Saturday, October 1, 2016

It's the ARN Day Bus Fest!

... or something like that.  Whatever.  For a damp, cloudy fall day there was a lot going on.


Before the action starts, let's look at what has been accomplished on Central Avenue with the new streetcar tracks.  The ground has been filled in around the tracks, and Dave has started filling in the space between the rails with stone blocks as a test.  


Most of the road will be paved with asphalt, perhaps treated to look like stone, but there will be a couple of crosswalks paved with actual stone blocks.   Or so I'm told.



The east end of the north track has a couple of concrete blocks put in place to hold the end of the rails down.


The subsurface has been extended south at the intersection with Railroad Ave.


In the car shop, all of the preparations for ARNFEST have been made.  Here's a quick view of the various items. 




The ARNFEST seemed to be well attended, and a lot was going on during the day.   I was careful not to get in the way.

Trolleybus service was a large part of Bus Day.   The Seattle articulated bus is seen here at the Depot St. intersection.   Richard Schauer is the driver.


The 3142 crosses Central, as the bus waits.


A couple of privately-owned buses arrived.


The owner was checking out the motor.






 On its return trip from the Wagner loop, the trolleybus will have to move over to the left side of the road, due to the streetcar track construction.



At this point the bus stops, and the assistant gets out and sets the poles over.





I was asked to get some pictures of the streetcar line extension, nicely ballasted and dressed, before cars are stored on it.  That should happen soon.


Where would you ever see nicer new construction that this?


Yard 15 is also finished.  Right now track 152 is empty, but that probably won't last long.


Bill has been polishing up the whistles for the 24.


I was working on repainting the vestibule of the 36, as usual.  Some spare parts were taken over to the shop to be wire-wheeled, then got a coat of spray primer.


I sanded down and recoated the controller cover.



And by the end of the day, I put some more primer on various parts of the #2 vestibule, and the piping we had installed on Wednesday.   While the paint is drying, let's go for a ride.


There were lots of buses operating today.  I don't have even a guesstimate of how many.   But here's the classic Chicago Motor Coach bus.



Did I mention that it was a rainy day?


The bus was nearly full, until we got to the Andersen barn and nearly everybody got off to go to the Bus Stop Shop.  


At the shop, there were lots of book and magazines, models and toys, and a large selection of CTA signs.  The flash lights up the fluorescent parts of the signs, which are not at all obvious in the dim ambient light.  


And future bus drivers can pose in this end of a Seattle bus.   I hadn't seen this before.


Well, that's enough for today.   A good time was had by all.


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

When they change the trolley bus poles over to the "wrong" overhead is there a polarity change? Do they put the bus in reverse to run forward?

-Hudson

Randall Hicks said...

The polarity doesn't matter. The bus will run forward (when it's set for forward) no matter which pole is positive. All traction motors have wound fields, so if the polarity changes, both the field and the armature currents are reversed, and the torque generated is in the same direction.

Anonymous said...

Seeing the stone brick work reminded me of the guy named John who set so many of the pavers at the museum. It was better to have him work without the general public in attendance... I was never sure why he was so bitter about things. But his work was reliable and has stood the test of time. He would set and reset foundations for bricks before ever laying them down.

I have seen the rubber mold type of replication. Will patterns be cast from historical stretches of granite pavers in Chicago, if any exist?

Josh Sutherland said...

Curious, do you guys still have the Chicago Tunnel Company loci & cars in the bus barn?

Anonymous said...

Randall,

How is the east end of the North streetcar track "tied" into the parallel
South track? I do not see a switch in place.

Ken MacLeod

Randall Hicks said...

Joshua: The tunnel locomotive and cars are in display in the Hoffman barn, which is west of the Andersen barn where the Bus Stop Shop was set up.

Ken: For the immediate future, the north track will not be connected, as I understand it. The exact setup has not yet been decided. The south track will be connected on the west to the new south extension. I suppose the north track will represent an abandoned line.

Anonymous said...

Do you plan on installing some sort of flangeway drains along the way? I recall that every block or so the TM had some sort of heavy metal casting with multiple holes in it sort of like a sewer grate between the rails. I always thought that those were part of a drain for water to run out of the flangeways.
C Kronenwetter
Milwaukee, WI

Anonymous said...

Randall,
You have exceeded your usual high standards with that report! Something of everything in there.
That is some excellent track work.

Ted Miles

Randall Hicks said...

I am sure there is no drainage system in the middle of the track, as they would have had to install it already. I imagine there will be a sufficient crown to the center line of the street so that water drains to the curb.

Also, I don't know why the "recent comments" gadget has stopped working. I am not trying to suppress your comments. I'll have to look into it.

Lucas McKay said...

I'm sure that in colder months, ice builds up in the flangeways. how is that dealt with?

Lucas McKay

Randall Hicks said...

Easy. We deal with that by keeping the cars in the barn all winter.

But I think actual street railways would deal with it by some combination of sweepers (E223), more frequent operation, and men with picks and shovels.

Anonymous said...

Randall,

With the eventual move of the gift shop into the Schoeder store, will the main entrance to the museum relocate south of where it is today? Thank You.

Ken MacLeod

Unknown said...

By my count we operated 7 buses. 5 trolleys, 3 from Seattle, one from Dayton and one from Milwaukee, and 2 motor buses, the CMC 605 and a slope back RTS from Janesville.

Anonymous said...

Al- You missed the Chicago Marmon. 8 buses total.

Randy- The front end of 960 in the front of the Andersen Garage is from Dayton, the same type of bus as 925 which ran Saturday.

R. W. Schauer

Randall Hicks said...

Ken: Yes, one of the goals for the current construction on Central is to move the entrance to the Schroeder Store. At least on not-so-busy days, we should be able to have just one cash point for selling tickets, toys, books, etc. instead of three as we do now. That should save a significant amount on wages.