March of Progress

On today's version of the newsreel, we have lots of different examples of progress on the march.  Of course, there is always room for more, if we have the people.

Ed looks up at the Electroliner ceiling, which has had another new panel installed in the middle, with only one more to go.

Over in Barn 11, I happened to see my old friend Jack Biesterfeld still hard at work on the GB&W car.  He's made a huge improvement to the appearance of the interior, as you can see here.  Most of the windows are out, and he plans to work on them over the winter in the car shop, if he can find the room.  The ceiling is amazing.

Among other things, I finished lettering the remaining train door on the 36.

Meanwhile, also in Barn 8, John Faulhaber is working on replacing the wooden parts of the deck on the 213.  The problem, of course, is that it's quite a walk from here to the car shop, in case major adjustments need to be made.

Jon Fenlaciki continues work on the roof of the 65.

And what did our roving camera miss?   Lorne working on the Cleveland PCC, Tim working on the 1754, Pete on the 300, the freight car guys on the Pennsy cabin car, Henry on various projects, and maybe more.  You just had to be there.

And the 460 happened to be over the pit for its annual inspection.   We have so many operating cars that inspection is now an almost continuous year-round process.  

So I took several pictures of its underbody equipment, much of which is noticeably different from the wood cars.  Such as the MG set:

And the grids:

And the motor axle bearings:

The motors themselves are noticeably smaller than earlier designs.

And I don't know enough about the trucks to explain what's going on here.   I know the original design was modified somehow after a short time in service.

If you have wondered about the 306, like our buddy Kirk, don't worry.   Here we see John Sheldon and Gerry Dettloff sorting out parts in the car.   John is planning to work on it over the winter, and there's at least one other regular member who wants to help.  So we should see some progress.

Among other unwanted things stored in the car was the pattern for the anchor casting for the 150.  Right after we got the car, Bob Bruneau decided to have an anchor casting made so the car could more easily be switched around with a tow bar.  And the pattern was left in the 306.  I did my part by taking the pattern and storing it under the 150, which hasn't moved now for quite a while.  

And this is what the actual casting looks like: 

Meanwhile, out in the cold and wind, Max is checking out one of the manholes.  These were installed a few years ago when the street was paved, but not all the wiring is installed yet.

This particular manhole will provide electric service to some new decorative streetlights, and Max wants to have this ready for Happy Holiday Railway, when we'll have lots of visitors after dark.  He also wants to wire up at least one operating antique stoplight at the corner of Depot and Central.  That will be impressive; I don't know of any other museum with its own working traffic lights.

And speaking of Happy Holiday Railway, buy tickets now before they're all gone.   Don't say we didn't warn you!