HHR finito

Frank writes...

Sunday was the last day of Happy Holiday Railway 2021, and it seemed like everything ran well. The entire weekend had been sold out for a week and a half and the weather was good, chilly but clear.

Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-truck open sleigh! Nick Espevik and I, having lost our minds, decided to take Veracruz 19 out for a few spins in the early evening. It was cold - obviously - but enjoyable, and certainly something different. We did get some game riders who seemed to enjoy themselves. There were also heated streetcars running, of course, the 3142 and 4391.

Meanwhile, in the Car Shop, our air compressor expert has started working in earnest on the pump for the 36. This is exciting news! Above, Dan is cleaning off the field coils while in front of him lie parts of the motor housing. Later in the day, the entire inside of the housing, the field coils, and the armature itself all received a coat of fresh Glyptal insulating varnish.

And here we see the rest of the pump. Dan deduced that the pinion on the motor is pretty badly worn, so that will need to be addressed, and after he cleans up the motor he's also going to clean up the bearings and hone the valves. And with luck, the pump should be good as new and knock-free. This means the 36 should be back in the revenue service fleet in 2022. Dan's only condition was that we need to paint the pump before it gets reinstalled on the theory that it should look as good as it works!