Moving the Pieces Around

Frank writes…

There was plenty of activity over the weekend, including substantial progress in some highly visible areas.

When I arrived, the results of some switch moves that the crew had accomplished on Saturday were plainly evident. Most notably, Barn 6 is no longer entirely an electric barn. One goal of the reshuffling of equipment caused by the construction of Barn 15 was to put more diesels on display, rather than just keeping them all in storage in the south barns, and this is part of that effort. The front of Barn 6 is now an impressively varied lineup: North Shore caboose 1003, Milwaukee Road HH660 1603, Toledo-Detroit 4-4-0 16, and the "Talisman."

And over in Barn 4, the 65 has been brought in to have one truck removed so that major truck work can be performed. This is a significant step forward on the museum's "mother car." The 451 has been moved out to Barn 8 for the duration, but don't worry, work on it will continue, and it will be back to Barn 4 when the time is right.

WEPCO L4, one of our Wisconsin steeplecabs, suffered a motor armature bearing failure a couple of years ago. The Saturday switch moves finally provided a good opportunity to pull the motor, so here it is, ready to send out for repair work. We'll come back to switch moves later, but first, let's get some work done.

A huge thank you goes out to Zach and Aaron, who installed the second bracket on the 453. I didn't realize until I was writing this that I took a photo of the wrong side - this is the one we installed a week ago - but take my word for it that both are now on the car. This means we can install the pilot at this end of the 453, so that's a big step forward.

After that, Aaron and I retrieved the last two newly built third rail beams for the 451 from their spot along the wall in Barn 4, hauled them over to the car's new location in Barn 8, and bolted them on.

This means that all of the third rail beams that have been built are now mounted on their cars. The work isn't done; we still need to do some machining on a few of these, and a bunch of them need "washer plates," cable/fuse hardware, or both added. But we'll make progress on all that as time permits.

You a have to zoom in, but the big arc across this photo is the rope guard for the #1 end of the 451. This was straightened by Richard a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to wire-wheeling, priming, and painting it. I also put away some more 451 parts that we're storing until interior repainting work is done.

In between all this, the other shop guys were doing more switch moves. Ever since it was built, the eastern extension of Barn 4 was intended to contain one berth assigned jointly to the Freight Car Department and the Track Department, both of which lack their own dedicated shops. This berth was in use for the last year and a half by GB&W 109, but with that car now in Barn 3, the prophecy could be fulfilled. Above, Pennsy X23 tool car 499320 has been the subject of a multi-year restoration project headed up by Victor Humphreys. Here it is being switched over to Barn 4 by Lee and the diesel guys.

Here's the center-east berth in Barn 4 with its medium-term occupants. The tool car is mostly done on the exterior, but interior work is still in progress. After this car is done, a different wooden freight car will come in for work. And on the left is a tamper that the Track Department guys will work on bringing back to life. Bob, Joel, and Aaron are visible.

It wasn't just steel-wheel equipment on the move. The bus guys were busily moving buses and trolley buses around all weekend. I believe the summary is that this work involves largely emptying out the Andersen and Hoffman garages to gain access to the spare parts stored in the back; moving those parts to the new pallet racks in the Bourne garage; and then reloading buses into the garages in their long-term arrangements. If I got this wrong, hopefully one of the bus guys can chime in to correct me. Above is a rare view of the nearly-empty Andersen garage.

And finally, the great wall of china may be located over in Yard 5, but the great wall of porcelain is going up on Main Street in between the Multi-Purpose Building and the C&NW Archive building. The cinder-block structure shown here, which was built a couple of weeks ago to a plan developed by Dave and the B&G Department, will exhibit the White Castle porcelain-panel building front that was acquired from Whiting, Indiana, back in 2023.

This won't be a complete building, just a façade, but I believe the intention is to put some outdoor displays behind the façade, creating additional exhibit space along Main Street while preserving the appearance of the streetscape.

Hicksco Collection Update

As time goes by, many of the histories we've written can get out of date in regards to the current status of preserved items.  That's particularly true of the original Hicks Locomotive and Car Works.  I am updating the status of the preserved cars, especially the passenger cars, and if anyone has better information or contacts, please let us know.

CA&E 309 at Illinois Railway Museum -- This car, of course, is stored inside, operated regularly, and carefully maintained.  No secret there.

LS&I 63 at National Railroad Museum in Green Bay -- From the website, this car appears to be stored inside and still in fairly good condition, though it could use repainting.  

LS&I 64 at Mid-Continent -- Stored inside, being thoroughly restored as time permits.  I keep in contact with the project manager.  Well documented on the museum website.

Virginia & Truckee 20 at Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City -- stored inside and sometimes on display.

Yosemite Valley 330 at Niles Canyon -- The car has been used for service occasionally, and interior restoration is ongoing.  Kept under cover in an RV type shelter.

As for the baggage cars:

GBW 20 at Marion, Wisc. is in the care of the local historical society.  Their newsletter mentions that "The Mail Car received a much-needed repainting and a little repair." so it's being maintained.  It also appears to have been lettered "Burlington" but who am I to complain?

GBW 21 at NRM in Green Bay -- on display.

KGBW 76 -- privately owned near Baraboo.  The last time I drove by it, it looked about the same as ever.

KGBW 77 at Mid-Continent  -- no change.

The Nevada Copper Belt boxcars have been moved to Goldfield, but I don't know exactly where.  Any information would be welcome.

Tuesday Report

Currently, my main project is fixing some of the problems with the walkover seats in the 309.  Over the years, the seats in the 309 have given me more trouble than all the other cars combined.  And this is a good time to make some repairs.

There are several that cannot be walked over, because the seat back brackets come out of the track in the castings attached to the wall, as seen here.  Some of these seats have been red-tagged, others haven't.

This seat wasn't tagged, but the frame is pulling out of the wall.   That's not good!  I removed the back and the frame, and set them aside.

I drilled out the holes in the wood, and inserted dowel plugs and epoxied them in place.  Next time, when the glue has dried, I should be able to drill new holes and re-attach the frame.  The pedestal also needs work.

And I wasn't alone in Barn 8.  Steve Smunt continues working on the 277.  I wasn't able to get good pictures of what he was doing without interrupting him, but I hope he'll send me some that he took.

Meanwhile, among other things, Tim continues restoring the 1268.  The floor looks fantastic.

And with the new (temporary) arrangement of cars, we have an interesting comparison between a standard heavyweight interurban car and a later lightweight.  

Finally...

Friends, are you troubled by anxiety and despair?  Struggling with fits of anger and frustration?  Don't know where to turn?  We have the answer -- join IRM!!!  Our trained professionals can provide therapy sessions that are tailored to your particular emotional needs.

Here, for instance, a man we'll call "Steve" is pounding on the frame of a streetcar with a heavy sledge hammer, trying to straighten it out.  You can sense the anxiety and worry just melting away.

(The therapy session actually went on much longer, but you get the idea.)

In reality, of course, this is Steve Iversen working on the Kansas City PCC, which still needs major structural repairs.  And he drives up from Oklahoma to work on it.  That's dedication!   

Changes to the Neighborhood

Frank writes…

Sunday was the last day of steam operation at IRM for the year; there was also a “horn blow” over in Electric Park, with various people over there tooting their own horns thanks to the hardworking air compressors in ComEd 4. I’m not sure whether that was really a public event, as I hadn’t read anything about it in advance. But closer to home, right in the Barn 4 Electric Car Shop, a major reshuffling has been afoot.

Above, we're at the southeast corner of Barn 4, in the new addition, looking west-northwest. On Saturday, the guys moved Michigan Electric 28 (visible at left) and Cleveland 4223, which is behind it, one spot further east. Both cars will end up one more berth to the east - the 28's long-term home will be where the photographer is standing - but, as you can tell, more stuff needs to be moved out of the way first. But don't get used to this view, because it's about to change.

About an hour later, we're over at the northeast corner of the building looking at the 28, the 306, and CA&E 460, which is on the pit for its annual inspection. But something's missing...

You guessed it - Green Bay & Western 109, the occupant of the east berth on track 42 since May of last year, has moved on. It was switched over to its new home in Barn 3, where it will serve as a display piece and as classroom space. It does look pretty snazzy out in the sunlight. Many thanks to the folks on the switch crew who made this happen! Everyone is glad to see the car moved to public display where it can be enjoyed by our visitors. Stay tuned for news on what will take the 109's place.

One of my projects for the day was working on the two brackets for the 453 we received from ECTM, as noted last week. Here they are.

And here's the first bracket installed on the car. It's the vertical angle-iron piece running top-to-bottom down the middle of the step well; you can probably see the nice new hardware holding it in place at the top. Unfortunately, we ran out of the correct type of bolts, so we'll need to install the second bracket next time. A huge THANK YOU goes out to Mikey, Jimmy, and Drew, who were indispensable in this installation project.

On the other side of the car, here's an action shot of Mikey using a hand sledge to drive the remnants of the old bolts out of the holes. Those bolts had been torched off and had then rusted in place, so driving them out was quite a chore. Jimmy (who also took turns at the sledge) holds the light while Drew looks on.

Another task I had was cleaning up around the 451. The car will be moved over to Barn 8 for a little while to allow a high-priority project into Barn 4 (again, don't touch that dial - all will be revealed in time). Many, many thanks to Richard, who helped me load baggage racks from the car onto shelving in the "lean-three." And thanks to Zach and Drew, who helped me install two of the four newly built third rail beams for the car. Above is the first...

...and here's the second. Whew! The motorized pallet jack that my father picked up a few years ago was extremely helpful with this job. The last two beams will wait for next time.

And finally, I went over to the 18 after dinner and took down the signal bell cord. That allowed me to remove two of the leather straps that need replacing - one was essentially hanging by a thread and the other had parted entirely, and was held together by tape. You can see one of the straps that's still in good shape at the top left of this photo, for what it's worth.

Appalachian Narrow Gauge

During a recent trip out east to visit children and grandchildren and so on, we were able to spend a night in Rockhill, Pa.  And due to clean living and fantastic luck, the EBT was running a nighttime charter special.  Now I'm certainly no O. Winston Link, and I didn't have the time or resources to set anything up, so what you see is what you get.  But being able to watch this at night, and listening to the sounds echoing in the dark off the hills, was an unforgettable experience. 

Farther south, along the Blue Ridge Parkway there's a short stretch of narrow gauge logging road that was rebuilt many years ago.  There's no rolling stock, but it's interesting to explore.

That's All, Folks

Frank writes...

I had to make a quick trip out of town this weekend, but the 309 and 319 were in service both days, and by all accounts things went flawlessly.

Thanks to Fred, our Saturday motorman, and Zach, our Sunday motorman, who took the above photo of the 309 and 319 headed back to the barn at the end of the day. The conductor in the doorway is Andy O. (no, not that Andy O., a different Andy O.). These were the last scheduled operating days of 2026 for the CA&E wood cars, so until 2027, we'll see you in Barn 8!

In other exciting news, when our latest bus arrived last week from Pennsylvania, it was accompanied on the flatbed truck by some CA&E parts. As shown above, in a photo Richard sent, the folks at the Electric City Trolley Museum sent us a pair of stepwell brackets from the 453 that turned up there. The truck hauling our Covington bus happened to be a handy conveyance, so here they are. Many thanks to Mike, Ron, and everyone at ECTM who located, identified, and shipped these!

Showcase Showers

Frank writes...

Dire weather forecasts called for rain all day Saturday with up to 2" of rainfall, which would have washed out Showcase Weekend. As it turned out, though, things weren't nearly as bad as predicted.

When I arrived at about 10:30am, the light rain had just stopped. I had planned not to start running the 18 until 12:30 or so, but with the rain holding off, Zach switched the 4391 out of the way and the decision was made to take the 18 out. We got out onto the car line at about 11am.

My conductor for the "day shift" was Chris Buck. We ran right up until dinnertime with the Matchbox and - for a time - the 144 also running on the car line. As is often the case on Showcase Weekend, there were some rarely seen trains on the main line, though I failed to get any photos of them. The heavyweight train was running, with BNSF 9400 on the head end and a terrific-looking consist that included the Inglehome, Villa Real, Galt House, and a few other cars. The Zephyr was also out for its only full operating day of the season, and the caboose train sported Milwaukee Road X5001 on the tail end in the IRM regular operations debut of that "office caboose." The 309 and 319 were scheduled, but due to the rain, they were replaced by the 431 and 460.

And here's a crew photo - thanks to Steven for taking this! The rain started back up in the early afternoon, but it was only drizzle or light rain, and we discovered to our satisfaction that the roof on the 18 doesn't seem to leak - at least not with this quantity of rain. We also carried a charter group from the Northern Ohio Railway Museum, which owns the other car of this series that's currently in museum operation, Shaker Heights 12. 

The rain stopped again in time for the BBQ dinner at 5:00. Above, the assembled congregation at the pavilion is entertained by an odd switch move including the Shay flanked by its coach-caboose consist on one side and the ex-C&NW Ohio crane on the other.

There were a lot of puddles all over the property, but really no flooding per se. The track just south of the Barn 9 North stop, though, had water nearly up to the top of the rail head. Fans claimed that the flanges of the cars were creating wakes. Above, after dinner it was time to light the lights. The 1374 was taken back to Barn 7 and the 3142 came out to join the 18 for the evening shift. Steven Jam was my conductor after dinner.

There had been trolley bus operation during the day and after dinner one of our newly acquired CTA buses came out and started making trips around the property. Richard, Steven, and the other bus guys have been reapplying the correct red and blue decals to this bus, which arrived in plain white paint.

Here's the 18 all lit up at Depot Street. Note to self: try and get the destination sign light circuit working. The car stayed in operation until sometime after 10:00; many thanks to Zach, Mikey, and Steven for keeping the car in service and ensuring it was put safely back in Barn 7 after I signed out! Thanks also to Harold and Andrew, the daytime and evening dispatchers respectively.

Here's the 460 at 50th Avenue; by this time, light rain had restarted. These cars really look terrific at the lit-up 'L' station. Greg pointed out how evocative this is of the image of the 460 at Wells Street on the back cover of the Shore Line bulletin "Cooperation Moves the Public."

And at the end of the night, "night bus" service was provided by the London Routemaster. As always, a great time was had by all.