Happy Halloween from all of us here at the blog! In honor of the occasion, we have this spooky sight: what Egon Spengler might term a "free-floating" apparition of an 'L' car suspended in mid-air. But of course, there's nothing too strange going on here - it's a photo taken by our intrepid freelance photographer Bob Sundelin on Sunday, showing the 1754 up on jacks during its big truck swap. You'll recall that the 1754 was rebuilt in the early 1920s with trucks and electrical gear basically identical to that fitted to the 4000s, but when the car came to IRM in the 1970s the CTA wanted to keep the motors (either that or we just couldn't afford to buy them!) so we got the car with a motor truck from an older, non-upgraded wooden 'L' car. Now that the 1754 is being restored to its late-1920s/1930s appearance, it has been needing a correct 4000-style Baldwin MCB motor truck, and over the last year or two a great deal of work has gone into rebuilding one. Bob reports that the truck swap was indeed completed on Sunday, though some side bearing adjustment remains to be done. Keep an eye out for the 1754, complete with its correct MCB motor truck, in regular service next year.
As for the motors for the 1754, both are correct. The CTA wanted to keep the WH 567 motors as spares for the still operating Evanston 4000s. IRM also couldn't afford to buy the car with motors. Remember in 1971, IRM was still recovering from the move to Union, building a longer railroad and income was limited. But Frank Jur paid $800.00 for the wood car motors that came with the Hedley truck. You can read the excellent story in Rail & Wire Issue #251 written by...umm me.
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