Ready for Summer

Are you ready for summer?  I hope so.  It finally arrived at Union in all its steamy magnificence. So at least we seemed to have a good number of visitors today, including some from far away.

 

Out on the mainline we had the Diesel coach train and the North Shore cars.   And this is Linda Evans doing line training on the 3142.

I finished inspection and lubrication on the 36, then spent most of the day cleaning windows and various odd jobs to get the car ready for service.  I plan to run the 36 and 319 for "CA&E Day" on July 3rd this year, which will be the first time we've run this particular two-car train, the "Brookins Limited"!  And the Fourth will be the Trolley Pageant with all four cars in service.  Don't miss it, you'll kick yourself.  To the right, the lights are on because the L car kids are cleaning up and getting them ready for service.

Among other things, I needed to reattach a metal hook to the buzzer cord, which is not easy.  Frank and Rod helped speed up the process, and it's now in place.  Frank spent most of the rest of the day painting two long black stripes on the 205. 

It's very boring, but necessary.  The black stripe then needs smaller silver stripes on each side, for which we plan to hire a professional.  And that will pretty much finish off cosmetic work on the 205!

I met Randy Stahl today, visiting from Massachusetts, a blog reader I've been in communication with before.  Actually we'd met before: he visited IRM in 1978 when he was still a boy, he says, and remembers inspecting the 309 when the interior was still a wreck from the fire.  He was involved with TWERHS and talked about the 318; he also knew several of the old-time IRM members such as Bill Nedden, Bill McGregor, Jim Johnson, Ralph Weege, and many others.  He now works for the Providence and Worcester, a freight shortline operating out of Worcester, Mass.   Since I'm going to be in that area soon, visiting my daughter, he gave me some advice on old-time diners in Worcester.  Yum yum!

And then our old friend Walt Stafa was here from Ohio, and we had a good talk.  He was here mostly to help on the Michigan car, as usual.