Delayed Weekend Report

 More fascinating details from last weekend, provided by Steven: 

Saturday Progress

Saturday was inspection class day here in the Car Shop. Joel spent the time going through what needs to be inspected on one of the many revenue streetcars. Mikey, Nathan, Jimmy, and I spent the day going through the car and checking various components.

First up for me was checking the grids for anything stuck between them and making sure all the nuts were tight. Over time, a few of the nuts start to get a bit loose after hundreds of miles in a circle around the car line. After that, it was time to take a look at all the journal boxes and make sure they were all lubricated correctly.

  Next up was inspecting and cleaning each of the controllers. Jimmy worked on those while Mikey, Nathan, and I started taking a look at the motors. Checking the motors was a lot more involved than I had expected; luckily, we were able to work from both the top and bottom of the motors and sometimes wedged a bit inside, as Mikey demonstrated.  

 

 

Due to the size of the pit in the shot, we had to pump up the car and shift it over half way through so we could access the motors on the other end of the car. While we had the car pumped up, we wanted to make sure the compressor was turning on and off at the correct time, among a few other things. Here is a short clip of the compressor pumping air to get us up to the 80 PSI needed for the compressor to stop running.

Sunday Progress 

After a bit of a late-night Saturday, we return for some more work to be done Sunday. Within minutes of arriving, I had a project to work on: adding a few washers to the trolley wheel on the east end of 3142. Throughout the last operating season, it was noticed that the wheel on that end of the car had a bit more lateral play in it than it should. After getting up onto the car to take a look at the wheel, I had to get a quick shot from a vantage point that few get to see. The wheel took a bit of time to get apart and reassemble with an extra washer in there, but it did eventually get done. After the wheel was reassembled, it was time to help out with a bit of painting. The shop was busy with people cleaning off various parts and preparing them for painting with glyptal.

IT 1702 Update and More

Many thanks to Gregg Wolfersheim, who sends along this update of progress on IT line car 1702:

More parts being fabricated and then primed for the line car. The long pieces are the half covers that were pretty well shot in our last installment.

The small half cover in paint to the left. The panel in primer goes on top of the small group switch to protect it from moisture and dirt.

The small cover received a fiberglass layer to replace the asbestos. Then a coat of Glyptal was applied.

The two small covers all done.

And, the top piece in paint.

And as a bonus, Gregg also sent an update on Union Pacific doodlebug M35!

It's been a long time since I've had enough time for the doodlebug. However, one baggage rack was stripped and painted. Here it is installed in the smoking compartment.

And, the second rack is now up!

Work continues in the Women's toilet with paint and varnish removal.

Weekend Report

Many thanks to our intrepid ace reporter Steven, who sends along this account of the weekend's activities.

Saturday was Snow Removal Day at IRM. Mikey, Nathan, Jimmy, Will, and I headed out clearing the pit lead, and most of the railhead around the switches in 6 and 7.

Pictured below are the huge snow drifts along the doors of Barn 6. The snow blower didn't make it long enough to tackle these. Pending the arrival of parts, and Nathan reassembling the blower, the drifts must be removed by hand so we can get equipment out soon.

Another shot looking out towards Barns 7 and 8. In some spots it was really difficult to see where the rails were due to all the snow. 

Nathan is seen with the blower dealing with the even higher drifts of Barn 4. In some spots it was close to 4 feet of snow against the doors. 

The final photo shows the work Jimmy and I did around Yard 7. It didn't look like much, but with temperatures hovering around 5 degrees, it was quite exhausting.  

SUNDAY

Sunday was a day of many small tasks for most of us. My work was getting the masking tape off of 749's windows after Zach, Jeff Obarek, and I painted them up over the last few weekends. These windows are ready to go back into 749 whenever the weather warms up a bit.

Next up are some photos of the museum's new Taylor Dunn vehicles. Nathan and Joel are in the process of inspecting one of these to see what needs to be done to get it operational again. 

The final photo is of CSL 144. The goal is to clean up the car a little and make sure everything is ready for Frank Sirinek's memorial service later this year. 

Back to Windows

Frank writes...

On Sunday I resumed the window repainting project on the 18, a project which has been a feature of the last couple of winters.

All the original windows on the right side of the car have been removed and repainted, as have most of the ones near the front on the left side. About 10 windows remain to be done, most near the back on the left side. The window shown here is L18, the last window on the left side. This window and the very first window on the right side share a little gizmo (barely visible at bottom right) that allows the window to be opened only a few inches, whereas all the other windows only have two positions, closed and open. I wonder whether the idea was to create a cross breeze through the car in the winter without making it too cold?

Anyway, here are windows L15 through L18 on the bench. I removed the glass from each one, heat-stripped off the paint, sanded them, reinstalled the glass, and then added a little epoxy wood filler as needed. These windows weren't too bad but the bottom rails all had small cracks or splits.

Here's the stack after this work was done. With a bit of sanding to smooth off the new epoxy, they'll be ready for primer and then Bankers Cream. If anyone out during the week feels like moving these somewhere that's less in the way, I'd appreciate it!

The Illinois Terminal department was hard at work on IT Class B 1565. Bob, Brian, and Mikey were over at the locomotive working on contactors and brakes. Here, Zach (yellow hat) and Nick (not yellow hat) are working on rebuilding arc chutes using nothing but epoxy, Glyptal, and old fashioned grit and moxie. Actually, no Moxie. And the grit was mainly for cleaning hardware.

I even caught Bob from the Track Department doing car work. Make sure you fill out the Car Department volunteer hours sheet!

In other news, Tim was working on planing wooden planks for the 1808; Zach and Steven J were working on windows for the 749; Thomas and Ashton were working on rebuilding a U-valve, I believe for one of our CTA 4000s; Steven J was doing some cleanup on CSL 144; and Joel was working on a variety of things, as usual. Nick and Matthew also helped me put some spare parts away to clear a bit more floor space in the shop. And the photo above shows recent progress made by the weekday crew on a new baggage door for North Shore MD car 213, which is the only "end-door" MD car preserved. The original door behind it makes the need clear!

Illinois Terminal 1702 Update

Thanks to our intrepid roving reporter Gregg for sending along another update of the rapid progress on IT line car 1702:

As reported recently, work has begun on repainting the underbody components. Here is one of the three group switch covers being rehabbed. In the background is the end castings of the small cover and what is left of the sheet metal.

On the right is the small group exposed. The two contactors to the right act as a line breaker. In the middle and to the left are the individual contactors.

A close up view of the contactors seen within their arc chutes.

This is the rebuilt reverser from years ago. It needs all of the wires reattached to the terminals. Unfortunately the tags on all the wires are so old they can't be read anymore. So, tracing out circuits will hopefully identify the proper order for attaching them.

Here are the components for the small cover before assembly. The new sheet metal shell is in gray primer.

Between the back of the group box and the front cover there is this half cover hinged to the other two. These are getting rebuilt for obvious reasons.

Another candidate for rebuilding.

In the foreground is the small cover with its half cover (in primer) getting test fitted and then painted. In the back is one of the large covers already painted. The red is Glyptal insulating paint.

Memories of Frank Sirinek

Chris Buck sent along several photos showing off a couple of Frank Sirinek's restoration projects. First, three photos taken of the "Matchbox" around when it was completed in the late 1980s.

And then three photos from the dedication of the 3142 in 2001.

Since the car's motors came from Egypt, we invited the Egyptian Consul in Chicago, and he actually showed up, Egyptian flag in hand. He's the guy in the nice suit, of course! That flag sat on top of a bookcase in the museum office for years. That's Nick Kallas speaking in the second photo and Frank speaking in the third photo.

In Memoriam - Frank Sirinek

We are very sad to report that Frank Sirinek, longtime museum volunteer and project manager for the streetcars in the Chicago Surface Lines collection, died early this morning at the age of 88.

Frank grew up in Pilsen and worked for Illinois Bell most of his career. He joined IRM in April 1965, shortly after the museum moved to Union and before any equipment started operating. He was a Chicago streetcar fan, as he remembered riding the cars in the 1940s and 1950s, and before long he took over the museum's lone Chicago streetcar, CSL 144.

Frank had an enormous talent for project management. Car 144 needed a lot of work in the late 1960s to be made operational, including replacement of large portions of the sides, extensive roof work, and replacement of all its wheel sets. Frank worked hard on the car and enlisted the help of others in the organization to help complete the project. Car 144 was made operational and continues to see regular use to this day.

When the ERHS collection arrived in 1973, Frank spearheaded efforts to get more Chicago streetcars into operation. Initially, work focused on CTA 4391, the "Green Hornet." This car needed relatively little work, and following exterior restoration it was placed into service in 1974 or 1975. At that point Frank began working on the first of his major "frame-up" restorations, CSL 1374, the "Matchbox." Over the course of some 12 or 13 years, he and a large group of volunteers completely rebuilt car 1374. When acquired, it was in very deteriorated condition from its years as a salt car and was missing its seats. Frank and others tore the car down, replaced the floor and much of the roof and exterior, and completely rebuilt the car's interior. Frank's project management abilities made it possible for him to make use of the talents of many different volunteers, notably including the late Bill McGregor, and to do the fundraising necessary. Fully restored, car 1374 entered service in the late 1980s.

Frank's next project was CTA 3142, which he started working on in the mid-1980s as the "Matchbox" project was nearing completion. This car also required major interior restoration work as well as exterior body work and sourcing traction motors from Egypt. Car 3142 entered regular service in 2001 and has been IRM's primary service car on the streetcar line ever since. Following this project, Frank began work on Chicago & West Towns 141, which was just a car body. Arguably his most impressive restoration to date, and still the only electric car IRM has fully restored from “chicken coop” condition, car 141 first ran in 2013.

Over the past decade or so, Frank has mostly concentrated on restoring Kansas City Public Service 755, a PCC streetcar from that city. Frank's "right hand man" for years has been Mike Stauber, with Steve Iverson also working closely with Frank whenever he is in town. In recent years, as his health declined, Frank was able to make it to IRM less and less, but he was still hard at work on restoration work and overseeing maintenance on the Chicago cars when he could. He also kept up with other hobbies, including a handful of antique Chrysler cars and an O gauge model railroad.

Frank's dedication to the Chicago streetcar collection, his immense capabilities in restoration work and project management, and his unforgettable personality, which could be fiery at times but was always tempered by a friendly nature and strong sense of camaraderie with his fellow volunteers, will be sorely missed by all of us. He left an indelible mark on the Chicago streetcar collection and on IRM as a whole. Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.

Service arrangements will be posted here when we receive them.

2018 photo by Carina Borst. 1979 photo by Randy Hicks.