Sunday Report

Frank writes…

My focus in Sunday was doing more needle-chipping in the 451. I know, this is getting pretty repetitive, but the good news is that the end of the needle-chipping is in sight.

I completed most of the #2 end bulkhead, as shown above, as well as about half the remaining window posts in the main compartment. Once I do the remaining posts, the only areas left to chip will be the top bulkhead panel (after I trace the car number) and a few sections of advertising card rack. I may leave those rack sections in place, though; even if we overcoat them, it preserves some of the original paint. I'm thinking it over.

During one of my breaks, I happened upon Richard, who was testing out the newer of the two Janesville buses in advance of Bus Day next month. He gave me a lift over to the new Bourne Transit Building at the south end of the property to see the progress there. The most exciting thing to me, I'll have to admit, was our old friend, air compressor wagon AX545. Dan has removed the wheels, and he and some of the other shop guys have started removing the fragments of old solid-rubber tire and cleaning up the cast wheels. These will be shipped to our good friend Paul, on the west coast, who knows of a company there that can put authentic replacement tires on the wheels.

Remember, this work is possible thanks to the generous support of readers like you who donated to the AX545 project! Interested in supporting more of these random one-off projects? Click here for our current get-rich quick scheme fundraising effort.

Of more general interest, Richard had just finished putting up quite a bit of pallet racking. The Bourne Building is capable of holding buses five lanes wide if you park them closely (and we do), but the back half will hold four lanes plus quite a bit of parts storage.

The building isn't full yet, but Richard and his crew are working hard at shifting buses around and loading them in. This unusual lineup features the aforementioned Janesville "no fuss bus" flanked by a CSL White, the older of the Janesville buses, and the Indianapolis trolley bus.

After dinner, I finally installed replacement flag brackets on the open car. It arrived in 2009 with makeshift flag brackets that Trolleyville had fashioned by taking pieces of conduit and beating them flat at one end. Besides looking stupid, these weren't large enough to hold a normal flag "stick." So, here are some legitimate brackets, displaying flags honoring both countries the car has called home. Notes for motormen: first, the flags are in the same location as the handles in a clearly labeled bag, so feel free to use them if you like; and second, per flag code, it does matter which goes on which side! The flags are marked L and R.

Simms Collection -- More Kodacolor

We just have a few more of these yellowed Kodacolor prints to look at, I promise.  The first few are interesting because they show a fantrip with Crandic 120 -- which, as everyone should know by now, was actually our first car, IRR 65, in disguise.

And then, some CA&E trains crossing the B&OCT at Forest Park.

Two wood cars, headed by #30, I think.

Earlier steel cars, headed by 417.

And finally, four St. Louis cars. headed by 456.

Wednesday Work Wrapup

Wednesday was another busy day for the Car Dept.  Over in Barn 8, Steve Smunt was working again on the rear vestibule of the 277.  Unfortunately, none of my pictures were worth posting, but he's making good progress.  Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

In Barn 4, one of the major projects is the Michigan Electric 28.  The front compartment has been mostly restored, and work is now concentrating on the smoker.

Several people are working on this, under the direction of Norm Krentel.

I put a first coat of black on the last two third-rail beams.

Tim continues recovering the bench seats with rattan.

Meanwhile, the 460 was holding down passenger service:

Finally, we have another "WHAT IS IT?" quiz.  This was found among the collection of old ME 28 interior parts.  It's about 4" wide.  None of us could say for sure what it might be.

Answers will be judged by our panel of experts, all of whom have 50+ years in this business.

Good luck!

Simms Collection -- Yet More CSL

More Chicago Surface Lines photos from Al Simms.

As before, reader comments are in italics.

#1       Argo, Mar. 1934
C&J and CSL 5508
Karl Pearson

      #2         5-26-40
South Chicago & Keefe

#3
25th and Laramie

#4         Halsted & Congress
1940

#5       State & Randolph

The next group need to be viewed through rose-colored glasses, or something.  They are all Kodacolor prints, with processing dates in 1949 and 1950.  None of them have any notes.  I don't have the tools or the talent to fix the color, unlike at least one of my competitors, so WYSIWYG. 

#6

#7
Looking across the Wabash bridge towards the Wrigley Building

#8
4323 W. North Ave.

#9

#9

#10

#11

This last one is not CSL, of course; it's a couple of Met cars at the Forest Park diamonds:

#12

Simms Collection -- CRT

 CRT photos from Al Simms.  As before, many have little information.  But thanks to my vast knowledge of the CA&E, I can place most of them.

#1      6-11-40
4116 & 4089

(westbound approaching Canal on the Met - RH)

#2           5-30-40
Randolph & Wabash

#3           6-11-40
2717,2514,2846
(also west at Canal - RH)

#4
(Met cars at Gunderson - RH)

#5
(also at Gunderson - RH)

#6

(Do you have steering wheel jitters?   Who doesn't??)

Days of the Diesel

Frank writes…

As always, the big news this second weekend of August was Diesel Days, when incessant rumbling and acrid smoke fill the air in East Union.

The major highlight, I suppose, was the unveiling of the newly repainted Ingersoll-Rand 91, our 100-year-old boxcab diesel. Jamie and the Diesel Department guys outdid themselves again, putting this thing back into gleaming bicentennial colors for the 250th. IR 91 was new for the 150th, painted like this for the 200th, and repainted like this for the 250th. With luck, it will be running again long before the tercentennial!

For fans of things less than 100 years old - and these fans are rumored to exist, though I have my doubts - another highlight was operation of our recently acquired SD70MAC, shown here during its stint as a Take the Throttle engine.

Late in the afternoon, Metra dropped off our Illinois Central MU cars, now safely back at home after an eventful trip to home rails in Chicago that, by all accounts, went extremely well. Metra's "250th" locomotive was one of the two engines doing the hauling, and it was brought over to the property for a quick photo shoot with the 91, as shown above. Better photos can be found in various places online.

I spent a while needle-chipping in the 451, but failed to get a progress photo. Oops. I did take about an hour off to show a friend from college around, and then after service ended, I helped Zach, Joel, Jimmy, Steven, Nick, and Greg with some switch moves to get the IC MU cars back into their usual spot in Barn 6. Above, ComEd 4 and CCW 300 wait for a block of diesels to clear the streetcar line.

The MU cars were brought in by the Army diesel as the light started to fail; ComEd 4 was the planned motive power, but its governor was being balky, so the 8537 was called in.

Simms Collection -- More CSL

Back to the Simms Collection -- we have lots more CSL and CRT to publish!  

Unfortunately, most of these have little or no information on the backs.  I've added numbers in case anyone wants to comment.  Feel free!   Reader comments have been added in italics.

#1
State and Lake. The Chicago Theater marquis is visible.

#2
The former C&NW station at Madison and Canal. That’s the pedestrian bridge going to the Civic Opera House.

#3
The C&NW station looking east.

#4
Canal and Lake looking west. You can see the Canal street signs clearly. And the water tower in the distance says 560 W Lake.

#5

#6

#7

#8
This must be 111th just west of the Rock Island, judging from the grade!

#9      9-20-47
 111th and Sacramento, the end of the Halsted Street line.

#10      CSL Mar 1937

#11      CSL mail car

#12

#13     S201    75th&State  1942
The traffic signal and "Chicago municipal device" street light in the background both look like ones found today at IRM!

#14       9-20-47
111th and Sacramento, the end of the Halsted Street line.

#15
Roscoe Loop off Western Ave. Lane Tech High School in the background.