A day of streetcars

Frank writes...

I didn't have a particular project in mind for Sunday, but there was plenty going on when I showed up so I ended up helping out on a few different things. As luck would have it, they all had to do with streetcars in our collection. Not that there's anything wrong with streetcars!

First off, Joel needed the trolley rope at the west end of the 972 replaced, as the one on the car was badly frayed. So relatively new volunteers Cliff, his son Lucas, and I all trooped over to Barn 7 to pull the old rope off the car and install a new one. Fortunately the car's trolley catcher cooperated and we didn't have to wind it back up.

While we were working on this, Richard, Greg, and Zach were switching 'L' cars in preparation for next weekend's Bunny Trolley Hop event. The event will need a pair of 4000s spotted as 50th Avenue to serve as a warming station and the place where kids will meet the Easter Bunny, but the 2000s were located in between the two 4000s on track 72. So they needed to be switched out of the way. Here the 2000s head back towards the barn after the 4000s were coupled up (to each other, not to the 2000s although the photo may make it look that way). Just like Skokie!

The result was that, coincidentally, all of the cars that will be used for the Easter event were lined up in Barn 7. A crew of people was out on Saturday decorating the 3142 and 415 for the event, as they will be the cars that will actually be giving people rides.

After that, Richard, Greg, Zach, and Thomas headed off to take the 251 for a test trip to try and run in its new main journal bearing. I stayed behind to "help" Joel with inspection work on the 141, pictured above. This involved checking the car's motors (this was pretty easy, as they were rebuilt just a few years ago and you could eat off the insides of the motor cases), adjusting the throw levers for the hand-operated folding doors, and fiddling with the governor. The car's governor, which is a GE style MJ, may need to be taken apart and cleaned up as the solenoid seems to be hanging up. The result is that it takes too long to cut in and too long to cut out, so it doesn't prevent the car from running safely, it's just not ideal.

After a few test trips the 251 returned to the pit lead, where the journal box was jacked up and the new bearing removed. It worked okay but was still running a little warm, so here Richard gently scrapes the bearing to remove a small amount of the babbitt from the high spots that were causing the slight overheating. Greg is to the right. After this was done the bearing was put back into the car and that crew departed again to do another test trip, of course taking a long the handy laser thermometer to keep a close eye on the bearing temperature.

And with the 251 off the pit, and the 141's inspection done other than the work on the governor, I helped Joel switch the West Towns car back to its normal spot in Barn 7. Since the 141 isn't scheduled to run until late May, and since we'll want to remove its governor for repair, it was buried behind CTA 3142, CSL 144, and Milwaukee 972. Above is the West Towns car on the tail track as the sun sets.

And here's the trusty old 144. This car is going in for its annual inspection soon. It's a great car, really the quintessential CSL streetcar, but boy is it tired. However Pullman built them to last back in 1908 and it's scheduled to be out carrying the crowds for the Thomas event in July. Switch moves like this can be pretty rewarding; I love seeing all of the red Chicago cars moving through the yard. It always makes me feel like I'm at North Avenue car house, or somewhere like it, 80 years ago.

Besides the work mentioned above there was other progress being made Sunday as well. Cliff and Lucas were working on repainting wheel rims for a trolley bus; Jeff was repairing floor boards for the baggage compartment of Michigan Electric 28; Shelby was sorting materials in the technical library; and Tim was putting primer on more wood parts for the 1754. Above he primes a piece which supports the window sill; behind him to the right are an entire car's worth of new window sills and associated exterior trim, while off camera to the left are a stack of cap strips for the windows. He proudly pointed out that a week ago all of these parts were still rough lumber at Owl Hardwood.