Sunday Report

Frank writes...

Sunday was the last day of a very successful first weekend for Happy Holiday Railway, as my father described. I wasn't in train service Sunday, but when I arrived there was work being done on a different urgent project: the extension of Barn 4.

Here we see Joel, in the bucket of the hi-rail line truck, using the winch to lower the bracket arm down from the line pole nearest the northeast corner of Barn 4 while Matt, on the ground, prepares to guide it to a soft landing. This pole, and the next one to the east, will have to come down to make way for the eastward extension of Barn 4. We aren't sure exactly when work on the building will commence, but it could be fairly soon, so we need to be prepared.

Until recently, there were four containers at this location, but now there are two and soon there will be none. The "box," the longtime streetcar workshop, has already been emptied and removed, while these containers hold spare windows and glass. The barn extension will also extend the lean-to along the south edge, permitting additional storage space indoors.

And here Joel is heading east with the line truck toward the second line pole. Matt and I helped him get this bracket down, too, and we also coiled up the trolley wire and feeder wire from the pit lead that had previously been lowered to the ground. Soon, the equipment on track 40 (behind the line truck) will be moved out, with the caboose and boxcar ending up about 75' to the east of where they are now.

After that, it was time for some railfanning! That big grin sticking out the cab window of the 229 is Zach, who has been working for the last month or two in his spare time to get our MD car running again. It was retired some years back due to deteriorated roof boards, but he has made all of the necessary repairs and the 229 motored itself back and forth a bit in Barn 8. Greg, Good Nick, Mikey, and Nathan all helped with this project as well.

Here's a photo Zach took of the "flop-over" style trolley base at the east end of the 229. The base sits on wooden blocks which are bolted to a pair of crosswise steel straps; these, in turn, are screwed to the trolley boards. The plan is to operate the 229 on January 21st along with our other operational North Shore cars. Yes, you read that right - for the first time in (I believe) 30 years, IRM will be open in January. We'll be commemorating the 60th anniversary of the abandonment of the North Shore, both for its own sake and as part of our own 70th anniversary celebration, so you won't want to miss it. It will be a unique opportunity to see and ride a variety of equipment (likely including the Electroliner) in a wintertime setting. Mark your calendars!

Before dinner, with Zach's help I climbed up on the roof of the 18 and blew the dust off of the roof boards and ventilators using air from CTA 4412 over on track 72. Zach snapped this photo of me up there. The next time I'm out when there's at least a modicum of warmth and natural light, I hope to paint everything on the roof that isn't canvas with Rustoleum primer.

And finally, after dinner I removed one of the extra-wide rear end windows from the 18 and brought it into the shop for paint. Two of these are original, but this one is an "egg crate wood" replacement probably made at Trolleyville. But it's serviceable for the time being, so it got a quick sanding and a coat of primer.