Back to Work

In spite of the cold and snow, it was nice to get back to the Museum and be part of the various projects that are moving forward.  

First, we have a PCC truck for the Cleveland car.   New member Chuck Meter is hard at work taking it apart to be checked and repaired as necessary.  

You have to get out and get under:

The traction motor is not much bigger than an early compressor motor:

The main thing I wanted to do was take some measurements for the 309 bearing project.  Bob Sundelin had asked for diameters measured to 0.001 inch.  For this we need a special micrometer.  Seen below, we have the micrometer set, a standard ruler, and the big calipers.  I went over to the steam shop, where one of the guys showed me how to use the micrometer.  It's not hard once you see it in use, and it's always good to acquire a new skill.   Gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche....

Here's a closeup of the set, with its calibrated rods.

Of course, taking measurements under the car was cold and gloomy, but it went quickly. 

 And now I have the magic numbers available.  It wasn't possible to take every axle measurement, since the motors are usually hard against one wheel or the other, and I wasn't going to try to move them by myself in the barn.  

I might point out that most of our electric cars (basically everything pre-PCC) have axle-hung motors, and sooner or later most of them will need new axle bearings.  So I hope our trial-and-error learning process will have some lasting benefits for future projects.

Meanwhile, back in the shop, Tim is making new molding pieces for the 1754.

Pete is working on parts for the interior of the 160.   It will be in regular service this year, but over the next few months the interior will be greatly improved.

And then, Frank found a new source for car cards.  This particular card looked like one we could use, and he got two copies printed for about $10.  Mostly, we would like to replace many of the ones currently in the 308.  They are the old Johnson reprints, and while they're nice, the problem is that they are almost all obviously from the twenties, whereas the car is restored to about 1950.  Men were no longer wearing Arrow collars, for instance.

Hey, you can't argue with more than 20,000 physicians!  I can only imagine what would happen nowadays if you asked your doctor to recommend a particular cigarette brand....  In the picture below, it's next to one of the few remaining original car cards:

The 319, 36, and all of the CA&E steel cars still have a pretty complete set of the final 1957 car cards.  That's fine for the red cars, but for the 36 and 308 it would be nice to backdate them to about 1948.  So we may start installing more like this:

Back in Barn 4, here's the interior of the 160, by the way.

And next door, work is also progressing on the Baldy.   Nick explains that the seats and heaters have been removed and are being worked on in the shop.

The center doors were never used, and have seat frames attached to them.

Keith proudly shows off the polished light fixture for the 1754.

And there were several other people at work.

Finally, in the New Arrivals category, this locomotive was originally TP&W #800. and will be repainted at some point.  This is as close as I could get.

You know, I used to live near Morristown for a couple of years, so this brings back memories.