Frank writes...
Sunday was HOT - it was in the low 90s, a perfect day for a big switch move! Bob Bruneau used to refer to this as "switching the world," when there'd be a crew or two pulling entire tracks in the barns, but sometimes it's necessary. This time it was Barn 8 being switched and the two center tracks, 82 and 83, were emptied entirely. The goal was twofold: first, the Russell plow at the west end of track 83 needed to be moved over to Barn 3 for the new freight train exhibit there, and second, we had already wanted to swap the contents of tracks 82 and 83 so that the IT sleeper "Peoria" wasn't right inside the big west door where rain tends to blow into the barn.
It's hard to tell with the uneven lighting, but track 81 (which wasn't touched) is a string of solid Traction Orange. What's not to like? IT 277 is followed by IT 518, IT 234, and our three North Shore MD cars, 229, 213, and 218.
Here's the 229. It needs some roof repair work before it can run again, but that is on the list of things to do in the near future. I thoughtlessly neglected to get a photo of the 213 behind it but you can see one of the recently-rebuilt baggage doors on this, the only end-door MD car preserved.
Once the Russell plow was pulled back from its spot at the west end of track 83 it made it possible to get a pretty nice photo of the 233, which is at the west end of track 84.
And it also uncovered the "Peoria," which as mentioned earlier has been at the west end of track 82 for a while. This is a very historic car - the last wooden interurban sleeping car, and one of only two interurban sleepers still in existence - and while it needs significant exterior woodwork, it's complete and a good candidate for eventual restoration.
And here's the Russell plow being pulled out of track 83 by ComEd 4. Thomas ran the steeplecab all day with help from Zach and Brian.
The most involved move was the X4, our CSL derrick. This work car actually ran at IRM in the early 1970s but was quickly retired because it has narrow tread "streetcar wheels" and thus is prone to derailing. Some basic check-ups were performed on Saturday to see whether it could motor itself for this switch move but its motors did not megger well and will need to be rebuilt if and when the X4 is to run again. So it was towed, with attendants walking alongside keeping a close eye on the wheels.
And here it is outside on the ladder track. The X4 has been located behind (i.e. just east of) the "Peoria" for the last couple of years but to save switch moves it was decided to put it into track 83 first, with the "Peoria" behind it.
After the "Peoria" was put back into the barn on track 83, this was the new lineup. The X4 could use a bit of sprucing up, notably a headlight, but it's in pretty good condition and is certainly an unusual piece of equipment to have up at the front of the barn.
Here's the 1808, IT 101, and Milwaukee Electric M15 in Yard 6. All of these cars had been stored on track 83 and ended up on track 82 at the end of the day.
The L7, which had been needed because of its extension cord, usually lives behind the three in-service CA&E steel cars so they came out to afford access to the steeplecab. This is always a nice sight! The 409 and 431, with their easy-to-sanitize leatherette seats, are going to be one of the regular main line service trains when we reopen in a couple of weeks.
And here's the Russell plow. It is supposedly going to a new home at the west end of track 34, to be trailed by a string of restored freight cars, some with newly-created exhibits. The switch move wrapped up in the late afternoon and most of the people involved took a breather - the heat and humidity were really tiring. Besides the aforementioned engine crew, the switch crew included myself, Jeron, Richard, and Joel, who was tirelessly running around everywhere coordinating things and making sure everything went to plan.
Back at the car shop, Bill pointed out the D3-EG air compressor shown above, which has just been rebuilt (I believe he said by Dan F) and is going to be installed on the 1754. That car's pump, which functions but could use some work, will then be removed and - if all goes according to plan - it will be rebuilt to go under CA&E 36. That will make the 36 fully operational again, which will be a big help.
While the switch moves had been going on over in Barn 8, Greg and Good Nick had been hard at work on CTA 30. This car is being restored to its mid-1960s Skokie Swift appearance complete with bow trolleys. It was towed out from under wire in the middle of the day so that the bow trolleys could be raised all the way up, allowing the trolley base connections to be tightened down. Unlike with a trolley pole, you can't just swing a bow trolley off to the side to raise it higher than the wire height! Then they hooked up the electrical connections, uncoupled the other 6000s, and...
Voila! The first-ever operation of a bow trolley-equipped car at IRM took place on the pit lead. This was also the first time in years car 30 has operated solo at IRM (thanks to Richard for pointing out that it used to run occasionally using the “half-a-graph” with which it arrived). There's certainly more work left to do, most notably hooking up the small motors that raise and lower the bow trolleys (for the test, this was done like a normal trolley pole, by hand using a rope on the end of the car). But it was pretty interesting to see. Thanks to Zach Ehlers for taking this photo.
And I also brought a couple of windows from the 18 over to the wood shop. These had their rotted bottom rails replaced by my father, so I did some sanding in preparation for a coat of primer and then finish paint. Installation of these will help close up the car, which when we open later this month will be on public display for the first time in many years.
And here's a late-in-the-day photo by Zach showing the two-car 4000 train. The 4146 is certainly unique among our 4000s and it is great to see all of the progress on the car.
7 comments:
Hey Frank- Car 30 arrived with a "half-a-graph" style pantograph. Pete Vesic used to enjoy detaching it from car 41 east of Seemann Rd. and running it as a single car out there.
R. W. Schauer
Have the bow trolleys ever had any of the issues that the full-size pantographs have had in operation on IRMs wire or is it too early to tell?
Josh- I'd predict that a bow trolley would have the same trouble as a pantograph or a half-a-graph. The interface with the wire is the same, and the forces are comparable. The real needs are for the wire to stay within the safe side-to-side excursion limits (this is mostly a function of tilting line poles), adding some steady spans, and for the frogs to have pan jumps. Overhead that is constructed with insulators or pull-offs below the plane of contact also needs to be changed (this overlaps somewhat with the pan jump problem).
R. W. Schauer
That makes sense, thanks for the explanation!
Frank,
Thanks for your report; it is great to see activity returning to the Car Department. The Peoria is an amazing survivor. The Pacific Great Eastern Clinton is out in British Columbia. It started out as an Interstate Railway sleeping car.
Ted miles, IRM Member
Thanks for the blogs !! I read them with great interest, they are a wonderful lifeline to home I miss IRM.
I remember running car 30 with Pete Vesic. It would be coupled with car 41, with a power jumper between the cars. You couldn't raise the single arm pantograph as long as traction power was coming through the jumper from 41. This is because CTA had put in an interlock which would prohibit a pan-equipped car from bridging the 600 volts through the car from third rail to trolley wire. As long as 30 was receiving traction power through the bus jumper, it perceived that power was coming from third rail. Therefore, it wouldn't allow the pan to be raised. Conversely, if the pole was lowered on 41, then the two car train could be powered from the pantograph. This was quite a few years ago; I hope I have my facts straight.
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