Let's start with the bad news. The CA&E wood cars, 308 and 319, were scheduled to run today. We pulled them out of the barn, but I realized that the 308 wasn't motoring. So we pulled the train back into the barn, and after some testing, found that the car had blown its motor fuse. This could be bad, very bad, but we don't know yet. The shop guys will be looking into this, and when we have some better information, we'll let you know. It could range anywhere from next to nothing, to a traction motor destroying itself, which can cost many thousands of hard-earned dollars to fix. The 141 blew a motor fuse last week, but on investigation it seems to have been a brush holder flashing over to the case. They fixed this with cleaning and Glyptal, and the car was running all day today without trouble. So we just have to be patient. And I'm about the last person you want to choose as a model of patience.
Anyway, Bob Opal and I got to operate the wood L cars instead. Everything went well, and we had a fairly good crowd of visitors during the day. As the conductor, I got to talk to lots of interesting people, and it takes one's mind off technical problems. Still, here we have a two-car train running on two traction motors, and they never blow up. It just doesn't seem fair.
There were several other passenger trains running. The steel CA&E cars were running (409 and 431) without problem.
Among others, Dick Lukin and Walt Stafa were on board for at least one trip, so we had some old friends and long-time experts to talk to, and also maybe a couple of prospective volunteers for the future. We can always use help!
Next Saturday we were planning to run a four-car train of CA&E wood cars. Depending on what the shop guys find, this may be reduced to three, but it will still be well worth your while to be here if at all possible. There's going to be a lot of interesting equipment in operation. You won't want to miss it. And meanwhile, we here at IRM will continue to roll with the punches,
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