If you're getting bored with pictures of the same old third-rail beams, you're not alone. So am I. But these are the last ones for the foreseeable future, I promise you. They're going to the 451, which is being restored for operation soon, as you may have read elsewhere.
Anyway, last week the new wood was jointed, cut, and glued. On Tuesday it was crosscut to length, the notches were cut on the big bandsaw, and all the holes were drilled, as seen here.
In more exciting news, the famous Transport Extravaganza is coming up soon! This is, we are told, the largest antique car show in Illinois, and it's right here at IRM next Sunday, August 2. Among other attractions, the three-car CA&E wood train will be operating, probably the oldest operating cars in the show. Be that as it may, I went over to 8 to fill up the oil in the compressors. We still don't have trolley power in 8, so I wasn't able to test the brakes, but I'm sure it will be in operation. Don't miss it, and tell your friends!
In Barn 8, I happened to run into my old friend Steve Smunt, who is continuing to make good progress on restoring the interior of the 277. It can be lonely there, we can tell you. Anyway, here are some pictures of the rear vestibule; taking pictures is difficult in such a confined space. But he's doing a great job!
And then I checked the compressors, and all is well. Be there on Sunday!
Jack continued working on the 109, and Gerry was welding up the pilots for the 306. But I didn't get any pictures. Tim, of course, continued his work on the 1268 -- here he is rebuilding the bench seats.
And last but not least, the third-rail beams got a first coat of primer on most surfaces. Next will be preparing the shoe assemblies and scraper cylinders for installation.
And after that project is done, I'm sure there will be other things that need to be done. There always are.
But you'll read about it here first, we promise!
3 comments:
Howdy from the west coast, over here in California we cannot get incandescent bulbs. Has IRM been hit by this yet and if so have you found a reliable replacement. We have experimented with Edison LED but if the polarity isn’t correct it burns out the rectifiers.
I assume you're asking about bulbs for use in series lighting circuits on 600V DC. These have been a problem for a long time. In any case, you do not want to use ordinary household bulbs of any sort on 600V. We got a supply of special DC bulbs many years ago, I believe, and our main way of conserving them is to usually keep the car lighting circuits turned off in service, since we almost never operate after dark. Hope this helps -- that's an interesting subject.
Yes I’m referring to the lighting circuit, of course we use the standard streetcar bulbs but our stock is dwindling. I’m wondering if the streetcar museums get together we can place a large order with a manufacturer. I’m looking into it an exemption since it’s for historical purposes, a lighting vendor out here says it’s possible.
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