Hops Aboard

Frank writes...

I arrived at IRM Saturday afternoon to help out with the first-ever Hops Aboard, a beer festival run at IRM. The museum was open normally during the day - about the only unusual thing was that the Shay was running "Take the Throttle" trips as part of our annual Steam Engineer Experience offering - and closed at 5pm. An hour later, at 6pm, we reopened for Hops Aboard. Attendees paid a special-price admission and received a number of drink coupons that could be redeemed at six or eight brewery stands. These were set up behind the depot and at the corner of Central Avenue and Depot Street. Lower-price "designated driver" tickets without any drink coupons were offered and all attendees had to be 21+.

Zach and I signed up to operate the "Matchbox," and although the forecast earlier in the week had the high temperature for Saturday at 90 degrees, it actually ended up being about 80. The car had been in service all day, so the daytime crew left it chocked on the car line for us and going into service was quick. Phil from the Steam Shop took the above photo while we waited for the gates to open at 6:00. You can't really tell, but there was a band set up on the 50th Avenue platform that played during the event and they were setting up.

Besides the band, there was a bags/cornhole game set up as well as "Lawn Jenga," which of course we had to try out. No, Zach, not that one!

Several of our volunteers purchased tickets and partook in the beer and festivities. Attendees received these nice beer glasses with the event logo on them. There was uncertainty over whether to permit beer aboard the cars; after some discussion we allowed people to bring beer onto the car but instructed them firmly that they should hold onto their glasses and not try to set them down on the floor or seat. We didn't have any spills.

Overall, the event seemed like a tremendous success. We had over 300 people buy tickets, and remarkably, something like half of them had never been to IRM. That's exactly what we want - to expand our appeal into new groups and demographics. Almost invariably, the attendees I spoke with were blown away by the size of the museum and by the fact that the event workers were volunteers. The only real hiccups were beyond our control, due to the fact that a couple of breweries and food trucks no-showed. Attendees seemed quite understanding and a number of people were vocal that they hope we run this event again next year. Furthermore, with the band, the food truck and beer stands, and the diverse and lively crowd, it was just a very fun and vibrant atmosphere. A huge thank you and kudos go out to our Event Manager, Tricia, who was responsible for conceiving of, planning, and coordinating this event.

The event wound down at about 9pm. We weren't the only car on the streetcar line; the 4391 was also in service, while the 504 and the Shay - each with their own coach train - operated on the main line during the event. Even with two cars in service, we were mostly full on most trips. Above, Zach talks with Matt, who was running the "Hornet."

Here's Zach in the doorway of the 1374 at the end of the night when ridership was down to Jimmy.

And now, let's rewind to earlier in the afternoon. Since Hops Aboard didn't start until 6pm, and our streetcar was already in position to go into service quickly, I had time to get some work done before signing in to operate.

The job for the day was lettering on the 63. I'd previously painted the car numbers on the front and left sides. This left both rear corners - for whatever reason, Shaker liked putting numbers on the back corners instead of just a single number on the back - and the right side of the car.

Two down...

...and there we go. I still need to replace the "Eastbound Entrance" and "Westbound Entrance" lettering next to the doors, but the more noticeable thing to do will be adding RTA stickers to both sides. Ideally, I'd like these to be actual vinyl stickers, but we can paint the logos on if we need to.

There was also some news on the 36 front: this truck was retrieved from along Bruneau Drive and set on live (albeit difficult-to-access) rail behind the car shop. It is intended to serve as the 36's shop truck while we pull the car's actual trailer truck and replace the leaf springs. This truck is very historic in its own right, as it came from the Intramural Railway, the first-ever electrified elevated railway. The IMR ran through the 1893 Columbian Exposition grounds in Chicago. We have two of these trucks, built in 1893 by Gilbert, that came to us from the Electric Railway Historical Society.

And finally, in political news, we'd like to extend our congratulations and condolences to IRM's new (starting October 1st) president, Nick Espevik! Our current president, Marcus Ruef, is stepping down to take a position of great importance that I'll hold off on announcing for the moment. Marcus will remain on the Board of Directors, though.

I've been sent some additional photos from Hops Aboard by a couple of our more capable photographers, so stay tuned for a "photo album" with more images of the event coming soon!