New - and We Do Mean New - Diesels

Frank writes...

Normally we don't focus too much on the Diesel Department, but the diesel-related news from yesterday was too big to ignore, so here we go. In the afternoon, IRM received three newly donated diesels from two different sources that just happened to show up together on the same train from Proviso.

This photo was taken by Lee Evans after the new diesels were safely on the property. To the left is Burlington Northern (later BNSF) 9400, built in 1993, which was the first production freight locomotive built with AC traction motors. Given that in recent years, AC traction locomotives comprise virtually 100% of the market, this is a very historic engine. When it was dedicated in a ceremony in early 1994, it was even featured in Trains Magazine alongside a familiar face:

I believe the 9400 is now the youngest piece of rail equipment on the property. The engine has been in storage for several years, so the first order of business is to assess its condition and, if possible, make any repairs needed to get it running. Longer-term, the Diesel Department will do fundraising to pay the locomotive's track space and then hopefully work towards getting it indoor storage space. The eventual plan is to return it to its as-built green-and-cream livery. More info, including on donating, is here.

The other two locomotives, described in detail here, are only slightly less new (anything built after, oh, let's say July 1957 is so new that it can only possibly be in its youth, right?) but are also quite historically significant. They're both 1970s-era Amtrak engines, including the only remaining SDP40F and one of only a couple of preserved F40PH's. Between them, they represent most of Amtrak's main-line motive power for 20 or 25 years from the 1970s to the 1990s. The SDP40F is said to be a runner, while the F40PH is in good shape but needs motor leads. Both of these engines are already on the schedule for Diesel Days, coming up in just over a week, so their operational debut at IRM isn't far off.

Anyway, for the record, that's 10,000 horsepower worth of diesels that showed up yesterday, so that's not a bad haul for a Thursday. If you were thinking about something as crazy as not coming out for the Vintage Transport Extravaganza this Sunday, the opportunity to see the new arrivals will surely quash those doubts.

EDIT: Many thanks to Lee for sending along a collection of photos taken on the 31st.

By chance, all three locomotives ended up at Proviso at the same time, so they came out to IRM via West Chicago on the Belvidere train.

This was likely the first time these locomotives are crossing Olson Road but it certainly won't be the last. It may be the last on those particular rails, though.

The Diesel Department was waiting for the new arrivals with a "tow truck" consisting of AT&SF 92 and BN 5383 - quite appropriate for picking up BNSF locomotives. Here, we see the cut from the cab of the 92 after a trip through the wye.

The end of the day found all three locomotives safely in Yard 2.

Lee also took cab photos of all three engines, which are interesting to compare:

First is BNSF 6976, built as Amtrak 644 in 1974.

Next up is Amtrak 231, which was built in 1977.

"One of these things is not like the others." BNSF 9400 was built in 1993 and was among the very first locomotives with a "desktop" control stand, as shown. You'll also note the computer screens; this is by far the most computerized locomotive we have, so in addition to making sure all the mechanical and electrical stuff is working, we'll also need to keep the computers healthy for it to run.

IRM on TV

On Thursday morning our Museum was visited by a crew from Fox-32 news, and everybody had a good time.  Of course, they focused on Transport Extravaganza which will be this Sunday, and that's always a good way to get more people interested in IRM who might not otherwise know about it.

And here's a link for part of what was on TV.

Joel and I were running the 309, and Gregg is seen here as motorman on the 1374.

A handful of antique autos are already on the property, but the vast majority of them will show up on Sunday.  You won't want to miss it!

And by the way, we could still use at least one trainman on the CA&E cars to help out.

After that was over, I had a chance to check out things in Barn 4.  Tim, of course, was working on the 1268; the platforms are being rebuilt.

The platform floor is cleverly designed to slope outwards and down.

And at the other end, you can see there's more to be done.  Watch your step, please!

The 306 project is making tremendous progress, and here's the current status.  The walls for the lavatory have been made and are being put in place.

The floor has been painted, and they say they will start putting the seat frames in place tomorrow!

So this is really exciting.  

And finally, a few more pictures of the progress on the GB&W 109.   Gregg and two of the new guys are working on it.

As I said to Gregg, all it needs now is trolley poles on the roof and it will be ready for service!

Finally, as I've mentioned before, we still get occasional spam comments which we have to deal with.  Some are more amusing than others.  One this morning started out with:

Searching for a car wash centre in Zirakpur?

If so, you've come to the wrong place!!!

The Latest on Green Bay & Western 109

Thanks to our fearless freelance reporter Gregg Wolfersheim, who has sent along another batch of photos recording progress on GB&W wood coach 109, which is in the Electric Car Shop for a short time for some woodwork.

The south side of our wooden coach finally has a relatively complete side! The area where the bay window was has been framed in. Eventually it will be covered over.

A young volunteer, Cameron, helped on Sunday by sanding down some of the siding. The green was house paint applied years ago at the museum. The yellow, which is still in good condition, was from the car's tourist railroad days on the Marquette and Huron Mountain.

More rot has been removed, now on the north side of the car.

And, more!

There was nothing behind this area of siding. So, some new uprights and then some horizontal boards will support the siding.

Ralph and Jack have been rebuilding the window openings on the south side. They hope to have this all done by the end of the week!

Getting Ready for the Car Show

Frank writes...

Sunday was an eventful day, which I'll get to, but my main priority was to get the CA&E wood train ready for the Vintage Transport Extravaganza next Sunday. This involved switching the order of the three cars so the 308 is in the middle and checking the motor armature bearings and axle cap bearings to make sure they had enough oil.

Here's the consist on the ladder track. A huge thank you goes out to Zach, who helped with switching and oiling the cars. The "Kodachrome sky" looks nice, but it was really hot - temperatures were in the low 90s, and I believe the heat index was a bit over 100. 

Zach got this photo of me putting a soup can's worth of journal oil into one of the axle cap bearings under the 319. It's hard to overstate how much easier it is to check the bearings on this car versus the older cars; there's a lot more room under the car and the design of the waste access hatches is better. But I'd expect nothing less from 10-15 years worth of technological development. After all the lubrication work was done, we put the train back in Barn 8 and uncoupled the 309 in case we need it during the week.

HELP WANTED: We still need at least one trainman (and ideally two) for the CA&E train next Sunday! If you're free, sign up today. Thanks!

After dinner, I put a first coat of maroon paint on the belt rail stripes down the left side of Shaker 63.

And with some help from Good Nick, I got an initial mockup of the car number printed up. Whaddaya think? I need to compare this with photos and maybe do some fine tuning, but once it's judged acceptable, I'll make up a stencil and then paint the numbers on the car at some point.

In other news, there's been more progress on Barn 15: the side-lights are in on the north side of the building.

And when I mentioned it being an eventful day, the first event was underway when I arrived. A vintage, 1858-rules baseball game was just finishing up down in Springfield Park, which is the more poetic name of what has formerly been referred to as the "Thomas boarding area." 

I enjoyed watching about an inning's worth of play, interrupted only briefly by a passing streetcar. The main differences I noticed were underhand pitching; a complete absence of gloves; and the fact that the ball was still considered "caught" (as in, the batter is "out") after one bounce. 

Next, let's see what's happening over in Barn 4. As it turns out, a lot is going on. North Shore 251 was being inspected by Joel, Will, and Ashtin following the reinstallation of its air compressor last weekend. With luck, it should be back on the railroad soon. Joel pointed out that other recent work included inspection of the 1754 and installation of a rebuilt MG set under CTA "single spam can" 41, which should enable it to go back into service. It's been a couple of years since the "single cars" were available for regular use, so it will be nice to have them available again once the cars are fully inspected and any other issues are addressed.

And in other eventful happenings, Zach and Greg's London bus has returned! It has been coming to Union for the Vintage Transport Extravaganza and Bus Day events, so it showed up on Sunday around the time I did.

Of course, it made a couple of test trips around the property. Here, Zach drives down Central Avenue with Richard and Jim in the "railfan" seats. By the way, did I mention that this coming Sunday is the Vintage Transport Extravaganza? Tell your friends and family - it's always a great day to visit!

Carbodies on the Shore

Thanks to Art Peterson for sending along some more unique photos. This time, it's a pair of photos taken in Wildwood, New Jersey, showing cars from the Five Mile Beach Electric after they were retired and repurposed. FMBE was mostly known for its open cars, at least in the later years, and a handful of those were preserved, but its closed cars - including these examples - are more obscure.

FMBE 16 is a great example of a "trolley diner" right down to the message "Eat at Joe's" painted on the end. It was built as a single-car order in 1906 by Jackson & Sharp, order number 2619. Any idea when or where in Wildwood this photo was taken?

UPDATE: Some terrific sleuthing by Zach Ehlers has suggested strongly that this is the corner of Arctic and Garfield (see the "-field" street sign) looking roughly east. There was a gasometer just east-southeast of this intersection that's visible on historic aerial photos. Thanks, Zach!

FMBE 31 is an unusual car. It was built by American Car Company in 1916 on order #1054 and bears some resemblance in styling to a Birney, though it slightly predates that type. It's a straight center-entrance car with no doors at the corners. This car and one other were built for the Benton Harbor & St. Joseph in Michigan, numbers 15 and ??, and sold to FMBE in 1924. Anyone have any idea where in Wildwood this might have been?

GB&W 109 Update

Gregg Wolfersheim has sent along another update of progress on Green Bay & Western 109, the wood car currently in the Barn 4 Electric Car Shop.

Slowly the bad stuff goes away on the wood coach.

New siding is getting spliced in.

About 40 pieces are beveled at a time and then primed on the back side.

About 60% of the lower siding is on. The areas between windows are mostly done on this side. Where the bay window was, we are framing it in and making it a solid wall for now.

On the east end of the car there were severely deteriorated pieces of siding. Underneath, it is in pretty good shape. New siding is in the works!

Car Shop News

Excellent progress continues to be made in the car shop by our hard-working experts, even when for extraneous reasons no one is around to blog it all.  I had a few minutes on Saturday to take just a couple of pictures.

First is the 306.  Here we see all of the canopy electrical switches and controls that go into the car at the ends, carefully prepared and looking as good as new.  These guys do very meticulous work.

And the canopies are being  thoroughly restored.

And then, down the track, the Green Bay car is being rebuilt.  Because this car was built at the very end of wood car construction, like the CA&E Jewetts for instance, it does not have the wooden truss construction in the subframe that you would expect, relying instead on the steel underframe.

And here Gregg is painting the siding pieces.  

 And as usual, that's only a small sample of what's going on.  I might also mention, although I didn't get a picture, that Barn 15 is progressing rapidly, as seen in Frank's earlier post.  And I could point out that Barn 15 will add more covered track space than most museums have in total.  We're Number One!