Wheaton to Highwood

I hadn't been out to the museum in a couple of months due to an increased work schedule and other commitments, but I was able to make it out on Sunday and help out my father a bit on the 36. The first task was to ring out the control circuits from the controllers to the junction boxes under the platforms. This was done successfully; all wiring into the controllers is intact and in good shape. We also answered a question we'd had about the 600v power supply to the controller at the #2 end. Above right, my father inspects the junction box under the #1 end of the car.

After that I sanded down a couple more windows for the 36 and then headed over to North Shore 757, where a crew of people including project manager Gwyn Stupar, husband Joe, Greg Kepka and Joel Ahrendt were hard at work removing the heater covers from the smoker. This car had the original flooring in the smoker replaced with cheesy linoleum while at a different museum and the last of this linoleum was ripped out Sunday in preparation for replacement with rubberized flooring matched to the original material in the car's main compartment (this material is already on hand). At left, Joe and Gwyn work on removing the last seat frame prior to taking out the heater covers. I spent a little while helping and, with everyone pitching in, by the end of the day the smoker was completely empty.

And at right, here's something interesting: a plastic brake shoe! This is an example of rapid prototyping and was created using a machine that effectively functions as a 3D printer. It is a prototype for a brake shoe for CTA 3142. Just don't try to use this one in regular service.