A Great Weekend

Frank writes...

I was out at the museum both Friday and Saturday, and overall it certainly seemed like a great time was had by all.  Friday I was running the 36 and 308, which was quite a bit of fun, particularly my first chance running the 36 in service.  However they were really slow what with both cars being half-motors!  I think in the future we'll try and include either the 309 or 319 in any two-car trains.

On Saturday I had a chance to grab a photo of my father's new car (below).  And I also got a chance to show some visitors through the 205; along with IRM stalwart Norm Krentel, Bill Fronczak from Arden and Dave Beuchler from Rio Vista were visiting.  Dave is working on a complete restoration of the 205's sister car, car 202, which is being restored as Portland Traction 4001.  He is a fount of information on the mechanical and electrical workings of this series of car.

My assignment Saturday was the streetcar line, running the 144 in the morning and the open car in the afternoon.  The 144 is a great car; it's pretty worn out, and the interior is unrestored, but the car is still in good condition overall and it is one of my favorites simply because it is really the quintessential Chicago streetcar.  Fred Zimmerman was my conductor.

After a few trips on the 144 we put it back in the barn and brought out the Veracruz open car, which is always a big crowd pleaser.

We got many favorable comments from the public about the format and execution of this year's Trolley Pageant.  There truly was nonstop action all day, with different electric trains being constantly cycled into and out of service under the watchful eye of dispatcher Adam Robillard, and it seemed like the visitors really appreciated all the stuff to see, do, and ride.  There were a lot of people who put in a very long day (or more than one) to make it happen, too many for me to remember them all.  But all of that work was richly rewarded and it seemed to be a huge success all around.