Trolley Bases Installed

Today was another busy day at the Museum, so I didn't get much of a chance to report on what all the other volunteers were doing.  But with some help, I got the trolley bases for the 451 fixed up and installed on the roof.  At various times, I got some temporary help from Jon Fenlaciki, Gregg Wolfersheim, John Sheldon, and Mike Stauber.

Gregg found the right die for chasing the threads on the adjustment rods, so the bases finally got permanently assembled, with the new hardware that we got many years ago.  After some lubrication, they're ready for service.

And here is the base bolted to the running boards at the #2 end, with the eerie green color again.

Meanwhile, of course, other projects were going on.   Here John is continuing on the floor of the 306, and Jon was working on the roof of the 65.  And so on....

Then I drilled the holes for the #1 end base, found some more bolts and other hardware, and put it in place.  Lifting it up onto the roof with the big power lift is actually quite easy.  In this picture, it isn't bolted down yet, but the power connection has been made.

Finally, here it is with the bolts in place.  Now we just have to figure out where the two trolley poles that came with the car are stored.

During a lunch break, I wandered over to the Marengo depot.  The east end has had its windows removed, since this is how it looked when the east end was the baggage room.  And the benches have been set up for eventual use by visitors when we can reopen, and they can wait for the next train at a safe distance from each other.

And the Track Department was at work, and so on.  We're making good use of the available resources during the pandemic, so stay tuned.