36 Inspection

Car 36 was left over the pit, as you may have read in an earlier post, so when I arrived Monday morning, it was time to get to work.  I tightened up all the bolts on the compressor cradle, connected the supply pipe, made the electrical connections, and topped off the oil on our shiny not-so-new rebuilt compressor.  And it worked just fine when power was applied.  Thus the 36 is a self-motivator again.  Our heartiest thanks to those who made this possible, most notably Dan Fenlaciki!

When it comes time for sequencing, the contactor boxes face different ways, on different sides of the car, and one of them is in the middle, a little more challenging than the 309's arrangement.  But the same nursery rhyme works for them both.

And here we see Gerry, who got to be the controller twister this time.

Then I did the underbody inspection.  The traction motors were rebuilt in Cleveland by a motor shop, and they still look like new.  It's always nice to see something like that.  This car is our oldest operating interurban, and it should keep going for a long time.

After inspecting the trucks and motors, it was time to pull the car outside and do lubrication.  Frank had already done the armature bearings, so that just left the main bearings and axle caps, as I had already topped off the compressor.  And after a brief test run, it was put back in the barn.

The 1902 interior with its Bijou-style lighting and rattan seats is still in excellent shape.

And the "solarium" end of the car is usually a crowd pleaser.

Inspection is an intensive process, so I didn't get any pictures of what all the other guys were doing.  But if you stay tuned in on this channel, we'll try to catch up.

In any case, we're scheduled to be running a CA&E wood car train on Sunday, May 29th, and at least one crewman, preferably two, is still needed.  Sign up today, you'll be glad you did!