A Week in the Shop

Many thanks to our intrepid feature reporter, Brian LaKemper, who spent all of last week and both of the last two weekends working in the Electric Car Shop. He sent in this illustrated report of his activities. This provides just a small glimpse into the immense amount of mechanical and electrical work that goes on, largely unseen even by our blog writers, to keep our electric fleet running.

On Friday night 10/17 we put the Class B on the pit for its annual inspection. Here it is at Springfield Avenue, taking the long way to get to Barn 4.

Saturday we see Jimmy on the roof inspecting the roof hardware.

The failed air tank is seen with the failure circled with paint pen. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the operation to lower the tank, many thanks to everyone who helped with the unplanned removal of the defective tank. By the end of the day the tank had been removed and the feed capped so the engine can be charged with air. This tank's role is to feed the air horn, so for the time being the locomotives horn is out of service. 

Jimmy was also working on getting a broken air pipe out of the angle cock on the CCW 300, at some point the radial coupler swung around and the brake pipe impacted a solid object, causing the pipe to crack. 

In what should be a relatively familiar sight on the blog, here is a grid box beginning disassembly. This is 1565's #16 grid box which was removed due to some glowing that was noticed between a few of the grids during operation.

Midway though dismantling

The after photo shows just how many Mica shards were generated. Fortunately it appears that most of the grids can be reused, but we will need new Mica tubes and several new copper and Mica washers. Donations to the 1565's restricted fund to help pay for this and other work on the B would be greatly appreciated. 

Another project being done on the B during this week was sandblasting and repainting the grid covers. Here, Brian D from the steam department has kindly agreed to help spray fresh primer on them.

Black has now been applied to the backs.

Another project during the week was fixing straight air valves for VC 19 and CSL 144. Both were blowing by air causing a buildup of water and gunk which was further causing the brake handles to be stiff.

The condition of VC 19's brake valve when it was removed from the car - believe it or not, this valve was cleaned and oiled less than 3 months ago. Hopefully this work will reduce the amount of water buildup.

Two of the valves as finished side by side. In addition to 19 and 144s valves, a 3rd was rebuilt to be a ready spare.

Lapping work in progress on one of the valves, using one of our lapping plates to ensure a good smooth surface.

At the same time as the grid covers, we also sandblasted and primed the painted parts of the 1565's grid box.

More grid covers freshly sandblasted awaiting primer and paint.

Fortunately, we had a spare tank of the correct dimensions to replace the failed air tank on the 1565. The Steam Department was kind enough to help us get it hydro tested. Thanks to Chris and Blake for doing the test and to Andrew for helping drag the tank stands out of storage to set it up.

Behind Barn 7 during the switching to get the NJT 4 out of the barn. There's a lot of cars that had to be moved!

Grid covers freshly painted, loaded in the bed of the car shop's Mule to be delivered back to the car shop.

A strange view in Barn 6 at the end of the day Sunday 10/26. [Ed. note: That's the D13, 319, 300, 460, and 714, of which the three on the left are recent additions to Barn 6.]

A close up of one of the grid covers freshly sandblasted.

Wednesday News

First, a word from our sponsor:

Happy Holidays Railway will be here in just four weeks!  Yikes!  Some trips are already sold out! So if you want to be happy, you'd better get busy and sign up for the best event of the season.  Don't say we didn't warn you.

And now back to our usual fare of yesterday's news today:

Wednesday in the shop was its usual busy place, and I was busier, or at least more concentrated on work than usual, so this will be brief.   I only have one picture, so you have to use your imagination.

Tim, of course, was working on the 1268; Fritz and Phil were working on the front compartment of the 28 again, and they should be ready to start installing the ceiling soon.  Next time I'm out, I'll be sure to get pictures of that!  Buzz was working on some of his projects, and helped me with mine.

Finally, for the 460, I picked out one of the recently-acquired third rail collectors, cleaned it up a little, and hauled it from the dirt room (Lean -1) to Lean 2.  The bolts that hold the shoe casting are mortised into the beam at the top, and they have an unusual metal clip around the head to keep the bolt from turning in the wood, so mortising them by hand is a slow process.  I've got to come up with a better solution.  Maple can be quite hard to work, I must admit.

But the final result is this: the third rail shoe assembly is now attached to the beam.  It needs to be cleaned up some more, but that will be easier now that it's firmly attached.  And the beam got a second coat of primer.

The next step will be to install the cylinder for the sleet scraper, and that should be somewhat easier.

Monday Report

On Monday we saw some significant progress on the first of the current set of third rail beams, being made for the 460.  Buzz made me some nice blocks for supporting a beam the next time I want to make one of the notches.  But I won't be using an AX.

My main project was to drill the remaining holes through the beam for the bolts supporting the shoe and scraper mechanisms.  The vertical holes are the more difficult, with a 6" throw required on the drill press.  But we have all the needed tools.

Let's take a break and look at progress on the 306.  Here the nice new door for the toilet compartment has been mounted.  But it's really a trick: the only thing behind this door is the compressor governor.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Fritz was working on the interior of the 28 again.  I didn't get a chance to visit the car, but here is part of the mounting mechanism he'll be using to put the ceiling panels in place.

As we saw before, the third rail parts that the Museum recently acquired were badly rusted, so I got Gerry to help me by heating up the frozen bolts so everything could be disassembled.   I can start installing them once the paint on the beams is dry.

And a couple of pictures of the first (thin) coat of primer.  Progress!

And as always, several other people were hard at work.

The AX Lands

Frank writes…

The big news on Sunday, other than it being the last operating day of the regular 2025 season, was the arrival of a pretty unusual piece of Chicago Surface Lines history. Meet our new-to-us air compressor wagon, CSL AX545.

Portable compressors like this were used by a lot of street railway companies on work sites, often by track gangs. The compressor runs off 600V DC and has a stinger that would be put over the trolley wire. Originally, the stinger would have been at the end of a long wooden pole, but this particular item is missing. Still, AX545 seems to be mostly complete, if not quite in pristine condition. It looks to have been built in 1936 (based on a pressure vessel tag) by Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. It still has the remnants of its CSL work car green paint on it. Thanks to Richard for looking the compressor over in detail and gleaning some important details about it, like the construction date.

We'd like to thank Wendell Dillinger, who died a couple of years ago and left AX545 to IRM in his will. Thanks also go to Bill Wall, who helped coordinate the retrieval of the air compressor, as well as Mike Graycar and the folks at the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, who held onto it for us and helped load it to come to Union.

And speaking of thanks, a huge thank you goes to Dan and Jon Fenlaciki, who on short notice drove out to Middletown, PA, towing a trailer to pick this thing up. They left Friday morning and were back in Union late Saturday night, which is quite a feat! It's really thanks to Dan and Jon that this artifact is back home. It sounds like we've got a regular who is interested in cleaning it up and giving it a coat of fresh CSL paint, so stay tuned.

Besides the new air compressor and the end of the operating season, the other big news Sunday was a big switch move. There were a few goals with this move, one of which was to get any cars we might need for Happy Holiday Railway out of Barn 6, since the whole barn will be festooned with a remarkable light display thanks to the hard work of Jim Ward. The 431 usually lives on track 62, but it's a backup car for the streetcar line during HHR, so it and the 319 got swapped for the winter. Below, the 319 is in its new digs. Joel said he told Jim to only use screws when affixing lights to the 319, no nails, so I'm sure everything will be fine.

And then there was a big move in Barn 7. As seen below, when track 74 is mostly empty, there's a lot of space! I ran a couple of cars back into this track at the end of the day and it's odd to be rolling through the barn... rolling... rolling more...

Anyway, the goal was to get New Jersey Transit 4, which was built in 1946 as Twin City Rapid Transit 323, out and over to Barn 4 for some looking over. Since car 4 has skinny wheels, the entire switch move was at walking speed, and people were keeping an eye on every truck. There were no derailments.

Here's the car at the tail track, with Nick and Joel visible on the ground while Brian L and Brian D were up in the engine. This car ran in Newark most of its service life and ran up until 2001, when the Newark PCC fleet was replaced by LRVs.

Below, one of the last cars to go back into the barn at the end of the switch move was Veracruz 19.

And now we'll rewind a bit to earlier in the day, when I put a first coat of maroon paint on the stripe along the roof line of the 63. Thanks to Brian Davies for the below photo of yours truly at work.

Once the cars on 74 left, I was able to stand back and get this shot of the car with the late afternoon light shining in on it. The 63 still hasn't been outside since I started painting it, but we'll try and get it outside for at least a quick look sometime next year.

And here's another view. The stripes up top still need a second coat, but that will complete everything except for the RTA emblems and some grey that still needs to be done on the roof.

And Jeron sent a couple more photos which I believe were taken Sunday night after the switch move was over. First, the 4391 is now on the pit for its annual inspection. Joel and the crew finished inspecting Illinois Terminal 277 and 518 earlier in the day, just before the big switch move, and the "Hornet" is next on the list. Beyond it you can see NJT 4.

And here's the inside of the Newark PCC. It's in remarkably good condition, save for some peeling paint. Unlike car 63, which was substantially modified by Shaker Heights - it got couplers and MU equipment, new doors, and new seats in half the car among other things - the NJT car received relatively few modifications during its time in Newark.

Changing the subject, where you are going to be on Saturday? That's right - Skokie! Everyone who's anyone will be riding the Fall Colors Express, your ticket to set the clock back not just an hour but several decades with a ride on the CTA aboard 1959-vintage 6000s. There are still a few tickets left, but don't delay! You don't want to get left on the platform and have to take the regular Niles Center local aboard some modern sealed-window contraption. So if you like 'L' cars, fan trips, processed ham, or all of the above, get your ticket here!

Scrrraping Along

On Thursday I was again working on the next new third rail beam for the 460.  Here are some of the castings I had to start with.  The bolts are frozen and have to be cut off, as well as scraping and grinding off as much of the surface rust as possible.

Part of the way through the process, they look like this.  It makes a mess, but thanks to recent building expansion, financed by our generous contributors, we now have a room set aside for dirt-producing activities like this.  So I'm not interfering with the guys who are trying to paint their nice new parts.

Meanwhile, out in the barn, progress continues on the GB&W coach.  This is the north side.  Jack Barnett was hard at work making and installing new window sill pieces.

The interior looks great.

As does the south side, with only a few things left to be done.

Phil was working on the 306.  This is the new toilet compartment; the original was removed by Shaker.

I thought I took a picture of the beautiful new door lying on the bench, but it vanished.  (The picture, not the door.)  He was working on adjusting the hinges to fit it in place.

Back to the CA&E, here is the cleaned-up cylinder mounted on the new beam, to make sure I drill the holes in the right place.  Once everything is bolted together and painted black, it will look like new.

Finally, here is an actual scraper that everything else is built to operate.  This one was worn down so badly the blades were nearly gone, so new pieces were welded onto the nubs.  And the new pieces then started to wear (and rust) away.

It struck me that I could easily make these out of wood at home for next to nothing, compared to the considerable cost of having steel castings made.  And since we will never actually try to scrape ice off third rails, once the scrapers are painted black they should be indistinguishable from the real thing.

Speaking of which, for most of the third rail mechanism there's no good substitute for the real thing.  Fortunately, we have original patterns from Wheaton for making new castings, and we're now in the process of getting quotes.  The next exciting fund-raising drive is probably just around the corner!