Chilly Sunday

Frank writes...

Sunday was quite a bit colder than Saturday, with temperatures in the high single digits (that's around -14 C for our metrically minded readers), but there was a sizeable crew out and a lot got done.

Once we got the heat and lights turned on mid-afternoon following completion of heat system work (see below), I was able to make progress on seats. Above we have the two seats that were completed. The one in the right foreground had its back installed last week, but there was a sheared-off bolt in the frame that was preventing it from rotating correctly. The seat behind it was completely redone today and went more quickly than the others have gone; hopefully it's a harbinger of things to come!

Here's a view taken before that first photo showing work in progress on the seat. Most visible parts of the seat frame - the plated tubing, armrests, cushions, and back - are the "movable" part of the frame. This is connected to the stationary part of the frame, the part bolted to the floor and wall, with just two vertical bolts through the middle, which go into a rotating mechanism. One of the bolts had sheared off, so I had to extract it, find and cut down a replacement, and reinstall everything. Thanks to Richard for his help with this. 

We're now up to six seats done and 21 to go, though two of the ones that have been done still need the final machine screw driven in (some of the originals are pretty goofed up; replacements screws are due any day).

For those following along at home, other than the bulkhead seats, which will be a bit more of a challenge because the frame needs to be unbolted from the car to remove the seat back, we've got all but one of the seats on the R side (top, in this image) of the main compartment done.

Besides seat mechanism repair and seat back replacement, the 460 Improvement Society was hard at work on getting the car's heat working better. Jimmy, shown above, was helped by Greg, Richard, and Good Nick in working to repair the heat in the 460's smoker. The main compartment heat (which is on a separate circuit) worked fine, but it turned out that the coil that closes the contactor for the smoker heat had failed. Jimmy removed the working contactor from the 453 and used that to replace the one in the 460, though he also needed to swap resistors. We're going to try to replace the resistor and send the coil out to get repaired, so when attention inevitably turns to the 453, the smoker heat contactor should be working quite nicely!

In other news, Norm, Zach and others were working on inspecting motors on the Electroliner. One thing they wanted to do was cut down the brushes, which had been cut far too long when the motors were rebuilt. This is not ideal. Above is part of the pile of brush cutoffs created by this operation; remember, there are eight traction motors on that thing! Other than this minor issue, and the need to replace a wire inside the #2 motor, no significant issues were found.

When I arrived, I found that Nathan had been hard at work getting the HVAC in the new lean-to extension working and had succeeded in that quest. As such, the sliding door that used to open out onto the parking lot has now been removed so that the new extension is open to the old shop.

Nathan himself was hard at work installing acoustic tile in the room at the east end of the lean-to extension. By the end of the day, that entire upper wall had acoustic panels screwed into place over the sheet metal.

In other news, Ashton was working on stripping paint in the cab of ComEd 4 in preparation for an interior paint job; the 'Liner crew was working on the interior restoration project; and, at the end of the day, Zach, Mikey, and others switched the Electroliner back over to Barn 7 and put ComEd 4, which had also been on the inspection pit track, back in its usual spot in Barn 6.

News From the Pit

The Electroliner has been moved over to the pit track in Barn 4 for electrical work.  Now that the barn is longer than before, the Liner can be moved back and forth over the pit and still be under cover.  Norm and Zach were working on checking out the traction motors.  They still need some maintenance and repairs.

And here are a couple of views of the underbody equipment.

I spent some time adjusting the new locking mechanism for the 460.  This will be much more convenient for operating crews than having to climb up to a train door to unlock the chain.

Bill was cleaning up L roll signs, and also a card table from the CA&E.  This may go into the 460.

Then I went out to look for a shop truck that we'll need in order to pull out the trailer truck from the 36 that has broken springs.  This one looks like it ought to work.  Now I just need somebody to help me lift that pantograph.

And of course, several other projects were being worked on.  I can't be everywhere at once.

Thursday Report

For various reasons it's been a while since I was able to get out to the Museum to work, but I had a few things that needed to be done.  Anyway, Thursday was a good day to catch up.  I have a few things I want to get done this spring before operations start.

My first priority will be to install the new 309 motor bearings.  And I still needed to make the little grooves that allow oil to seep from the axle surfaces to the base that butts up against the wheel.  As seen here, there are three grooves on each half.  I'm not sure these really do much good, but the originals have them and it certainly can't hurt.

The next project will be to pull out the trailer truck from under the 36 to replace the broken leaf springs, and put a shop truck under the car.  To do this, we need to remove the kingpins, which can only be done by pushing up while it's over the pit.  But first, I wanted to carefully remove the floor plates over the kingpins.

As you can see, the head of the pin is far below the floor surface

And it's nice to have the lights on again in the 36.  Two spades.  

The next project will be to develop a convenient system for locking up the 450-series cars, without modifying the cars in any way.  Something similar to what we use on the 319 should work.  I took measurements and will be making a test version at home.  Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the weekday guys have been hard at work as always.  Tim is rebuilding the interior of the 1268 to its original varnished splendor.

Several modifications were made to the interior during service, so it's not easy.

But once he's finished, it will look as good as new.

John and Phil continue on the interior of the 306.  The walkover seat frames are being completely refurbished.

This mechanism, with its three parallel levers for positioning the back, is more complicated than the type I'm used to on the Chicago cars.  But it works.

And then there are parts being painted for other projects: a ladder for the Pennsy tool car:

And steps for Michigan Electric 28:

New Year, New Seats

Frank writes...

Due to the holidays and various other obligations, Sunday was my first day volunteering out at IRM in nearly a month. Fortunately, together with the other shop volunteers, we were able to make some real progress.

Above is a photo of the big news: we got three more seat backs installed in the 460! Greg and Good Nick were instrumental in making this happen, and a huge thank you to Richard as well for making a couple of tapered 1/4-20 bolts to use in starting/centering the oval-head cap screws. Getting these seat backs installed is a real chore, especially with the antimacassars. When we get the seats done for the 451 and install those, it should be somewhat easier, because that car won't get its antimacassars back since it's being backdated.

Nick snapped the above photo of me fighting with an antimacassar while Greg takes a breather in the background.

After we wrapped up work on that, I installed a new lock on New Jersey Transit 4, our ex-Minneapolis PCC. Above is the old method of securing the doors: a pair of 2x4s, one inside and one outside, bolted tightly together. This keeps the car secure from random passersby, but there are two problems with this system. First, the only people who can get into the car are people with a wrench to unbolt the 2x4; and second, anyone with a wrench can get into the car.

Above, a pair of wide boards and a wide U-bolt with a padlock will keep the car much more secure.

So that's what I was up to; what else was happening around the property?

Above, there was a switch move in Barn 4 to clear the inspection pit for incoming equipment. CRT trailer 1268 needed to be moved further west on track 42; we moved it partway by muscle, but once it was under wire, motor car 1808 moved into the center section of the barn as shown here to drag it the rest of the way. Afterward, Fox River Electric 306 was moved from track 43 over to 42. You'll note the framework around the 1808: this will support large curtains that will partition the western third of the building off from the eastern two-thirds. Ironically, this is exactly where the original east wall of Barn 4 was when the first section of the building was constructed back around 1971 or so.

Greg and Jimmy helped me carry some old seats removed from the 460 over to the 451 and return with reupholstered seats. While we were over in Barn 8, we encountered this unusual site: huge sonotubes that will be used to pour the concrete footings for Barn 15. They're just being stored in Barn 8 for the moment to keep them dry and out of the weather. The contractor was on-site earlier in the week drilling holes for these sonotubes. Construction on Barn 15 has officially begun!

Back over in the Barn 4 "lean-three," Zach and Ashton were working on fixing up the end of North Shore 250.

They found some graffiti dating back to the mid-1930s on the inside of the end sheet, where nobody has seen it for some 90 years. Perhaps Svede and Finn were probably nicknames of workmen deriving from their countries of origin?

Nathan was working hard on installing ductwork in the shop lean-to extension. This room will be used as a storeroom, but before the pallet racking (already on hand) can be set up, the HVAC needs to go in. Others not previously mentioned who were working on various projects included Joel, Brian (who among other things ran the Army 45-tonner to move the 306), Richard, Tim, and Mikey.

The 1982 Auction

I found the flyer.  It's one folded sheet, 17" x 22".  You probably won't see anything quite like this again.

And I should point out that Public Service #7, our first steam locomotive, was not in fact sold and has been cosmetically restored.  On the other hand, the Red Arrow center-entrance car 68 was scrapped many years ago.  And I always liked the note that IRM "remains a viable organization" and wasn't actually going out of business.

Let the Bidding Commence

You'll be glad to know that for a limited time, you too have the opportunity to own a piece of IRM history! Or, at the very least, a piece of something that came from IRM. IRM is having an auction! Click that link, bid early, and bid often. There isn't quite as much rolling stock for sale as in the infamous 1982 auction (if we ask nicely, maybe my father can dig out his flyer from that event and scan it in), but the museum is selling one car from the collection, the ex-C&NW 4-8-4 tender-converted-to-water-car shown above. There are also other such prize items as railroad lanterns, historic light fixtures, a cheese box, toolboxes, tools, fasteners, spikes, cookware, telephones, artwork, a fare register, a window air conditioner, a truck, and a gavel. It's everything you could ever possibly need to run a railroad museum.

Don't delay - the auction only runs until Friday the 17th. Tell your friends, repost the link, etc.!

Auction link

Michigan Railway -- Book Review

Long-time IRM member Norm Krentel has been working for many years on a definitive treatment of his favorite subject, the interurbans of Michigan.  Volume I is now available.

Michigan Railway Company -- The Northern and Southern Divisions

Norman L. Krentel      c. 2024, Michigan State University Press

Michigan in the early 1900's had a large number of interurban lines, some of which were unified under one management, but gaps in the system were never filled, and for various reasons the entire interurban network was swept away relatively early.  As a result, the Michigan interurban lines are generally not as well-known as those in Indiana or Ohio, for instance, which is unfortunate.

Like many interurban networks, the lines of the Michigan Electric had diverse origins.  Some parts of the system began when a city streetcar company started building a side-of-the-road extension to a nearby town.  Other lines were built to extremely high standards, in some cases by electrifying a steam road.  And all of this took place using the typically complex and confusing financial methods of the early twentieth century.  Keeping track of all the reorganizations, renamings, and so on is not easy, but the author has done an admirable job of organizing the information.  In many cases the story of the personality conflicts and skullduggery between competing promoters can be very amusing.  And because he also happens to be an expert in all aspects of interurban technology, there are important technical details one doesn't usually get from corporate histories. 

Volume I covers the development of the Northern Division, from Jackson north to Lansing and Owosso, and the Southern Division, from Jackson west to Kalamazoo.  Grandiose plans to build a trunk line from Detroit to Chicago never came close to completion, of course, and the Northeastern Division was never connected to the rest of the system.

There are lots of excellent photographs and maps included throughout.

The book is well printed and bound, and the photographic reproduction on the whole is excellent.  The remaining two volumes are in preparation.

Disclosure: Since the author has been a friend of mine for 50 years, I may not be completely objective.  And he was nice enough to autograph my copy.  But I'm not getting a cut of the profits! :)

Highlights of 2024

It's time once again to list some of the highlights of the past year.  As always, additions and corrections are welcome!

• Completion of the Barn 4 extension and reconstruction of Yard 4 East.
• The ITS annual meeting was held at IRM and was a great success, including the first public operation of the 1702.
• The C&NW Historical Society archives building opened on Main Street.
• Special days such as Pumpkin, Thomas, Vintage Transport, and Happy Holiday Railway all went well.  With the addition of new cars and fireworks, HHR in particular was a greater success than ever!
  

• The museum received two Heritage Rail Alliance Achievement Awards, for the restoration of the 1702 and the construction of the C&NWHS building.
• Operation of both the Decapod and the Shay several times this year.
• The volunteer entrance road, Museum Drive, was paved.
• Three new passenger cars were added to the collection: two ex-C&NW bi-levels and a Milwaukee Road "buffeteria" car.
• As usual, operations proceeded smoothly and safely during the year, thanks to the vigilance of our Operating Department.
• We can't list all the restoration projects that were either completed or made significant progress this year.  Ones that come immediately to mind are: IT 1702 (completed), AE&FRE 306, and CRT 1808
• Perhaps most importantly, we have several new active volunteers.  We are certainly grateful for their help, and hope they will stay with us for a long time!

Regarding the Red Cars

Regarding the Red Cars

by Art Peterson

All photos from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

Nope, it’s not about the Pacific Electric, but about that “other” red car outfit – Northern Ohio Traction & Light (NOT&L). This time of year, I always think of that great McKinley Crowley shot of the NOT&L cars working their way up the snow-covered Tuscarawas Street in Canton (see below). Of course, there’s a lot more to the NOT&L story than just that one photo, and as you dig into the pages of the Electric Railway Journal or other periodicals, you find fascinating tidbits. To vary things from the normal chronological order, the photos following are presented in car number sequence.

NOT&L 51 – Tuscarawas Street, Canton – McKinley Crowley Photo

This photo absolutely conveys that warm, inviting feeling of the big car having drawn up to rescue you from the bitter cold day. NOT&L 51, a 1902 St. Louis product, originally built for the Canton-Akron Railway, has crossed the B&O tracks near the Canton carbarn, headed for Massillon. Today, a Ford dealer occupies most of the former carbarn site (behind the photographer). The Canton-Akron was merged into the NOT&L on October 1, 1906. Eventually the 51 would be renumbered to NOT&L 1451. The three cars in this group were among the 1928 car scrappings, as interurban traffic fell off and lines began to be abandoned.

NOT&L 82 – Northfield Cutoff – Company Photo

For the 1916 car order, NOT&L turned to Jewett to deliver the 15 members of this group (cars 80-94). These cars were a little over 5% lighter than the road’s previous steel cars, which had come from Kuhlman in 1914. The Jewetts used a steel girder-type underframe (comprising commercial sections and pressings), which was expected to give a longer service life at lower cost. In addition, the 80-series cars were delivered with four GE 240B motors, each producing 105hp, where the previous cars had come with four 75hp GE motors. This order would come late in the life of the Jewett plant – the firm was in receivership by October 1918. Over three-quarters of NOT&L’s 1916 revenue had come from the railway (interurban and city car) operations; the balance was from the power business.

This photo was posed on the Northfield cut-off, which opened in 1913. The 7.5-mile section of line extended from Chittenden (north of Cuyahoga Falls) to Fells (north of Northfield). The double-track road took 2 years to construct. No curve exceeded 1 degree and no grade was stiffer than 0.5%. Catenary towers on a 300-foot spacing were supplied by Archibald-Brady of Syracuse, NY. Why Syracuse? Archibald-Brady had supplied nearly identical towers to the Rochester Syracuse & Eastern, whose line section to the west of Syracuse was the model for the NOT&L’s improved line.

NOT&L 1024 – Market at 6th Street, SW – Canton – 1927 – McKinley Crowley Photo

The rate of sidewalk superintendence to actual workers is extremely high in McKinley’s excellent period view. Love the letter-drop in the foreground, too!

NOT&L’s Market line served the Pennsy’s Canton station at 9th Street and stopped just shy of the W&LE line near 17th Street. Spun off from NOT&L control in June 1930, the Canton local lines continued operation as the Canton Traction Company until April 18, 1931, when all car operation ended.

The 1024 had been built in NOT&L’s shops in 1900 and was equipped with Peckham trucks, GE 68 motors, and K6 control. NOT&L scrapped this car on December 12, 1929.

NOT&L 1075 – South of Bedford – McKinley Crowley Photo

NOT&L’s shop crews did a superb job of converting passenger car 1462 (Kuhlman, 1908) into handsome box motor 1075. The 1462 had been a good choice for this service, since it was built with steel plate reinforcement on the carsides. Gearing was changed to 17/60 to provide greater starting torque, such as this nine-car train would require.

NOT&L predecessor, the Akron, Bedford & Cleveland had been a member of the Electric Package Company (agency) in concert with other area interurban roads. In April 1922, NOT&L reached agreement with other area roads on a joint freight service agreement; Detroit United was later a party to this agreement. In the interest of promoting the interline connections, NOT&L equipped its box motors with MCB couplers, as the 1075 has in this view. Within 6 months of having started the joint operations, NOT&L had doubled the freight car-miles operated. Fourteen additional trailers were on order and the shops were in process of converting another two cars to freight motors.

NOT&L 1148 – Kuhlman Plant, Cleveland - 1926

The photographer’s choice of cars to document for this order was fortuitous – the 1148 was burned the next year (on August 2, 1927) at Detrick Siding. The car was scrapped on March 1, 1928. This view also shows NOT&L’s practice of painting the body their traditional red while the cars ends were painted orange.

NOT&L went “from zero to 60 in 3 seconds” on the freight service. As written in the previous caption, the interline freight agreement dated to April 1922. By 1925, NOT&L was carrying nearly 107,000 tons of freight and posted revenues of $615,000 on this traffic, its peak year. A fleet of 59 freight trailers and 24 motors were engaged in this work. The road was advertising overnight freight deliveries to Detroit and to Pittsburgh and ERJ reported on NOT&L getting 670 pounds of forgings from Alliance to Detroit in just five hours.

But, at the same time, something else was experiencing an increase in Ohio. The number of trucks registered in the state increased by 140% between 1920 and 1926. In the next five years truck registrations would rise by a further 16%.

NOT&L 1434 – October 1920 – Company Photo

Major League baseball desperately needed to demonstrate that the scandal-plagued 1919 World Series was an isolated incident. There was a lot riding on the 1920 series, which pitted the Brooklyn Robins (the team name used from 1914 to 1931) against the Cleveland Indians (Cleveland’s first trip to the World Series). The first three games were played in Brooklyn and from Saturday, October 9th, the focus shifted to Dunn Field in Cleveland.

With attendance at the Cleveland games all exceeding 25-26,000, NOT&L and other carriers were ready to carry the fans to/from the game. This nine-car train was one of the specials assembled for this purpose. Franchise restrictions in Cleveland meant that the nine-car consist would have to be split into a trio of three-car trains within the city limits.

Head car 1434 (Kuhlman, 1910) wears the distinctive Washington sash side window design, as does the second car, 1478 (Kuhlman, 1914). The third car has conventional window sash design with a letterboard above the windows.

NOT&L 1511 – AREA Cleveland Convention, October 1926 – Company Photo

Those handsome 1500s! Kuhlman’s stunning design used on the 1920 and 1921 orders for NOT&L was further enhanced by the addition of 56” wide parlor windows (with Edwards brass sash); car 1511 also received Timken roller bearings as part of this September 1926 rebuilding, done at Kenmore Shops in Akron. Limited service had first been run by NOT&L from March 1911. The success of this service contributed to NOT&L’s 11.2% increase in gross earnings for 1912, compared to the 1911 results.

However, the year 1926 was marred by labor unrest on the NOT&L. Amalgamated Association members shut down interurban and most city car service on May 2, 1926. Accounts in the Electric Railway Journal ominously noted that 58 buses were running in place of the interurban cars, departing Akron every 9 minutes throughout the day. These accounts also observed that the bus fare was 40% higher than what was charged on the cars. The strike was finally settled on May 22nd. The operating results for 1926 showed the disturbing results – gross earnings for the transportation division were off 7.4% for 1926 compared to the previous year, while the power business increased nearly 19% over that same period.

NOI 1523 – Broadway-Miles, Cleveland – October 1931

The July 5, 1930, formation of Ohio Edison required that the rail operations be divorced from the utility business. With this separation, the interurban operations were carried on by the Northern Ohio Interurban (NOI) Company, while the Akron Transportation Company ran the city car service. Both companies were under the control of the Transportation Securities Company of New York.

Car 1523 (a member of the 1921 order for Kuhlman-built interurbans) is shown during the brief period in which NOI had this responsibility – the Ohio Public Utilities Commission would grant permission for abandonment of the interurban route on February 29, 1932. The last interurban train from Cleveland was a three-car train of 1500s leaving at 1 am on April 1, 1932.

The view also shows the item which most-handicapped the interurban – the long sections of street running in Cleveland or elsewhere. Harry Christiansen, in his 1965 book, noted that the average speed of the cars on private ROW could approach 47 mph – a very respectable average. However, when the entire 1 hour, 15-minute run time for a limited on the 33.78-mile Cleveland-Akron line is considered, the average speed falls to 27.02 mph.

NOT&L tried aggressively to improve its competitive position. For example, as late as 1925, the NOT&L had reached agreement with the Wheeling & Lake Erie to relocate 4.5 miles of its line between Bedford and Whitehouse adjacent to the steam road track, eliminating another section of in-road ROW.

Acknowledgements: As noted in the captions, much of the material cited above came from the pages of the Electric Railway Journal and Electric Traction. In addition, CERA Bulletin 109 (1966) and Harry Christiansen’s 1965 book on interurbans of Northern Ohio were also consulted. Numerous on-line sources were reviewed to include local context.  As always, the willingness of Randy and Frank to publish this on the blog is most-sincerely appreciated!

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This article was edited by Frank Hicks