The 1797 and 1754 are shown spotted over on the Yard 8 Connector track. (JA)
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Barn 6 Switching
When Barn 15 is approved for occupancy, we will be doing a lot of switching. I mean pretty much all the departments, not just the Electric Car Department. There will be equipment rearranged in just about every barn. For the Car Department's part, we're getting a jump start on some of these switch moves. Late Saturday afternoon into the evening, the switch crews were hard at work on tracks 63 and 64, and our fearless freelance photographers Joel Ahrendt and Zach Ehlers were kind enough to send in photos. These are not necessarily in correct chronological order.
Here's a beautiful sight: a four-car North Shore train with two Silverliners leading two cars in economy green. (ZE)
And another view. The train is on the tail track, of course. (ZE)
What's better than a four-car North Shore train? Why, a five-car North Shore train, of course! The 160 still has a traction motor out at the shop for rebuilding, so it hasn't seen much use lately, but it was MUed with the other four cars for the switch move. (ZE)
West Towns 141 had some particularly cold (read as: solidified) crater grease in its gear pans, but it finally got moving. (JA)
One car that is seen outside very rarely is Milwaukee Electric 1129, painted and lettered inaccurately as the 1111 many decades ago. (ZE)
Here's another view of the 1129. This is a single-ended car and only has four doors: its two train doors, a motorman's door at the front right, and a single passenger access door at the rear right. (JA)
One of the most beautiful cars in the collection, the "Talisman," also comes outside only rarely. (JA)
An unusual view of the entire south half of Barn 6 completely emptied of equipment. (JA)
The 504 was the first back into the barn. This will be its new display location, at the west end of track 64 instead of the west end of track 63, where it has lived for many years now. I believe the plan is for the 1129 to go off display and join the "Menominee" in Barn 13. (JA)
Somehow I have this vision that somewhere at IRM, somebody is maintaining an IRM "Ouija board" (like you would see on an aircraft carrier) that keeps track of where every piece of equipment is parked at a given time. When things get moved around, that person then has to figure out all the switch moves and final positions.
ReplyDeleteHis name is Joel. :)
ReplyDeleteI think the 1129 is actually accurately painted for representing the 1111, which is a faux representation of the actual car. It is inaccurately painted for the 1129 And Who's on First... O Anderson
ReplyDeleteYes, and we've been arguing about this for the last fifty years. It was already covered in the car's history posted about a year ago.
ReplyDelete