Happy Third of July

As we have done for most of the last 34 years, according to my calculations, we recreated the abandonment of the CA&E on July 3, 1957 at IRM and everybody was much more satisfied than on the original infamous date.  As often happens, I was too busy to get many good pictures, but I hope we might get some more submissions to fill in the gaps.  Regular service trains in the morning included the wood cars 309, 36, and 319 as seen here.  Andy Sunderland was the motorman, Frank was the conductor, and Nick DeRicco and I were trainmen.  Sorry, but no crew picture!  

We ran two full trips with a good crowd of passengers.

The 409 and 431 were also in mainline service, as seen below in an excellent reproduction of busy times at the Wheaton station, and the 460 was running shuttle service to Schmidt Siding for the IC Highliner operations.

Both the Decapod and the Shay were in service, as they will be all weekend.

Speaking of the Highliners, that seems to have been quite successful.  When I checked in about 1pm, there were people signed up until 5:30, and more customers were coming to the table.  So we had well over 60 people signed up.  But if you get there early, you too may be able to snag one of these coveted opportunities.    

Special Charter

 On Friday, IRM hosted a charter group of children from the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, sponsored by the Union League, I was told.  Community outreach is an important part of our mission, so some special equipment was brought out that you don't ordinarily see on a weekday.

Such as the Shay, pulling the heavyweight coach train.

And our oldest Chicago L car, the 24.

A large number of volunteers showed up to make all this possible, including in particular the Steam Dept., Operations, and the Car Dept.  (not just us old retired guys!)

Everything went smoothly, and I believe a good time was had by all.

The 4410 and 4412 provided service for our regular visitors.

Meanwhile, back in the car shop, it was more of the usual activities.  As reported before, some of the headlight resistors on the 319 were blown out.  And since we would like to be able to run the wood cars after dark later this year, it's time to try to fix it.  

I soon decided that it was far better and easier to remove the individual tubes rather than try removing the entire box, with its wiring and so on.

So the three that were obviously bad were left on the bench in the shop for the electrical experts to ponder.  I don't remember what the cold resistance for the coils should be, but that can easily be measured next time.

I did some more wire-wheeling in the smoker of the 453, and after Joel provided me with a supply of leather straps, I started attaching one of the roof cables to the trolley boards.

Tim continues work on the platform of the 2872.

John spent much of the day on woodwork for the 306, but here he is painting the little latches for the window guards.  He also reports he now has a good formula for the orange paint, so the 306 will soon start looking much better!

Saturday Photos From Chuck Amstein

Chuck Amstein sends in his photos from Saturday.  As always, these are copyright by the photographer and may not be reproduced without permission, etc.   Thanks, Chuck!

Captions are my own.

That's me and Jack Biesterfeld talking to Frank.   Jack did much of the work on restoring the interior of the 308 many years ago.

Passengers on the first trip of the 24.

One of the first trips around the carline with the restored 972.   Joel is the motorman.

That's Phil Hehn on the right.

2016 Operating Schedule

Frank writes...

The operating schedule for 2016 has been announced and the CA&E wood cars will be running just as many days as last year, maybe a few more.  Of course it all depends on the weather.  But for now the plan is for the cars to run on May 30th (Memorial Day), June 4th & 5th, June 18th (Chicago Day) & 19th, July 3rd (Trolley Pageant) & 4th, August 7th (Vintage Transport), September 3rd, 4th & 5th (Labor Day), and September 17th (Museum Showcase).

Most of these dates we'll be running two cars and for the most part we'll try and rotate cars through the lineup so that they all see some use during the year.  On July 3rd - not just the date of the Trolley Pageant but also "CA&E Day," the anniversary of abandonment of passenger service - we will most likely run all four cars and may run the four-car train for Museum Showcase Weekend as well.  And then on Saturday September 4th the museum will be open until 9:30pm and the wood cars will be on the evening shift, complete with kerosene markers and nighttime running.  This was very well received last year and we're looking forward to doing it again this year.

So if you're rules qualified, make sure to sign up soon - plenty of crew positions are still available.  And if you're not, mark your calendars now and join us for a ride!

Operating Schedule for 2015

The operating schedule for the CA&E wood cars for 2015 has been finalized.  As usual, the consist will typically consist of two cars.  While we will most likely start the season with the 308 and 309, we are hoping that the 319 will be back in the regular operating fleet early this summer and it will likely be swapped in for one of the other two cars.  The 36 will remain a "special event" car for the time being, particularly as it is still seeing interior repainting work.  And, of course, operations are always subject to weather and mechanical considerations.  But here's the plan.

May 25th (Memorial Day)
June 6th
June 7th
June 20th (Chicago Day)
June 21st (Fathers Day)
July 3rd
July 4th (Trolley Pageant only)
August 2nd (Vintage Transport Extravaganza)
September 5th
September 6th
September 7th
September 17th-20th (ATRRM Convention)

We should have three or, hopefully, all four cars running for the July 4th pageant.  Then on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, September 6th, the wood cars will be taking the 3pm-9pm shift for IRM's inaugural "twilight ride" event.  It will be the first time for these cars carrying revenue passengers at night at IRM, I suppose, and it should be fun.  And then later in September the cars will be operated as needed during the four days of the ATRRM Convention.

So mark those calendars now, and don't forget to sign up to be a motorman or conductor.  Help in crewing the cars is always appreciated!

Sorree You Didn't go? Or About the New Season

Last Saturday marked the beginning of the new year  for the operating department. The usual kickoff was with the mid-winter Sorree at Donley"s Steak House. It is primarily an opportunity to meet with friends that you may not of seen since last fall and to enjoy some railfan entertainment. It was enough to get me out of hibernation and away from our home remodeling/addition activities

Here Ed Rosengren is checking in those that had made advance reservations, thanks go to Ed and Dennis Matl for handling the registration activities

A happy hour preceded the dinner. I won't be able to name everyone but I'm sure you will recognize many faces.

Pretty soon it was time to eat and the crowd took advantage of the buffet that was set up by the Donley staff.

I'm sure the all-you-can-eat Pot Roast, Fried Chicken, Penne Pasta, Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes were enjoyed by all.The Strawberry Cheesecake was a nice topper on the meal. 

After dinner Harold Krewer touched on a few highlight of the coming year. Here we see Harold having his (microphone's) battery recharged by one of Donnley"s staff members! One significant change to previous years is that the Thomas event will only be 4 days this year. After a brief discussion of the schedule for the rules review and test as well as the safety meeting is was on to the door prizes. Thirty lucky folks had their pick from a number of items of railroadiana that were available.

After the drawing we were treated to a slide show (what else when a group of railroad nuts get together?) by Bob Heinlein. Featured were slides by John Humiston, Gordon Lloyd and Bob Bruneau of the Illinois terminal operations primarily between Peoria  and Decatur. Most of the slides were taken in the last days of electric operation. Featured were some rare views of Class C and Class D locomotives painted in the apple green colors.

All in all it was a great start to the  2014 season.