Sunday Report

Frank writes...

I didn't do a very thorough job of photographing all my activities on Sunday, but you'll get the gist. The first thing I did, not long after arriving, was meet up with a couple of volunteers from the Fox River Trolley Museum. They were picking up rolls of North Shore seat material that IRM had specially made (by the same company that made the seat material for the CA&E 450s!). Zach coordinated a joint order on behalf of IRM; FRTM didn't order any material, but the Hoosier Heartland Trolley Company, Branford, and East Troy all did, so these volunteers were picking up the rolls destined for Branford and East Troy.

After that, it was time for a (hopefully final) coat of vermilion orange on the sides of the 63.

I think the color looks quite good, and I think that we've covered any underlying layers of paint effectively, but one of these days we'll need to tow it outside and look at it in the daylight to make sure. In the meantime, I am pretty sure I'm done on this thing until the spring, when it will be time to work on the striping and lettering.

After that, Will and I took the final batch of reupholstered seat cushions and backs from the shop extension over to the 460 and put them in that car. Many thanks to Will, for his help with this, and to Jon F, who picked up the seats from the upholstery shop! Over at the 460, Jeff and Joseph (the latter shown above) are working on removing and repairing many of the car's windows. The windows seem to be in okay shape, but most of the windows in the car are extremely difficult - maybe impossible - to open. That's no fun on a hot day, so it will be a huge improvement to have that fixed.

The next project was third rail beams. We have a pile of CA&E third rail beams that we acquired from Trolleyville but never rebuilt with new wood, so we brought one into the shop to compare with the patterns we just acquired from the Wendell Dillinger collection. Above, you can see an original beam and one of our patterns underneath it. It appears that the cast parts on the third rail beam are cast steel, rather than cast iron. We've already made contact with an area foundry so we'll let you know what transpires. Thanks to Greg and Richard for their help in retrieving and analyzing this third rail beam.

So, what else was going on? I had been warned before driving out not to drive back behind the shop. As seen here, the paving crew is supposed to be paving the access road around the east end of the Barn 4 extension on Tuesday, so we don't want grooves in the gravel. The paving will include the parking lot, which will be bigger than the old parking lot was (in addition to being relocated about 100' further east).

Here's a view of Yard 4 east looking west toward the barn. Supposedly, the aisles in this yard are also being paved. Swanky!

Besides Jeff and Joseph working in the 460, Greg and Nick were over in Barn 2 helping the Diesel Department guys get the new bi-levels ready for Happy Holiday Railway while Brian, Jimmy, Ashton, and Will were working on air brake components. I believe this involved knocking items off the "end-of-year to-do list" that Joel created from all the comments written on the backs of the "car cards" by operators during the year. Above, Brian tests an air gauge while Kevin from the 'Liner crew, who was working on painting the inside of the west cab during the day, looks on.

In other exciting news, a crew of volunteers has been finishing the striping on Cleveland PCC 4223! This car was painted 14 years ago - boy, does time fly - but at the time, the striping and lettering was left incomplete, with only the front-end striping done. Now, it appears the car's livery will be completed. I can't wait to see it! Here's a point of trivia: with this work, all four of the museum's ex-Shaker Heights cars have received new paint within the last year or so. Huh.

Rattaning Seat Bottoms

Rattaning Seat Bottoms

by Bob Yohe

This how-to article was written by Bob Yohe of the Branford Electric Railway Association and was provided to us by Bill Wall, who along with Bob gave us permission to reprint it.

Here are some miscellaneous notes that may be helpful for future re-rattaning of seat bottoms.  These notes are based on doing most of the side seats for JTC 357, and using previously reconstructed seat frames.  Plan on spending about 4.5 to 5 hours per seat bottom.

Supplies Needed:

Seat bottoms

Rattan

Plastic sheeting to cover floor work area, e.g., old shower curtain

12oz cotton canvas, e.g., new dropcloth

White  glue, e.g., Elmers

3” long-nap roller and tray

Water spray bottle

Staple gun and 5/16” staples

Tacks--#6 x ½”

Wire nails 17 x ¾” 

Utility knife, with sharp blades

Tack puller, with sharp claws

Crate opener or small hammer

Small locking pliers, i.e., Vise-Grip

Pair of regular pliers

A pipe clamp, long enough to reach lengthwise (having two is even better)

Web clamp, long enough to reach around perimeter, with four pieces of angle steel

Major Steps:

• Laminate canvas to back side of rattan

• Remove rattan from old seat bottom frame

• Cover seat bottom with new rattan, apply metal edging, trim excess rattan

• Varnish rattan

Techniques:

• Spread out plastic film onto floor work area. You need enough for the number seats you will be recovering. [I find that doing two at a time works well.]

• Cut rattan to fit bottom seat frame.  Minimum length from roll is 45.”  If less, you may have a problem with folding it over bottom edge of ends and holding it while fastening.]  Width of roll, between stitching is 26.” 

• Cut 10 or 12oz. canvas to be about 2-3” larger than the piece of rattan all around.   This gives you something to hold onto when stretching or folding rattan.  See Figure 1.

Figure 1

• Laminate canvas to rattan:
Moisten back side of rattan lightly, using water spray bottle.

Use paint roller to apply thin coat of white glue to back side of rattan.  Try to avoid getting too much glue on rattan, as it tends to bleed through to front and plastic film.

Moisten canvas lightly, using water spray bottle.

Use paint roller to apply thick coat of white glue to canvas

Lay canvas on top of back side of rattan.  Knead canvas into weave of rattan, using finger tips for initial positioning.  [Doing a “tap dance” with bare or stocking feet to really get canvas pressed into weave of rattan works well.]  It is important that you get a good, strong bond between canvas backing and rattan.

Allow laminated cover to dry. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

• Remove old metal edging strip from old seat. See Figure 3. Label the six pieces with the seat bottom number, as you will reinstall on another seat bottom. (This avoids using the same holes twice.)

Figure 3

• Remove old rattan.  Be sure to remove all old nails, tacks, or staples from seat frame. See Figure 4.

Figure 4

• Mark the center line of both long sides of seat bottom and mark the center line of laminated piece of rattan/canvas.  Be sure the center line of laminate follows one strand of the weave.  See Figure 2. (If you don’t, the weave will not be perpendicular to the long edge of the seat frame.)

• Position the laminate to start re-covering.

Center the laminated piece, using the centering marks made earlier, with center cross spring support of seat bottom.  Double-check to see that you have enough at each end to fold over.

Spray the first 6 inches of the rattan along one long edge. Spraying the rattan makes it flexible and rubbery, so it will bend and fold much more easily. Do not try to fold dry rattan, as it will crack and break. Avoid over spraying, as the water will soften the white glue holding the rattan and canvas backing together. It is critical that this lamination remain strong in the area where people will be sitting.

Line up one strand of the weave to be even with the bottom outer edge of the long side.  See Figures 5 and 6. (If you don’t, the weave will not be parallel with the long edge of the seat frame.) Allow about 2 inches of weave to give you enough to fold over edge and staple. (Do not count the loose strands beyond the string.)

Staple along the bottom side of the long edge, starting in the center and working out towards the corners. Use 5/16” staples, as ½” staples are too long. Leave about 6-8 inches from the corners unstapled. You will need this unstapled space when folding in and trimming the corners.

Spray the first 6-8 inches of the rattan along the other long edge.

Grabbing firmly and maintaining tight tension, staple along the bottom edge of the other long side.  Again, leave about 6-8 inches from the corners unstapled.  You will notice that you have much more overlapping the bottom edge after you have stapled the second side.  Trim this excess to about 2 inches beyond the edge.  See Figure 6.  (This will make folding the ends much easier.)

Figure 5

Figure 6

• Do not staple the center of the two short ends. See Figure 7. Moisten well the first corner you want to fold and trim excess. This is a “do it by feel” or “do it by observation,” and as such is the tricky part.  You need to fold multiple layers so the corner has a nice neat seam.  To remove excess bulk, you trim out roughly a square piece.  See Figures 8 and 9.  But be sure to leave enough to fold over so a “raw” edge is not showing.  (As a rough guide the corner of the square you cut out, is a little over 1 inch diagonally from the corner of the seat frame.)  The seam slot is visible from the short end, so the multiple layers that are folded underneath lay along the long side.  That is why there is a notch at the end of the long sides.  See Figures 4 and 10.  (You may want to practice with a piece of cloth or heavy paper over the end of a facial tissue box to see how to do it.)

You will find it easier to work with the seat bottom standing on end when trying to make the corner folds.  This allows you to press and hold the seat bottom against a workbench with your body leaving both hands free to do the folding and holding of rattan, and then stapling. See Figure 7.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

• When you have trimmed as required and done the folding and everything is tight and compact, staple the remaining bottom sides into the corner. Feel free to use extra staples to ensure a tight fold.  (These extra staples can be removed when everything is dry.) You may need to use one or two ¾” inch nails to securely hold the multiple layers of rattan/canvas, although using extra staples seems to work well.

Figure 10

• Repeat this for the other corner on the same end.  You will have to knead and try to smooth down the middle of the end panel.  Since you are pushing down the rattan to fit the low corners, the rattan tends to want to “bunch up” in the middle between the two corners. 

• Position the 4 pieces of angle at the corners and tighten the web clamp. You want to make sure the rattan is forced tightly next to the frame, with no bulging and puckering. See Figures 11 and 12.

Figure 11

Figure 12

• Position two pieces of 2x4 lumber along the short ends and clamp along the length of the seat bottom. See Figures 11 and 12. This is to make sure that no bulging and puckering happens along the ends. If puckering occurs, it will rub against back bracket every time the back is flipped over—wearing out the rattan.

• Let dry for an hour or two.  If possible leave web and pipe clamps securely attached.

• Cut 4 notches in the rattan for the holes in the bottom frame to receive the pegs from the metal seat assembly in the car.; or until rattan is dry.

• Re-attach the pieces of metal trim pieces along the center of the bottom edges of the seat from.  Use #6x1/2” tacks to secure.  This trim piece hides the staples, serves as a guide when you cut the excess rattan, and helps protects the edge of the rattan.  See Figure 13.

Figure 13

• Cut off excess rattan.

• Varnish rattan.  The first coat is a thinned down 1:5 mineral spirits to varnish.  This provides additional adhesion between rattan and canvas backing.  The second and third coats are full-strength spar vanish, which help protect the rattan from water and wear.  See Figures 14 and 15.    

Figure 14

Figure 15

This is Part IV of our correspondence course, "So You Want To Restore an Interurban Car." Be sure to take the other parts of this course on canvas roofs, MU control circuits, and control jumper repair.

Bay Area Behemoths

Bay Area Behemoths

by Art Peterson

all photos are from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

The Southern Pacific (SP) gets a horrible rap for its latter-day attitude towards commuters and intercity passengers. Yet, the East Bay area commute territory provides a couple of examples where SP management went above and beyond to make things better for its riders. The first instance was the consolidation of independent operators (San Francisco & Oakland and the San Francisco & Alameda) under the Central Pacific banner in 1870 and then the further consolidation of the South Pacific Coast narrow-gauge lines into this operation 17 years later. This could be dismissed simply as strengthening SP’s competitive position, while the later standard-gauging of the ex-SPC lines certainly made things easier operationally for SP.

After having had the East Bay commute traffic to itself for 30+ years, SP had to adjust to the Key Route’s electric trains intruding on the scene from late 1903. This affront happened right in SP’s face at University and Shattuck in Berkeley. Key’s founder, Francis Marion Smith, had much the same motivation as Henry Huntington did in Los Angeles; both saw the value-enhancing role that good transportation could play for their real estate holdings.

SP implemented several measures to improve the time-keeping and speed of its steam services to counteract the Key threat. Key kept expanding, opening lines serving Piedmont, Claremont and central Oakland (another direct threat to a previously-SP-dominated market) in succession. By 1911, they were also opening their Northbrae and Westbrae lines, fueling the suburbanization of previously undeveloped land. In the period 1890 to 1910, Alameda had doubled in size, while Oakland grew three-fold and Berkeley expanded eight-fold. Both Key and SP saw East Bay commuter ridership as a serious growth market.

SP’s big move this time around was a stunner – replace the steam trains with an electrified system, a worthy competitor to the Key System. Initially, SP considered cars similar to what Key was using, but finally they settled on big, steel MU cars, each coach being 72’-10.5” long over pulling faces and 10’-4” wide. This allowed 3-2 seating accommodating a total of 116 riders per coach. SP expected to spend around $4 million for the electrification, and this decision came straight from the top – from Edward H. Harriman, who became the president of the SP in 1901. In fact, SP would spend considerably more than was expected in the electrification project – well past $10 million.   

Ground zero for the ridership wars between Key System and SP was Berkeley. In the foreground, a two-car train of dark olive green SP cars (with their original square end windows and roof-mounted GE arc headlights) waits at the handsome, 1908-vintage Berkeley station. The SP line has been rebuilt to include the centered catenary supports and wider track centers adopted with the coming of the big electric cars. Meanwhile, a three-car train of Key 500-series suburban cars shares Shattuck Avenue with a Key streetcar in the background.

In the first year of electrified operation, SP reported revenue amounting to $1.3 million against expenses of $1.7 million to the State Railroad Commission. These figures did not include any interest on SP’s capital investment or payments into sinking funds. SP went before the Commission the following year (1914), again requesting an increase in fares and demonstrating that it was losing money on every 10-cent (first zone) fare it collected. The road went away empty-handed once again. This went on year after year; in 1917, SP’s presentation to the Commission reflected a deficit of nearly $600,000. Once again, the Commission would not grant an increase.

Finally, in 1918 and again in 1919, SP appealed to a new party to the proceedings – the US Railroad Administration – for fare increases. The Administration granted an increase of 1 cent on the first zone fares in 1918 and followed this up with a 3.5-cent increase on its first zone fares in 1919.

Despite these increases, SP found itself operating at a loss of around $500,000 per year. In early 1920, SP implemented a reduction in the number of cars operated to try and control operating expenses. However, by this time ridership on the SP-East Bay Lines was slipping – between 1919 and 1920, 24% of the riders were lost. The rate of decay slowed a bit in the first half of the 1920s, with the next five years seeing only a 0.5% decrease in annual passenger traffic. In that brief period of stability, SP added six new St. Louis-built MU cars to the East Bay fleet in 1924, which would be the final additions to the roster.

IER Trains on Approach to Oakland Pier – December 23, 1938 – AR Alter Photo

High-capacity electric railroading, SP-style. The approach tracks to the Oakland Mole included four electrified tracks and four tracks for the use of steam/diesel trains. Here, a two-car train headed by car 306 (part of the original 1911 order for ACF-built cars) is filling a 3-Berkeley-Shattuck Avenue trip, while a single car works a 5-Berkeley-9th Street service. Use of the numbered disks, end destination signs and the full-height gates were among the more visible requirements for running over the Bridge Railway. IER had been the service operator for just over three weeks at the time. Within a month, operation to/from the Mole would be a thing of the past. 

In the period 1925-1930, a reduction in ridership of almost 20% occurred, while between 1930 and 1935, this trend accelerated to -22%, and then increased to -26% between just 1935 and 1938. Even the opening of the Bay Bridge and the provision of a one-seat ride to/from San Francisco couldn’t help the Interurban Electric Railway, or IER, as the operation was known after December 1, 1938. Traffic in 1939 was down 6%, with a further 3% decrease reported for 1940 (when just 9.6 million riders were carried). Out of its revenue, IER had to pay the California Toll Bridge Authority a 2.5 cents per passenger toll for each passenger carried in/out of the East Bay Terminal.

Planning for the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco-based terminal facility had begun as early as 1932 as a cooperative effort between the State Department of Public Works, the Key System and SP. The 6.9-mile extension that the Bridge Railway represented was to be owned by the California Toll Bridge Authority, which had secured $15 million in Reconstruction Finance Corporation bonds. On March 6, 1936, SP/IER had reached an agreement with the Authority to deed 52 cars of the East Bay fleet to the Authority in return for Authority-secured funds to make the necessary equipment changes to the fleet in preparation for Trans-Bridge service.

The first spike on the Bridge Railway was driven on the first day of February 1938. Just shy of eight months later, the first train went across the Bay Bridge using the 600V DC third rail distribution provided for the Key System trains. IER combines 601-602 operated a second cross-bridge test trip on the last day of November, while IER coaches 357-375 became the first cars to enter the East Bay Terminal on December 18, 1938.

Ceremonial specials to/from the Terminal operated on January 14, 1939, and the next day regular, revenue service to/from San Francisco began. Six tracks looped through the terminal facility, with tracks 1-2-3 being used by the IER and the other three tracks being shared by Key and Sacramento Northern (SN) trains. Each platform could accommodate a 10-car consist. Between Key System, IER and SN, the initial weekday service included 519 scheduled departures from the terminal. PM rush service scheduled 52 arrivals and 51 departures, all made on a 75-second headway.

IER 628 – East Bay Terminal – 1939 – AR Alter Photo

SP-owned combine 628 (an 83-seat car from the 1912 Pullman order) leads a 4-Encinal Avenue (Alameda) train. At the time, daily ridership on this line was around 4,000 users. The Bridge Railway was confronted with varying electrical supply demands of the three using roads – IER was a 1200V DC catenary operation, Key used 600V DC catenary and SN could run on either 600, 1200 or 1500V DC.  Ultimately, the Bridge Railway was built using 1200V DC catenary and 600V DC third rail. This required the Key cars to have third rail shoes added.

To enhance the safety of such an intense operation, all trains were to receive cab signal equipment. General Railway Signal (GRS) equipment was installed on the Key and SN cars, while the IER cars used Union Switch & Signal (US&S)-made equipment. To manage the flow of trains onto the correct tracks within the Terminal, a train describer system on the west end of the bridge itself sorted the IER trains (right-hand lead track) from the Key/SN train (left-hand lead).

With the restructuring of the IER operation to focus trains onto the Bridge Railway (as opposed to having Oakland and Alameda Piers to provide the ferry connections), the lines serving Alameda Island connected to the mainland network at the east end of the island. This meant that what had once been a 9.7-mile trip via the Alameda Pier now became a 19.8-mile trip from East Bay Terminal to High Street, Alameda. You can see how going the long way around would lead to ridership reductions on these lines.

Unfortunately for IER, ridership across its system was not materializing to the extent envisioned and reductions in service went into effect from February 26, 1940. Where IER had been scheduling 210 weekday departures, now it was running only 162 trains east from San Francisco (a 23% reduction). Sundays/Holidays were subject to an 11% reduction in departures, with 114 now being operated.

IER – Shattuck-Vine - 1941

SP steam operations to Berkeley ran for 35 years, with the last SP steam train on Shattuck Avenue run on December 30, 1911. The successor electrified service by SP/IER was in place for just shy of 30 years, with IER’s last train to Shattuck Avenue leaving East Bay Terminal at 0116 on July 25, 1941. Vine Street, where this photo was taken, was 11.6 miles from the Terminal, located between the Berkeley main station and Thousand Oaks. To improve the visibility of the trains, cherry red exterior paint replaced the olive green within a year of starting operation. This car also reflects the rebuilding of the original order with porthole end windows, which was done to enhance crew safety/protection.

IER petitioned the Railroad Commission for abandonment of operations on the ground that it was not financially justified. The Commission concurred on August 26, 1940, while the ICC agreed with this determination on November 9, 1940. The two lines serving Alameda (Encinal and Lincoln Avenues) were the weakest of the system, and both made their last runs on January 18, 1941. These rail lines were replaced by Key System bus service.

Service on the 7th Street Line ended on March 21, 1941, at which time IER’s West Alameda Shops were also closed. All IER railcar maintenance was thereafter handled out of the Bridge Yard. A replacement Key System rail service to Havenscourt began running on April 14, 1941.

The IER Berkeley Lines were originally planned to finish up operations on March 1, 1940. This was postponed due to Key not having sufficient cars on hand to operate the replacement service. Key considered the lease of the Authority-owned ex-IER cars, but the State would not concur with this. The last day of IER 9th Street and Shattuck Avenue services was July 25, 1941.

Ultimately, Key had to rearrange its service plans to provide sufficient rail equipment, including giving up on plans for ‘G’ and ‘H’ rail lines. The ‘G’ line (now operated by motor bus) began on July 26, 1941. A track connection between Key and the ex-IER line at Shattuck/Dwight was made and Key ‘F’ line trains began running to Northbrae on August 6, 1941.

Part of the IER 7th Street line was used by East Bay Transit streetcar lines 1 and 3, while a portion of the 9th Street line was operated as part of the Richmond Shipyard Railway. The Shipyard Railway also made use of ex-IER pantographs and pilots (installed on former New York elevated cars), in addition to employing two IER substations, overhead catenary and rail (salvaged from various lines).

On March 15, 1944, the California Toll Bridge Authority sued IER for $15.8 million in damages, alleging Breach of Contract. This was finally settled in December 1945 for $750,000. The IER Board filed its Certificate of Dissolution as part of its August 3, 1949 meeting and the Railway ceased to exist.

And what of the IER fleet? The Bridge Authority owned 52 cars (30 motors and 22 trailers). After cessation of IER service, these were initially taken to the Key Pier and stored. The cars were sold for continued use (with all motor cars de-motorized) to the following locations: Aberdeen Proving Grounds (until 1954); the Ogden Army Depot (through 1947); the Red River Army Depot (until the end of 1954); by the Gulf Shipbuilding Company for use between Mobile and Chickasaw (through 1945); and for Los Angeles-San Diego military service on the Santa Fe (until 1947).

AT&N X-210 – Memphis, TN

One of the 10 de-motorized IER cars that had been originally bought by Gulf Shipbuilding for use on “The Gulf Arrow” service between Mobile and Chickasaw later (after 1945) found its way into the Alabama Tennessee & Northern (AT&N) work car fleet. Used as a kitchen car, this car reportedly survived until 1970. Some sources assign this car directly in the Frisco work car fleet with the number 102292. The AT&N was absorbed into Frisco in 1971, but neither car/identity shows up on surviving rosters. No longer requiring the double-stream entry/exit platform to swallow crowds, the car has had the inner set of doors plated over and steps removed as part of its work train reassignment.

Of the 94 cars to which SP retained title, all but eight were requisitioned by the United States Maritime Commission. Cars from this group ended up in: Portland, OR (shipyard service to/from Vancouver, WA via the SP&S); San Diego (AT&SF military service fleet); two cars were retained by the USMC at PE-Torrance Shops and from there one each went to Ft. McClellan, AL and to Bremerton, WA; and SP retained two and used them as temporary office space. Three of the SP cars were scrapped by Hyman-Michaels in South San Francisco circa 1941.

Ex-IER Trailer – near Gresham, OR – June 11, 1956 – George Krambles Photo

The ACF order of 1911 originally was for 60 cars, of which 30 were to be trailers. It was later increased to 125 cars, increasing the quantity of each type of car (motor, trailer and combine) received. Over time, SP/IER rebuilt 10 of the 400-series trailers to motor cars. All but one of the trailers (404) retained its square end windows through to the end of service. After the end of IER operations, 15 of the trailers migrated north to Oregon for use on Portland-Vancouver (WA) shipyard service. Which SP/IER car this may have been has been lost to history, but it is indicative of how the cars got scattered by the USMC.

The bulk of the SP-held cars (54) made their way to Los Angeles and initially were used by the USMC and later by Pacific Electric (PE). These were the famous PE “blimps” where they joined ranks with the 19 similar ex-Northwestern Pacific cars. In 1953, PE sold its operation to Metropolitan Coach Lines (and the surviving blimps went with the property). In 1958, the operation was sold to Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority and the remaining blimps finished out their operating days (last day for the LA-Long Beach rail operation was April 9, 1961) under that banner.

PE 498 – EB Oneonta Junction, South Pasadena – March 1950 – S Goodrick Photo

Arriving in Los Angeles in 1943 as IER 627, this car was renumbered to USMC 27 to avoid a conflict with PE’s Hollywood-type car 627. Its identity was changed to USMC 302 in 1944 and then it became PE 4702 in 1946. PE’s Torrance Shops began a major modernization program on both the ex-NWP and former IER “Blimps” and the 4702 was rebuilt into PE 498 on August 15, 1947. PE’s employee magazine carried a feature article on this work under the title “Remodeled Luxury Liners,” noting that $7,500 per car was being spent. Work included new seats, reflector-type lighting, a drop ceiling, and vestibule doors replacing the sliding gates. The 498 retained its PE number during Metropolitan Coach Lines days, but when the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority took over, it was assigned number 1546. It made exactly one trip with that number (a May 25, 1959 fan trip) and was sold to the Orange Empire Trolley Museum in 1961.  

Acknowledgements:  this article would not be possible without HW Demoro’s “The Key Route – Part One: (Interurbans Special 95 – 1985), RS Ford’s “Red Trains in the East Bay” (Interurbans Special 65 – 1977), RS Ford’s “Red Trains Remembered” (Interurbans Special 75 – 1980) and IL Swett’s “Cars of the Pacific Electric – Volumes II and III” (Interurbans Specials 36 and 37 – 1965). In addition, the assistance of Phil Gosney and Greg Sommers in researching the post-IER careers of the rolling stock is gratefully acknowledged. The work of each of the original photographers (where known) is also sincerely appreciated.

Fifty Years

Frank writes...

My father and I were both at IRM on Saturday for reasons that will be made clear shortly. The big news was that Richard made a lightning trip out east during the week and visited the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad. The M&H's former owner, Wendell Dillinger, died late last year; he had been a major force in CA&E preservation in the 1960s and saved quite a bit of CA&E-related material. He left his estate to the M&H Railroad and its employees, so they've started distributing his collection. Some of the CA&E artifacts have now arrived at IRM. Thanks to Mike Graycar and the people of the M&H Railroad for making these items available and to Bill Wall for facilitating the acquisitions. Special thanks to the late Wendell Dillinger, who had the foresight to preserve these items.

There were some boxes of paperwork, which is appreciated and which we will go through and scan. A lot of the items were patterns, as shown above. Some of these were obvious - brake heads, center bearings, swing link hangers - but others weren't. All of them had CA&E pattern numbers painted on them, which is good, but of course we don't have the key. Still, these were dutifully labeled and added to our collection of patterns.

All, that is, except for this pile. We're really excited to get these because this appears to be a full set of patterns for casting third rail beam components! From left to right, you've got contact shoes; suspension links, with the contact shoe hanger behind it; in the foreground, the large casting that bolts to the underside of the wooden beam; then a wooden pattern for the base of the sleet scraper cylinder (the second board behind it is the sleet scraper shoe); and in the box at right are patterns for the sleet scraper cylinder. Wow, neat! We acquired a number of third rail beams from Trolleyville back in 2010, but not as many as we need, and we're a total of five beams short. We are going to look into pricing for getting these components cast, hopefully in the near future. Watch this space for updates!

While we were sorting parts, the boss stopped by. "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Many thanks to Zach and Ashton, who worked with me to get the patterns into storage. And a huge thank you to Richard for making the trip out east and loading all these items!

After that, I worked in the 460 for a while. It took some time and elbow grease, but I got all the screws to thread into the first replacement seat back, after which we added the cushions. Voila, the first seat is done! My father models it, pointing out the window at a North Shore car going past as part of a switch move to rearrange the 714 and 749.

In other news, a contractor was working during the week to spray foam insulation into the ceiling of Barn 4. There's more to go, but they made a lot of progress.

In the evening came the main event: a small party to celebrate my father having been an IRM volunteer for 50 years! He joined in July 1974 and started working on the 309 in 1975.

Pizza and cake were enjoyed by all. Many thanks to my wife Bevin, who ordered the cake, made up the decorations and party favors, and was really behind the entire thing.

My father thought ahead and brought a bottle of sparkling grape juice, which went quickly. Photo by David Fullarton.

Here he is cutting the cake with Bill, Jon, Norm and Steve at the table behind him, while some of the younger "second shift" guys are in the background.

After the food came a slide show, with my father showing a few trays of slides he took from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. Here he is, pointing out something, with onlookers including me, Will, Mike, and Steve. Photo by Zach Ehlers. Many thanks to all who attended, and of course, a big congratulations to my dad on 50 years of volunteering!

Recognize This Part?

Tim Peters needs another two dozen of these hinge pins.  If you might have some like this, please let us know!