Milwaukee's... best?

Frank writes...

I was out at IRM for a few hours again Sunday afternoon, but once again I was helping with switching and didn't get anything done in the way of car restoration.  So this post will be another gallery of oddities and curiosities, I'm afraid.

Sunday's theme was MILWAUKEE - for some reason, nearly all of the equipment we were moving around turned out to hail from Milwaukee, most of it from the Milwaukee Electric (aka "the TM") with some from the North Shore.  Many of these cars are not exactly the gems of the collection, at least as far as condition goes, but oh well - they're all historic in their own way.  Greg Kepka was running the Army 45-tonner while Joel Ahrendt and Richard Schauer were the other ground men in addition to myself.

First CSL 2843 got moved to its new semi-permanent home on track 71 behind the E223; I didn't get a photo but it hasn't changed much since last week.  Then behind it went North Shore 354, shown above.  It used to run at IRM but needs wheel work.  It sure looks nice though!

Keep moving, nothing to see here...

Next up was a lineup of TM equipment on track 64.  Above is the L7, which was nicely repainted a few years ago.  It runs but it was easier to haul it around with the diesel than pump it up and move it under power.

Then there was the M-15, which was built in the Milwaukee Electric's shops as a freight motor.  It was later sold to the Municipality of East Troy Railroad, where it had a line platform added.  It runs but needs roof work among other things.

Here's North Shore 763, which was acquired from East Troy around 1989.  It is complete but needs rewiring work, truck work, and interior and roof repair.

Here's a neat one: Milwaukee Electric 1135, the parlor car "Menominee," which along with TM coach 1129 comprised IRM's second and third cars.  Unfortunately both of these cars are in poor condition, owing largely to a mid-1920s rebuilding in the TM shops which severely reduced their structural strength.  They were both repainted by Bill Nedden back in the 1970s, so they look nice, but it would take a whole lot of money to rebuild them.

The "Menominee" and another TM car, line car D22, were moved down to the south yards via the connector - definitely rare mileage for these two, as they've definitely never traversed this track.  Above the 1135 is spotted at "Mosquito Haven," South Junction, while the D22 is taken over to its new home in Barn 11.

And here's the D22 in all its dubious glory.  This thing has an odd history; built in the company shops as a cab-on-flat work car, it was later enclosed and made into a line car.  Its most unusual feature may be a brake stand and fold-away controller on the roof so you can run the thing from the rooftop platform.  Back in '98 or '99 Jim Blower repainted the D22 and I lettered it; if memory serves Ed Tobin and Bob Bruneau made some new windows for it about the same time.  But the rest of the car is awfully rotten.

Soon after this I departed for home, but the switching continued; I got the parting shot above of Milwaukee Electric crane D16 as the other guys started to shuffle the contents of Barn 13.

And if you've about had it with green and yellow (Richard made the observation "I guess life in Milwaukee is drab green... with a little yellow") here's an antidote for you: CA&E 460, about which we had a recent inquiry, during another switch move earlier in the day.  It ran itself out of the barn and back without trouble.