Gregg keeps us up-to-date with his work on the IT 1702:
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Steady progress has been made with the siding on the line
car. |
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Some of the hooks and chains have been applied. |
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Two eye bolts were fabricated by welding a length of
threaded rod to two eye bolts. These help hold up the hook end of the chains. |
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Siding is now up to the number 1 end motorman's side window.
Some bracing is needed before the rest of the siding is installed. |
Will this be just a cosmetic restoration or will the car be made operational?
ReplyDeleteThey are planning to make it operational. It would be very useful to have a line car that can propel itself. The 604 can be pushed hither and yon, but it has two burned-out motors and as you know those are very expensive to rebuild.
ReplyDeleteFrom the photos it looks like a new canvas roof will be needed. This is always a major job on a line car because of all the equipment mounted on the roof. Any thoughts on this? David Johnston
ReplyDeleteGregg is the best person to answer this, and he has provided us with some good insights into the situation:
ReplyDeleteI noticed a few comments related to my latest line car report. There are several people that would like to have the car run. However, it hasn't run since 1958 when it finished with the Illinois Terminal. Most of the car's equipment is there. Hopefully this winter we can check and see if it will run. The roof will eventually have to be rebuilt. The deck and platform are quite unsafe right now. The canvas is also partially missing. However, it's a small arch roof, and shouldn't take much to repair. Gregg
I might point out that the 1702 has basically the same control system and controllers as the 36 and 309, and I will be glad to help check out the control system. As usual, though, more investigation is needed, a lot of work will be required, and there are never any guarantees of success. But we'll do our best. So don't go away!