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 1935 (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!