Friday Report

Today's report will be brief.  But first, let's check in on what the competition is doing.

Photo by Brian Hicks

My brother, who lives in Denver, writes:  The Big Boy is back in Denver today.  You can ride to Cheyenne, WY (about 100 miles) for $1200 but you have to find your way back.

All I can say to that is: We don't have an operating Big Boy, but at IRM the prices are much more reasonable, and we always bring you back to where you started, within walking distance of your car.  The choice is up to you!

  Meanwhile, back at East Union, my main priority today was to check the operation of the four-car wood train, which we haven't run for at least three years.  Although the 308 is still unable to motor, we plan to run it over to the 50th Avenue station for display during Vintage Transport, with some signage encouraging people to donate to the motor fund.  The easiest way to get it there is to run it as a control trailer.  The 308 was missing a feed valve, so I got one from the air brake room and installed it.  The brakes now work properly on all four cars.  I also got two more control jumpers and installed them.  I even had to find a missing link.

And then the train was operated for about a car length in both directions, and seemed to work OK.   So we should be all set.

The 36's feed valve has sometimes been sticking open, as they often do, so I removed it, cleaned it up, put it back together, checked its operation, and adjusted it.

After taking care of all that, and then closing everything up, I had a chance to wander over to the depot.  The 749 was providing revenue service, and Derek the motorman said that they had a great crowd all day.  Every trip so far had been full, and he was running on a one-hour headway, sometimes less.  There's no point to waiting if the car is already full of passengers.

That's always good to see.  I really don't know how weekday attendance is doing this summer.

And in other news, the only person in the car shop today, apart from my humble self, was Tim.

It's hot in the barn, of course, so frequent breaks are needed.   But he continues to make good progress on the 1808.

And that's it for today.  Stay tuned for updates as they occur.