The 309 returned to service today. Early in the morning, I made a test trip, helped by Stan, Charlie, and Joel. The oil problem appears to have been solved, and the car was released for service.Since I only had one trainman, Joel Ahrendt, and the attendance seemed rather limited, we ran all day with only the 309. We made a total of six revenue trips, and all went well. I was too busy to take more than one picture! Mostly we operated out of 50th Avenue again. We had many compliments on the car and on the ease of boarding from the high-level platform.
Also today we started picking up train orders from the new hoop frame near Spaulding Tower, which was a first, at least for me. The orders are caught by the conductor, of course, and I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of this, but I'm sure some will be posted soon. Among other things, we got a chance to talk to Tom Hunter who was visiting, and he took a lot of good shots.
We learned that our friend Bill Thiel had had serious health problems; after a liver transplant he was in hospital for six weeks but was scheduled to be released tomorrow. Several of his friends and relatives visited the Museum, and Frank Sirinek was showing them around. Here's wishing Bill a complete recovery!
We made up the two-car train at the end of the day, so tomorrow both the 308 and 309 should be operating.
For those of us that live out of state and can not get out to IRM regularly, can you please describe the procedures used for operating out of 50th ave.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Randy Anderson
North Carolina
Sure, Randy. This works as long as there aren't too many trains running and either Station 1 or 2 is clear. The train pulls out of 50th to a point just west of the 1/2 switch, then changes ends and proceeds through either 1 or 2 to the east switch. We usually pick up passengers at the depot if any are waiting. The rest of the trip is pretty normal.
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