Thomas Part 33 1/3

I was running the 415 in circles all day today, so I didn't have many chances to take pictures. The car was running an average of four trips per hour for eight hours, so you do the math. (I did get a couple of breaks - Henry Vincent was on relief duty.) But at least I got an unidentified visitor to take a picture of me at the controls (left).

But seriously, folks, Day Out With Thomas just wouldn't be a success without a lot of hard work from a lot of people, many of whom put in much more time than I do. One of them, for example, is Paul Sprenger, who is the 4391 motorman for all five days. (L) And to the right, Mike Stauber and Ray Pollice (not pictured) do their usual efficient job of guarding the busy Depot St. crossing. And there are too many others to list -- but hats off to all of you!

Breaking News!

Here's a slide I took of Illinois Terminal car 277 in revenue service about thirty years ago. This car has been stored unserviceable for most of that time, as you have probably noticed. But it can now be revealed that since a major focus of the Car Dept. is on getting a greater variety of equipment into operation for our visitors, we're planning to work on putting the 277 and 518 back into serviceable condition. We're hoping to make a run or two with the two-car train this Member's Day, or at least have them out for inspection.

The trailer, #518, is basically in very good shape and needs mostly window work. I'm planning to start refinishing and repairing the windows in my 321 workshop over the winter. The 277 is going to require some major roof repairs. But we inspected the roof a couple of weeks ago, and we believe that only a limited part of the roof needs heavy repair - basically the center section of the back half of the car. A complete roof replacement should not be necessary. I cannot yet provide a tentative schedule of how long this will take, but it will be far less than the 321 would have required. Help in getting the IT cars back into service would be eagerly welcomed!