Woodman, Spare That Tree!

...Touch not a single bough, in my youth it sheltered me...  That's one of the poems my parents were liable to recite at odd moments, and it came to mind today, but we'll get to that later.

The day was rather cold and dreary, so attendance was not what we might have wanted.  Otherwise, things went well.  The new arrangement in which visitors enter through the Schroeder Store will take some getting used to.  The mainline electric cars stage at 50th Avenue, and the streetcars close by at the pavilion, as seen here:

That's a nice setup.  I would have liked to take this picture when the 4000's were there, but I was busy.  And did I ever mention that there's a diner within steps of the entrance, where you can get lots of delicious food and drinks in an elegant atmosphere at very reasonable prices?  It's true!  Come out to IRM and see for yourself!  My name is Dave Diamond and I approved this message.

  Anyway, my main priority was to inspect the 36, so it ran itself over to the pit:

No unexpected problems were found.  Lubrication and roof inspection remain to be done, but those are possible back in Barn 8.

Here are some technical details for future reference.  You will be hearing more about this.  In regular service the axles tended to wear down where the motor bearings rest on them.  And so the wheelsets would be removed and the bearing surfaces would be turned down on a lathe.  This happened on the 36, for instance.  It may not be obvious from the picture, but the axles are skinnier inside the bearings.  On the 36's motor truck, new and thicker bearings were installed, so there's very little gap and everything is well.  On the 309, however, the axles were turned down, but the old bearings remained and so there's a lot of gap and therefore lots of motion between the motor and the axle.  That's not good.  We have a plan, but guess what?   $$$$

 By early afternoon it looked like it was about to rain, so the 36 was run back to the barn.  And this time, I got the car inside about three minutes before the rain started, whereas usually it's the other way around.  But as I say, all is well.

Meanwhile, it was the typical exciting Saturday at IRM.  The usual suspects were pursuing their projects on the 28, 65, 1754, and Cleveland PCC.  

Since 50th Avenue station will be in constant use, Max and several helpers were wiring up the correct style of 600V lighting for the platform.  (L to R) Jeron, Joel, Nick, Richard.  The important feature here is that the lights will dim when a train accelerates away from the platform.  Remember, you read it here first.

The 1630 was switched out of the Steam Shop over to the turntable lead so it will be ready for regular service.  As a result, the Shay had to be parked in front of Barn 9, and then switched back in.  It looks great!

After putting the 36 away, I was looking for something to do, so I went over to the material yard where the track guys were running a large chipper.  Their long-term project is to clean up the entire material yard, especially the part where the Track Dept. barn will eventually be built.  However, before all these materials can be moved, the trees that have grown up need to disappear.

Here we see the chipper connected to Mark's truck turning tree trunks into wood chips.  I like trees as much as anybody, but the trees that have grown up through and between the various materials are not endangered species, and in any case they're doomed.  So I spent an hour or so helping the guys haul wood over to the chipper.  It was an entertaining change from my usual activities.

The job isn't complete, but you'll just have to take our word for it that this is an improvement:

And clearing away all the brush, you never know what you might find.  Here's part of a steam locomotive kit.  (How much of this assembly could possibly be reused is a question I can't answer.)

And then we have diamonds in the rough:

And in Operating Department news, Harold finally found the guy who ran through the switch:

And a couple of pictures of the crew sitting on the pile of sawdust they created.  This should make for good mulch.

So, mulch thanks to everybody who was working today!

In Memoriam

We were sorry to learn of the death of Tom Blodgett, who ran the IRM Bookstore for many years.  He will certainly be missed.  There will be a memorial get-together in Belvidere on June 2nd; details are available in the office.

And our condolences to his family on the death of Laddie Vitek, Sr., the father of long-time IRM member Laddie Vitek, Jr.