Opening Day

Frank writes...

Sunday was opening day of the regular operating season, the first "normal" day of train operations for 2018. This year was unusual in that we had a specially-ticketed event a week earlier in the form of the Bunny Trolley Hop but this was the beginning of the regular operating season. North Shore 749, with motorman Jeff Fryman and conductor Keith Letsche, did the honors. It's shown above returning from its 2pm trip.

I spent a little while showing a magazine reporter around before getting down to business in the car shop. Richard, Joel, and Greg were already working on the annual inspection on the "Green Hornet," the 4391, shown above on the pit.

I got to inspect the gearboxes on the front truck for oil and wear. The view through the inspection hatch is above with the axle running left-to-right in the upper right and the axle gear to the left. The foamy looking stuff on the bottom is oil, which is flung by the gear onto a tray (not visible, it's fitted to the inside of the inspection hatch cover) that directs it to the other side of that sheet metal dam on the right to a separate sump off to the right that oils the end of the axle. All's well here.

Here's the contactor box, or at least part of it. The contactors are off to the right. Above that vertical spring in the middle is where the rods from the control levers at the front of the car come in. The light grey thing on the left is the pilot motor to advance the acceleration drum, which is just beyond this box. This stuff is all too modern.

Here are Joel, foreground, and Richard working on the inspection; Richard is checking the contactors. The 4391 has rust problems, and the roof leaks, but it's been running with astonishing reliability since it was put into service at IRM around 1975.

Some of the car shop regulars were away, but Good Nick was working away at CTA 4410, repairing piping and cleaning up air valves to get the air system tighter.

We also received a special delivery: three WH 557 traction motors, fresh from the motor shop after a dip and bake. A fourth motor didn't fit on the truck but will arrive during the coming week. These motors are from North Shore 154, which was recently parted out by a group in Michigan, and two each will be installed in our cars 160 and 714 to put those two back into the regular operating fleet.

Also back from the motor shop is this much smaller item, a rebuilt armature for the air compressor from CA&E 451. Getting this fourth CA&E steel car running will be one of the priorities this summer. As soon as the weather warms up its roof will get a fresh coat of paint, then the saddles and roof boards can go on. After that it's reassembling and installing the pump, reattaching the steps and pilot, and the car should be just about ready to inspect and test.

And in other news, the UP rotary snow plow is evidently in the beginning stages of a cosmetic restoration. This project has started with removal of the wooden window covers. It will be good to see this thing repainted; even in its rather tired state it's still one of the most awe-inspiring pieces in the collection for the general public.