Simms Collection -- South Shore

Much of the South Shore collection is unlabeled, but most of it is pretty obvious.  Captions below the photos are taken from the back of the prints unless otherwise noted. 

Mar 19, 1939   CSS&SB + Gary Ry safety

Pullman train with 17 cars

(RH: I take it this is a fan trip?)

#401

#1012

(RH: Appears to be southbound at Kensington)

S. Shore #503 Ex. Indiana RR #377
(At one time our 504 would have looked like this)

(RH: I take it this is at the shops?)

(RH: Fan trip train at Van Buren.
Note ad on the left for North Western streamliners to California!)

#222  at South Bend  Jul. 12,'38
Hauls Sunday papers from Chicago

South Shore Catenary Towers -- Updated

Jon Fenlaciki sends us a picture of our guys hard at work, at 7:30 this morning in a snowstorm, unloading four catenary supports from the South Shore's "Ideal Section".  

Besides Jon, left to right are Bob Olson, Gregg Wolfersheim, and Andy Sunderland.

This is real dedication, you must admit!  Thanks, guys!

Gone Railfanning

Frank writes...

And now for something completely different. Sunday happened to be the last day of the South Shore running down the middle of 11th Street in Michigan City, a fact of which I was unaware until it was pointed out to me late last week. Zach decided to ride the country's last interurban to commemorate the occasion, then a couple of car shop guys decided to go along, then a couple more, and, well, you know how it goes...

So here's the group that departed from Randolph Street on the 1:35pm train: Greg, Zach, Joel, Noah, and Nick. Nathan and Mikey boarded at Portage. Zach had actually boarded eastbound at the Michigan City shops and ridden into Chicago in the morning, while Greg, Joel, and Nick took Metra into the city and I drove.

I know, I know - "hey get out of the way, I want to look at the train." Well here you go. These cars are about 40 years old now, and starting to be cycled through their second mid-life rebuild.

Greg, Noah, Zach, and Nick on the train. To say these cars lack the personality of older interurban cars is a bit of an understatement. But it's still an interurban line, and the experience may not be wildly different than riding one of the old sealed-window A/C cars except for the welded rail and lack of good motor/pump noise. I'm embarrassed to say that as much of an interurban fan as I am, I'd never before ridden the line east of Michigan City.

And here's me and Joel, photo courtesy of Nick.

We rode to South Bend, with the train pictured here during its layover at the airport terminus, then back. Nathan and Mikey boarded and then alit at Portage, while Zach exited at the Michigan City shops on the return trip to get his car. It was an eminently enjoyable trip.

A scene no longer possible: the view out the train door window going westbound down 11th Street in Michigan City at sunset. There were a lot of photographers along the tracks, and we saw at least one or two IRM members who were there to observe and/or photograph the last day of street running.

And here we have a favorite subject matter of David, railfans taking pictures of railfans taking pictures, starring Nathan and Mikey.

Feel the Extra Power

I was able to spend a partial day out at IRM on Sunday afternoon and managed to get a fair amount done.  First, I washed down the 205 in preparation for putting the final coat of Indiana Railroad orange on it, which I'm hoping to embark upon within the next week or two.  Dan Mulvihill took the photo below.

Dan also helped retrieve the #1 end pilot for the 36 from one of our storage containers and we brought it back to Barn 4, where I needle-chipped it (as seen below).  It will still need to be wire-wheeled and painted, but it can then be put back on the 36 to make the car's under-floor equipment complete again.

The museum was very busy on the last day of the Thomas event, which was good to see, particularly considering how nice the weather was.  The usual slate of equipment was operating except that the two-car CA&E steel train had been substituted in for the North Shore cars.  Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady were working on Michigan Electric 28 (Jeff is shown below) too.  They're nearly finished on the wooden roof at the east end of the car, which went much more quickly than the roof at the west end.  Once that's done they'll almost be ready for canvas!

But what about the "extra power" mentioned in the post title, you ask?  Well, at the end of the day Dan stopped by to say the Diesel Department guys were bringing South Shore 803 out of Barn 2 for testing.  So naturally I went over to have a look.

After a bit of testing, and tightening down a loose gasket that made a sound like squirrels being tortured every time the air compressor ran, the ComEd diesel towed the 803 out onto the main line in front of the station and released its brakes.  Jamie began notching up the 803 and ran a couple of brief trips back and forth in front of the station - sure enough, it still works, 21 years after its last foray onto the main line!

It's an impressive locomotive, 88' long and rated at over 5,000 hp.  They went for two mainline trips, though they stopped short of Johnson Siding on both.  The wire frogs aren't configured for pantographs so the pans had to be dropped at each frog.  Nevertheless, the test was considered a success and the 803 is now ready to participate in the 60th Anniversary event next weekend.

Sanding and painting

I was out at IRM on Sunday for some sanding and painting, though not on the same project.  First up was the 309 grid box construction project, for which I painted the two grid box end castings black.

The Charles City Western 300 project graciously bequeathed us a needed mica insulation tube left over from their grid box project, which Rod Turner cut to the correct length, so we have virtually all of the parts needed for the new grid box.  I still need to grab a few taps but we have those in storage.  Hopefully next weekend I can assemble the box, after which we'll be able to install it under the 309.

Then I spent a while touch-sanding the 205 in preparation for the final coat of Indiana Railroad orange, which I hope to apply to the car this summer.  That work wasn't very photogenic, so I didn't bother.  However something that was more photogenic was South Shore 1100, shown below, which Rod and Andy Sunderland were working on.  The car has recently been made operational, and I got to ride along for a 300' trip down the inspection pit lead.  Since pantograph operation through the yards is still pretty iffy, the car was towed to and from the barn using the Commonwealth Edison steeplecab (note the IT Class B sandwiched in between).

And then of course there were the 308 and 309, which were operating as the regular service train (full report to follow).  I went along with Joel Ahrendt, the motorman, for the last trip of the day and then helped close up the cars when he got them back to the barn.  There were a few minor issues, chief of which was that the Bakelite knob on the 308's controller has pulled off of the brass handle a bit, making it impossible to fully depress the throttle button.  This has the effect of making throttle contact somewhat unreliable, but fortunately should be a relatively quick fix.  Also, I discovered that someone made off with two of the nice red flags we had made a few years back for the train!  The east end of the consist is currently making do with a pair of stand-ins, a decent flag procured from somewhere else plus a wretched thing made out of a quarter-round molding strip and part of some kind of red t-shirt.  A reward of my undying gratitude is promised to anyone who can return our flags!

Dave's Depots - South Bend Regional Airport(?) - Chicago, South Shore & South Bend

This edition of Dave's Depots takes us to the airport? Specifically, we take you to South Bend Regional Airport in South Bend, Indiana. The South Shore originally served downtown South Bend on street trackage. This was abandoned in 1970, and the line was cut back to a station called Bendix on the west end of town. Here, the South Shore shared a structure with Amtrak, which also retreated from the old New York Central station downtown.

In 1992, the South Shore and the South Bend Regional Airport opened the new depot. Just west of the old Bendix station, South Shore trains leave the old passenger right of way, and take a rather long and oddly laid out route to get to the airport, including running beside city streets. Trains head east, north and turn west again to reach the airport.

The "depot" is actually a two-track canopy on the east end of the airport terminal. Inside the terminal, a ticket office and small waiting area are reserved for South Shore passengers. Passengers can also take advantage of the other features of the airport, including a free business center, a meditation room, coffee shop, and clean restrooms. More South Shore depots and a full trip report to follow!

Dave's Depots - Beverly Shores, Indiana - Chicago, South Shore & South Bend

This edition takes us to lovely Beverly Shores, Indiana. This classic station was built in 1929 and was designed by Arthur Gerber. Gerber was an architect who designed several stations and other structures on the Insull properties in and around Chicago.

The station was rehabbed several years ago and contains an art gallery, as well as a waiting room. The distinctive neon sign has been restored as well. I photographed the depot on June 30, 2010 on my return trip from South Bend, where I was on business. More South Shore Depots and a full trip report to follow.