Sunday Update

Frank writes...

Sunday was chilly and rainy, but there was still a fair bit happening out at IRM. When I arrived, my first task was to reinstall a couple of grommets for the 460's buzzer cord that I had missed. That was a little more complex than anticipated, but I managed to get that done. After that, it was on to the 18.

Late last year, I'd put primer on the "non-canvas" parts of the car's roof, and now it was time to put the final coat of tile red on. The next step for the roof will be to wash it off and then put a couple of coats of canvas paint on, which should significantly improve the car's overall appearance. I also added a bit more Bondo to the blind side of the car in the drop section but didn't get any photos.

I was also able to fix a minor inaccuracy with one of the 460's poles, namely that the trolley rope had been tied off to a clamp on the pole itself instead of to the harp as it was in service. The result can be seen here. This is more accurate and also should reduce the rope rubbing on the rope guard a bit. I also installed a rebuilt feed valve in the 36.

So, what else was happening? The grading contractor leveled the "pad" for the rebuilt Yard 4 East, as shown above. There may be a bit more to do, but this is getting closer to being ready for new track.

There was some fresh paint on the 306. It looks like the plan is to mask the stripes and paint orange over them. The upper sash windows are all in place. This will really look sharp! Nick was working on air gauges for the 306 while Greg was moving parts to make way for construction work at the east end of Barn 4. Zach worked on fixing a spare feed valve.

In the late afternoon I wandered over to the trolley bus barn, where Richard and Jeron were working on getting the newly acquired Boston trolley bus working. This thing was built in 2003, which of course is horrifying. It qualifies for several firsts: first piece of equipment with AC traction motors, first low-floor bus (edit: first low-floor *trolley* bus!), and first piece of transit equipment from Boston. Notice the left-side door, which was used in the Harvard bus subway and was also an unusual feature found on Boston's PCC cars.

Richard had the hood popped and was working on stuff on the roof. The bus sat for a year or so between retirement and movement to IRM, so some minor things didn't work, but they were able to futz with it and get it serviceable again.

The bus arrived full of spare parts, but this isn't the half of it - we got a ton of spare parts about a month ago in a separate shipment. Many thanks to our friends in Boston for their help with this! EDIT: It's hard to see, but at bottom right is a big, weirdly shaped piece of Plexiglas that was the "Covid shield" for the driver. It was removed after the bus arrived at IRM because it was in the way, but I hope the bus guys hold onto it. This bus was retired in early 2022 when Federal restrictions on public transportation were still in effect; in a few decades this shield will be an interesting reminder of a brief, but significant, period of history.

They happened to take the bus out for its first-ever full trip at IRM shortly after I arrived, so of course I went along. Here it is at the Wagner loop with the Skokie Swift sign in the background.

There's a little button on the floor the driver can hit that Richard called the "hoodlum switch." It lights up green lamps flanking the destination sign and changes the destination to rotate between "Emergency" and this entreaty to call the police. Don't try that phone number, they won't be amused!

And here's the bus on the return leg stopped in front of the diner annex. The sign rotates from "Welcome to" to "Boston." Assuming there's somewhere to go with all the spare parts, you may just get a chance to ride this thing soon at a museum near you.