No business like show business

Frank writes...

I had a fun time out at IRM on Sunday, though it didn't turn out quite as I expected. When I arrived, there were a few people around. Tim Peters was spray-painting some new tongue-and-groove siding for the 1754, Jeff Brady was working on fashioning a tool to aid in rivet bucking on the Michigan Electric car, and John and Ed were working on the "Electroliner" end car. After yakking for a few minutes with Zach, who was running the 749 in service, I ran into some visitors from Make-A-Wish who wanted to get a photo of a GATX car, as that company is apparently a big sponsor of theirs. While I was showing them the molasses tank car down at the south end I ran into Greg and Good Nick, who were retrieving some parts from the CTA 2000s that are on the list to be scrapped.

Right now one of these two is pretty much emptied out but the other still has some spare parts in it. While we were in Yard 15 we took a quick look in the Kankakee single-trucker, which is sitting atop a TM flatcar. The house door that provides access into the car was open so we closed that.

The Kankakee car is kind of interesting. It's a single-truck pre-Birney McGuire-Cummings car, one of a series of two built for the North Kankakee line (there were two different street railways in Kankakee). The body isn't in bad shape, actually, and if we ever get that Brill 79E1 truck built for the Illinois Terminal Birney, the Brill 21 shop truck currently under the Birney could go under this car. But right now it's slowly deteriorating in outdoor storage. But never fear, you can help!

So while the three of us were speeding along scenic Riverview Drive heading back to the car shop to help with CA&E 431, we were flagged down by Nick (the E.D.) behind the trolley bus barn. His greeting was pretty unexpected: "Hey, just what we need, three white guys!" Uh, beg pardon? Well it turned out that a crew from a nonprofit community theater company was filming a scene on our Chicago Motor Coach bus: Rosa Parks getting hauled off of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. They were short a few extras so we got dragooned - or, more specifically, "Nicked" (well, Greg sped off to commandeer CTA 3142 and send its nattily-attired motorman, Thomas, over to the film site to play the bus driver). Thanks to Ray Piesciuk who took the following photos.

And here we are. Good Nick and I were playing racist cops (those silver badges on our chests actually say "COP" so you know they're authentic). The cops in period photos of Rosa Parks getting arrested and booked didn't wear hats, so neither did we.

"It's a hippie! Get 'im!" Actually this is the three of us getting back at Nick for dragging us into this.

The shoot took longer than I'd expect - welcome to show biz, I guess - but I have to admit it was a fun diversion. The production was on a slim budget, to put it mildly. There seemed to be a producer and assistant producer, both of whom doubled as extras; the director, who was also the camerawoman; and several extras and actors. There were no speaking roles, as the whole scene was going to have a voiceover played over the footage, so I guess we were all extras. Everyone was extremely nice, not to mention grateful for us helping out. Above, Good Nick and one of the extras who arrived with the film crew. Nick and I both played civilians when we weren't playing cops.

Most of the filming was inside the bus, which was marginally warmer than outdoors. The woman in the middle is the director/camerawoman, with Thomas standing behind her, hovering menacingly over the actress playing Rosa Parks, who is sitting in front of the emergency exit door. Various other extras, including me, are sitting throughout the bus.

And finally the cast photo, snapped by Greg, who by this time had put the 3142 back in the barn. From the right there's Nick, Good Nick, yours truly, and Thomas, with the various crew members and extras to the left. The actress two over from Thomas played Rosa Parks while the woman bundled up in front of the bus door was the producer. The movie will apparently be called "Strength of the Black Woman" and is due to premier in March.

After that it was starting to get dark and about all that was left to do was go over to Barn 4 and see what the guys doing the hard work had been up to. Joel and Richard had been fighting the motor leads on the 431; one motor lead on the car had worn through its insulation and grounded out over the summer so this had to be replaced. They also did some repair work on a second motor lead. The motor lead glad hands were a bear to get apart because they're very hard to access; the 431 doesn't have floor hatches so you have to bend over the motor and work in a space about 10" high. But they eventually got it repaired and were starting to reassemble things when dinnertime arrived. The photo above shows Richard and John to the right. Can you find Joel?