Happenings Around the Museum

Frank writes…

Sunday was a day for miscellaneous projects and items on the “repair list,” the list of minor defects and problems reported by operating crews. I spent some time futzing around with a seat on the 309 that isn't throwing correctly, but determined that it will need to be disassembled so the faulty part can be fixed or replaced. Most of the "repair list" items for the 309 did get marked off, not because of anything I did, but because my father has been fixing things as he went along. I also helped Mikey, Joel, Steven, Will, and Zach lift a rebuilt grid box into place in the Class B and worked with Zach to switch the CA&E cars around so that the train at the door is now 319-309 rather than 319-308-309. Thanks, Zach! I didn't get photos of any of this work, but I did get pictures of some other random activity around the museum.

A DC Line Department crew consisting of Greg, Steven, and Jimmy was up at the station moving hardware from an old wooden line pole over to a newly placed steel pole. This is part of an effort to repave the west berth of the Station Track 1 platform, giving it nice concrete edges to match the east berth. The new steel line pole also has two of the old-style street lights mounted instead of just one.

The edge of the platform has been dug out alongside the tracks. Don't get off the train if it stops here - that first step's a doozy!

Greg pointed out something neat, namely that you can see where the original ground level was in this area. We have always known that the depot and the area around it was significantly filled in by IRM in the 1960s, since the ground was so low, and Greg is pointing to where you can see the nice black topsoil underneath the sandier fill.

Here's Jimmy, who needed to detach a now-unneeded guy wire and decided to ascend the pole the old-fashioned way, by using boots with big spikes in them. Some of the IRM old-timers were known for regularly clambering up line poles in this fashion, but of course we haven't used this gear for many years except as a curiosity.

Midway through the afternoon, a few of us trekked out to the volunteer entrance to welcome a couple of new arrivals. First in was this thing, a 1940 Railway Express Agency delivery truck built by International. A couple of IRM volunteers bought it after it spent seven decades or so slowly sinking into the mud on a farm in Kansas. The body is actually in pretty decent shape, notwithstanding the surface rust. If the guys can fix this thing up, it will make for some great photo ops.

The REA truck still has its last license plate from before it was parked, dating to 1950. The engine has catastrophic freeze damage, which may be what retired the thing.

Hot on its heels was CTA bus 3177, shown here. If you'll recall, earlier this year the bus departments acquired this ex-FAA/National Airport aircraft tug through federal surplus. And here's why: so we can use it to tow around buses. This particular bus has been in indoor, off-site storage near IRM, but now that the Bourne Transit Building is complete, it and the other buses stored off-site have returned home.

And finally, a moment of levity over in Barn 4 at the end of the day as Richard heats a metal plate with a torch. He and Greg put a couple of gentle bends in this rather beefy piece of metal so that it can be used as the end beam for the 268, visible behind Richard. Later in its life, as CRT 1268, the car was fitted with an anticlimber; but for the 1910s target date of its in-progress restoration, it didn't yet have the anticlimber. So, new steel for an old look is the order of the day.