Switching the world

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.

When I arrived things were already moving. In the photo above, the modern 'L' cars on tracks 82 and 83 (the 2200s and several "spam cans") are already gone while wood car 1808 is at the east door. This car runs but it is typically stored far enough west in the barn that it's out from under the end of the trolley wire, so two steeplecabs were used to "bridge the gap" and pull it under the wire so that it could run itself out of the barn. With the newer 'L' cars out of the barn, nearly everything left in 8 at this point was a wood car.

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.

I nabbed a couple of photos of the 150 while we were at it. I think this is the first time a good broadside shot of the car has been possible since my father removed that goofy rain gutter from the letterboard and installed tack molding. The car sure looks a lot better than it used to.

Here's the west end of the barn after the X4 was deposited in its new home. You can see that the west end door is not centered on the building but lines up perfectly with track 82. Maybe when the barn was built in the early 1990s there was a notion of running a track out the end of the building but I've never heard of any idea like that, it's pure speculation.

Zach grabbed this shot of the locomotive train that was used throughout the day. Thomas, the motorman, is on the 4 and coupled behind it is WEPCO L7. The reason that the L7 was brought along for some of the moves was because the equipment at the west end of tracks 82 and 83 was, as mentioned previously, out from under the end of the trolley wire. For some of the cars, that meant that the L7 could serve as an "idler" or "handle," just a way for the 4 to couple onto something beyond its own reach. But for equipment at the far end of the tracks, the L7 was actually used as the motive power. It has a reel of heavily-insulated wire on one of its hoods that's attached to a stinger, an "extension cord" that can be hooked onto the trolley wire and allow the locomotive to go a few car lengths beyond the overhead. The caveat is that the L7's air compressor is currently down, so a hose (visible alongside the 4) was run from the 4's main reservoir to the L7's main reservoir. In this way the L7, trailing an extension cord and air hose, could go a couple of car lengths past the end of wire. Some interesting stuff happens when the go-to diesel switcher is in the shop being repainted!

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.

The 30 wasn't the only bit of good news from the 'L' car department: after the spam cans went back to the barn, the 4000s came out. Thomas brought car 4410 over, coupled it up to "Baldy" 4146 inside Barn 4 on track 41, and ran both cars out to the pit lead. The electrical gremlins have (at least for the moment) been tracked down and banished so the "Baldy" is now fully operational for the first time in a few decades. Later in the evening, the two-car train made a main line test trip, which was - as far as we know - the first time the 4146 has ever been to Kishwaukee Grove. Thomas is working away steadily at making the car ready for service, repainting the interior and getting ready to reinstall the seats after that is done.

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.