Wood L Car Train Runs!

Tim just sent us some pictures of the 24 in operation with the 1268 and 1797.   Minor problems have to be ironed out, but it looks like at least two and probably all three cars will be running for a few trips on Saturday.

And we'll be updating with new pictures as they become available.

Checking Clearances

Since I'll be busy this weekend, Friday was an opportunity to do some more work.   The first interesting project was to help Tim with checking clearances with car 24 at the 50th Avenue station.   So we pulled it out and ran over to the station.

The result is that it's a matter of inches, but the car fits alongside both the canopy and the station itself.   As long as they don't raise or adjust the track without telling us.  

The 24 should be running at least part of the time on Showcase Weekend, so you'll want to be there.  Otherwise, watch this space!

Our next subject of interest is girder rail.  I'll be posting a map of where the streetcar line will run, but for now let's look over near the intersection of Central and Railroad, where girder rail is being stacked up for use in building the streetcar tracks.

The contractors were busy safe-ending our stock of girder rail, as seen above.   Here is the big saw used for cutting through the rails:

Meanwhile, back in the material yard, the rails are being sorted out, and girder rail is being stacked up for use on the streetcar line.

Just to be clear, I think you can see from the above photos that girder rail is different from ordinary railroad rails (called "T rail") and was designed for use in street trackage.  These girder rails were intended for streetcars that have smaller flanges and narrower wheel treads than steam railroad rolling stock, or most interurban cars.  Our double-track street trackage will have one line of each type.   I'll have more about this soon.

And here's the ballast train on its way out to Yard 15 to dump another two loads.  Most of this major track work is being financed by car rental income, and we want to have as much trackage as possible ready in case we can get more car storage this winter.

The rest of the time I was cleaning the cars, sorting parts, and checking hand rails on the wood cars.  A couple needed new screws, and I would like to repaint all of them next week if possible.

Finally, I noticed that one of the flat cars used for the B-71 had this big electromagnet sitting on it:

It's labeled "Scrapmaster" and is obviously used for picking up scrap metal.  As it happens, I have exactly the same type of magnet, although mine is somewhat smaller.  But it's at least as old, and still works.  Maybe sometime I could post a video of it loading scrap metal into the gon.

24 "Motors Great"

Tim reports on today's test run with the 24:

We had our first real run on the carline today. The car motors great. An issue with automatic acceleration was resolved.  The brakes are still tight, and bind on the carline curves.  (This can easily be adjusted - RH)  One journal bearing ran a little warm, but the motor bearings were nice and cool.  It runs real quiet!

Breaking News - Car 24 Runs!

Tim Peters reports that car 24 operated under its own power for the first time in more than fifty years today.   Here are some pictures taken about noon.

This car was built in 1898, and is now our oldest piece of operating equipment.  Tim has been working on its restoration for the last four years with hardly a break, for an average of four or five days a week.  Congratulations!

Car 24 on the Move

Tim sent me some pictures of the 24 on its way over to the pit track for the truck swap.

We're all hoping it will be in operation soon!

Motion In All Directions

Today was another great day out at the Museum.  We had a very good crowd of visitors enjoying the nice weather and all the displays and operations.   The wood L cars were running, along with the coach train; the 3142 was on the car line.

As mentioned before, Dick Lukin was visiting and got to operate the 460 on a fan trip.

And my daughter who lives near Phoenix is here for the weekend for a Hicks family reunion, and brought along my shiny new son-in-law, who had never been to IRM before.  I think he was suitably impressed.

There are lots of activities to report on.   The 24 is now mounted on its motor truck, and work is progressing to get it operational.

 Here Tim is trying to clean off the motor lead connectors.   "You would think 50 years' accumulation of corrosion would clean off easier than this, but nooooo!"

Looking straight down through the motor hatch:

I have almost finished patching up the hole in the roof of the 460.  It should now be watertight.  The rebuilt part of the drip rail is only in primer, but otherwise it's complete.  It's too bad it didn't rain while we were running the car, so that assertion could be tested....

There was a good number of Track and B&G members cleaning up the material yard today.  This has several benefits: it makes the place look better, usable material is located, sorted, and available, and scrap metal is removed for sale.  Here, for instance, we have a large number of old ties and bridge timbers that we will no longer want for new construction.  By building essentially a plank road, we now have a big shelf for storing track material that won't ever sink into the mud.

Also, I tested a control jumper I had rewired at home and now have that available.

And then work continues on preparing for building the frame to hold the big "Santa Fe" sign near the entrance.  Dave Diamond and Jerry Lynn were hard at work preparing the forms for the concrete.

And work is progressing on getting the IC Highliners operational.  That's Rich Schauer on the right, with a couple of the new guys.  Sorry, I should know their names but don't.  I was of course furious that they stole my big blue flag, but I guess I've calmed down.   Sort of.

And finally, there was a moment of pure Shakespearean terror.  Just as I was getting ready to leave the property, I saw this tree coming towards me.  It's too bad I didn't have time to set up for a video of it.  A moving tree, I tell you!  Who can impress the forest?  I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  

Well, maybe I'm doomed, or maybe it was just part of the process of cleaning up the material yard.   You be the judge.

Variety Show

Today saw quite a bit of progress on a few different projects.  The weather was not too bad for the middle of summer.  The first thing I worked on was to start painting the patch on the 460's roof with black canvas paint, which I managed to dig out of its hiding place in the 810.

Then I worked some more on the 308's lighting circuits.  The main problem is the side light fixtures; when we acquired the car, the light sockets were missing, and the available sockets from hardware stores are usable but not perfect.  They tend to rotate when the bulbs are inserted.

This fixture was loose, so Rod soldered it back together for me.

And then we started on fixing up the drip rail for the 460.  Rod's expertise at soldering copper pieces of this size was essential for getting it fixed.

After quite a bit of work, we got it into shape so that it fits the roof very well.  After painting, it will look just as good as new.  

Rod was also helping Tim fix up the motor truck; the main journal bearings needed some adjustments before they would fit properly, but that appears to be finished.  Tim wanted to move the truck over the pit, and we decided the easiest way would be to run it under its own power.  The usual car movers don't work very well with outside-hung brakes.

 I helped by wiring up the motor to a welder, and I got to run the truck for about ten feet.   We believe that this is the first time any part of the (10)24 has run under its own power at IRM.  I hope you're impressed.

Tim then started attaching the gear pans, as seen here.

Another project in our continual property improvement is installation of concrete foundations for the framing of the big "Santa Fe" sign that we mentioned a couple of months ago.

Dave was checking levels for pouring concrete...

once all the water in the holes can be pumped out.

By the end of the day, I had one of the two defective circuits repaired, and working with the newly-fixed light fixture.  The other one just needs an improved ground connection at the #1 end.

And the patches on the 460 were painted with a couple of coats of canvas paint.  I found there was another small hole in the roof at this end, so this has been patched also.