 

Well, that was fun.  Just be glad we'll never have to maintain something like this!

Help Wanted

It may be hard to believe, but this Sunday is the day before Memorial Day.  Frank and I will be running the CA&E wood cars, 309 and 319, and we could use a trainman.  You do not need to be rules-qualified.  Let us know if you can, and show up on Sunday.  You'll be glad you did!

Wednesday Work

I'm back from a vacation in Alaska, which is why there hasn't been much weekday news.  But I do have some pictures from today.  

Mostly I was working on the same old story -- the third rail beams.  Bored yet?  I removed another shoe assembly from one of the Brookins beams, cleaned it up, installed it, and gave it some primer.

This is the last of the current set of summer beams.

Meanwhile, Buzz was making a new window frame for the Milwaukee Road caboose.

And people were working on the 28, but I didn't get any pictures.   Sorry.

Tim was working on the window sills for the sections that have the door engine inside.  It's rather complicated; the door engine is controlled by a set of links and levers for operation by a conductor standing at the end of the train.  

And the next beam got a partial coat of black.

Sunday Synopsis and Saturday Switching Supplement

Frank writes...

I'm afraid I didn't get too many pictures on Sunday, but fortunately there was more photogenic action on Saturday and others stepped in to fill the gap. But we'll start with Sunday.

I spent a good part of the afternoon, helped by Steven, Greg, and Joel, trying to take apart the 36's truck.

Randy adds:  The 78" wheelbase trucks under the 308, 309, and the other earlier wood cars were built by Pullman to a CA&E design based on Dorner MCB.  They ordered 50 pairs, which was not quite enough to re-equip all of the cars, including the work equipment.  And there were always a few trucks in the shop being overhauled.  So the 36 wound up with a pair of older trucks.  Cars numbered 311 and above had 84" wheelbase trucks, and that's a different subject.

I didn't get any photos, but I also spent some time getting the newly rebuilt train door in the 460 to fit better.

The bigger news was that on Friday, two 'L' cars and two buses arrived from the CTA. Above, 2871-2872 are spotted in Yard 8 while work gets underway to reconnect them. These two were built by Budd in 1984.

The earlier photo was taken during a lull in the action, but for most of the day, volunteers were swarming over the cars reattaching various things. Above are Nick, Greg, Will, Richard, and JD, and I think maybe Lou is under the cars.

And finally, I happened to stop in the new build-out of the museum office.

And now, let's go back in time to Saturday, when the latest in the many rounds of switching related to the opening of Barn 15 took place. First, a bunch of photos from Bill Wulfert. We'll start with a photo not of the switch move, but of something more exciting and unique!

Our indefatigable Track Department volunteers have been replacing ties on the east track of 50th Avenue 'L' station. And you may notice something about those ties - every few ties, one is sticking out a bit further than the others. Sure enough, the longtime scheme to install a section of (dummy) third rail along the east track of the 'L' station is coming to fruition. This will really be neat! Stay tuned...

And now, on with the switch moves!

The aim of Saturday's moves was to shuffle track 114 and refill it with more railroad cars and fewer streetcars. And what car was closest to the door on 114? Why, our old friend, the 321. Here, it's been brought back up north and temporarily spotted in Yard 6.

Bill caught a photo of the day's service train leaving the barn. The 321 and 431 were two of the three CA&E cars that IRM acquired directly from the railroad back in 1962.

And here we have the last wood car built for the CA&E, the 321, next to the last steel car built for the CA&E, the 460.

One of the 321's fellow denizens of track 114 in recent years has been North Shore combine 253.

All below photos were taken by Steven, except where noted, though I cannot promise that these are in the right order.

Chicago Surface Lines (well, currently lettered CTA) 460 is our "other" Big Pullman streetcar.

With careful attentiveness, the switch crew was able to avoid any derailments.

Another CSL car recently on track 114 was 2846, the "Interstate." Both of these CSL cars were moved over to Barn 13.

This photo is from Joel and shows the 2846 heading to its new home. Unlike the 2843, this car did not come to IRM (or ERHS, for that matter) with its trucks. It's currently on a pair of Hedleys from a wooden 'L' car, I believe.

Another car moved from 114 to Barn 13 was Knoxville 419, our single-truck curve-side car.

The portable substation, Milwaukee Electric 12, made the trek from Barn 13 to Barn 11.

And what switch move wouldn't be complete without spam cans somewhere in the mix. Here we have CTA 6462 with 6461 behind it.

And now that we've emptied track 114, it's time to reload it!

Joel snapped the above photo of the car that was deposited deep at the west end of the track. This is Chicago & Western Indiana 1185, a wooden ballast car.

Here's another exceedingly historic car. Union Pacific 100000 is the only extant McKeen boxcar, and dating to 1910, it's also the oldest all-steel boxcar in existence.

So there you go. Miss a weekend at IRM and you miss a lot.