Steam in Esteem

Tuesday is not usually one of the busier days at the Museum, but this happened to be an exception,  perhaps because the holiday tomorrow.  Several people were working in the car shop, for instance.  Here we see Pete Galayda, Frank Kehoe, and Tim Peters.   Pete is finishing up a trolley base for the 1754.

Pete has fabricated a new door for the Class B:

Underneath you can see the original, used as a pattern.

This is a new door for the North Shore line car 604.   Randy Anderson started making this door about thirty years ago, but it was then put into storage.  But it will soon be ready for installation.

And another door for the Class B was in better shape and is being patched up.

Tim has been installing saddles on the 1754, and finished up today.

The 68 is available for charter service.

Today is July 3rd, but we're ignoring the abandonment this year.  I finished up repainting the grey color on the 308, more or less.  I would have liked to continue with red, but it was just too hot.

I then studied the operation of the new C-21 controller we received on Saturday.  I came to the definite conclusion that I really don't know how it works.  I suspect that we're still missing some parts.  But I did make a discovery: the two controllers we installed on the 308 are C-21E, while the controller from Greg Taylor is a C-21C.  Now as far as we can tell only the CA&E ever used C-21's, but somehow they went through five different variations.  I believe the C-21E is probably the model we want to keep in service on the 308.  Both of the controller covers on the car are missing their builder's plates, however.  I do have one plate I received from a collector, and I took the cover home to assemble and repaint it.

Our old friend Steve Iverson was visiting from Oklahoma, and worked on the Kansas City car with Frank Sirinek.  He then got involved with a repair to the 3142 with Gregg Wolfersheim.

And evidently, until the Main Street Entrance building gets built, we'll have to make do with a tent.

But we're saving the best for last.  The Shay was fired up today and ran under its own power for the first time in about 19 years.  Now don't get too excited: there are several issues that need to be fixed before it can be used in regular service.  But it's getting much closer, and congratulations to our esteemed colleagues on the Steam Team for all their hard efforts to make this a success!

Like many other Fourth of July happenings, it helps to bring your own lawn chair.

There's nothing quite like that rapid-fire exhaust.