The Biggest Parade Yet

Frank writes...

Today was the "70 for 70 Trolley Pageant," commemorating IRM's 70th anniversary with a staggering 71 electric cars participating in the parade in front of the depot. It seemed like there was a big crowd present to witness the event, and they were treated to quite a show. Credit for organizing this unprecedented lineup goes to the people in the car shop who made all of the plans and spent a lot of late nights getting all the equipment ready, and to the 60+ operators and other volunteers who made it happen.

I arrived a little bit before the 9am orientation meeting and got to see a smiling Zach operating the Electroliner through Station Track 1 on its way to 50th Avenue, where it spent most of the day - except for its time participating in the parade - on public display

Part of the freight train had already been spotted in Station Track 2, including North Shore MD car 213 (being towed), Milwaukee Electric container car M37, and Lake Shore Electric interurban freight trailer 810. ComEd 4, on the right, was also towing WEPCO L7, the green steeplecab, which runs but has a bad-order air compressor at the moment.

After the orientation meeting I caught the four crewmembers of the CA&E wood train heading to Barn 8 to take their stations. My conductor on the 18 was Kyle from the Steam Shop, though we failed to get a "crew photo" I'm afraid. As a member of the Steam Team, he did not have much experience hopping trolley poles for back-poling moves, so working the 18 was really being thrown into the deep end. But he did an outstanding job, so obviously he's no longer allowed to work in the Steam Shop and needs to start volunteering in the Electric Car Shop instead. Sorry, them's the rules.

It was impressive to see all the equipment being staged out behind the electric barns, and I only photographed a few random pieces. Here we see the 354, with the 6100-series 'L' cars to the left and Indiana Railroad 65, which fittingly led the parade as the lead car, just inside the door.

The event was the first-ever public operation of a four-car CA&E steel train at IRM, and the first operation of a four-car CA&E steel train anywhere in probably 40 years, give or take. The 451 was at the west end of the string. I think Julie Johnson would be pleased.

We had two four-car CA&E trains in service, which was pretty fantastic. It's notable that of the six CA&E cars in this photo, five came from Trolleyville. In fact, my father pointed out that nearly all of the nine cars we acquired following dispersal of the Trolleyville collection operated in the parade. The sole exception was Shaker Heights PCC 63, which needs a new MG set.

Of course, the 451 wasn't the only ex-Trolleyville car making its debut for the public. The 18 is pictured in Yard 7. I really need to repaint the roof. And the panel between the doors.

Here the car is halfway between the West Switch and the east end of Schmidt Siding, followed by the 19, 141, 68, CA&E wood train (in Schmidt), and CA&E steel train (on the main). I don't have any photos from our trip past the reviewing stand or back into the barn, of course, but everything was handled with speed and efficiency by Main Line Dispatcher Jeron, Car Line Dispatcher Harold, and the designated Joel for the day, Joel.

After closing up the 18, I headed to the depot to watch some of the parade. It was good to see some friends there visiting from other museums including PTM, WRM, Branford, and SCRM. SEPTA 55, shown here, was running for the first time since the 2011 trolley pageant. Unfortunately, it was about this time that the substation tripped out, which slowed things a bit.

The culprit couldn't possibly have been this, the longest train of the day, a seven-car pack of spam cans. It's certainly an impressive sight, I'll admit!

And following it was the second-longest train of the day, a six-car train of CTA "high-performance" cars including the 2000s, 2200s, and 2400s. Unfortunately, I needed to head out before I got to see the pantograph equipment at the end of the parade, but there will surely be photos and videos showing up online before long. For the record, the parade participants (in order) were:

IRR 65

CTA 4391

CSL 144

CTA 3142

CSL 1374

IT 277-518-234

IT 101

C&ME 354

CNS&M 229-604

CNS&M 801-802

CNS&M 749-757-714-160-251

SHRT 18

CTUSU 19

C&WT 141

SS 68

CA&E 319-36-309-308

CA&E 431-409-460-451

NWERR 24-CRT 1268-1797-1754

CTA 4290-4410-4412-4146

SEPTA 55

CTA 22-41-6655-6656-30-6125-6126

CTA 2153-2154-2243-2244-2433-2434

TMER&L M15

TMER&L D13

CE 4-WEPCO L7-CCW 300-LSE 810-TMER&L M37-CNS&M 213

CSS&SB 34-40-504*

CSS&SB 1100

IC 1198-1380

Metra 1630-1637

CSS&SB 803-PRR 4927-Amtrak 945

*Towed by diesel due to mechanical issues

Pageant Part II

Frank writes...

My father covered the basics of the 2015 Trolley Pageant below, but I'll add what I can.  I arrived at about 8:15am and helped move the 308-309 out to the west end of the railroad at Schmidt Siding, after which we brought the 36-319 into the station.  I was at loose ends prior to my scheduled run with the 308-309 (the "grey roof train," not to be confused with the "black roof train") but managed to get some photos around the depot.

Above, an eastbound North Western freight charges past a couple of steel cars just arrived from Forest Park and a pair of woods preparing to head inbound.  Or something.

That's one happy motorman at the throttle of the 36!

I decided to go for a ride on a trolley bus and had two from which to choose, both from Seattle.  I rode on the 633, a 1940 Twin Coach which I had not even seen operate before at IRM.  A rather modern articulated trolley bus was also running (on the right in the above photo) and it was neat to see the recently "double-tracked" trolley bus line being put to good use.

My trip on the 308-309 went flawlessly; for my money there's no better-looking interurban train anywhere!

Upon our return we buried the two cars on track 84 behind the 36 and 319.  Job #1 in the coming weeks will be building a replacement grid box for the 36.  But in the meantime, I went on two trips on the caboose train, which was something I had never done before.  Above, Zach Ehlers, one of our younger volunteers, works as "trolley hop" on the D13 as the 1630 starts to pull out of the station.

And then after that I headed over to 50th Avenue, where I had been recruited to be the conductor on a late afternoon trip aboard the 4412 and 4290 with Bob Opal as motorman.  We boarded at 50th, pulled into the station, boarded more passengers and headed out.  There were a few volunteers from other museums aboard and they seemed to enjoy the trip.

And that was about it for the day.  The weather was great, the crowds were strong, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  What more could you ask?

A Great Weekend

Frank writes...

I was out at the museum both Friday and Saturday, and overall it certainly seemed like a great time was had by all.  Friday I was running the 36 and 308, which was quite a bit of fun, particularly my first chance running the 36 in service.  However they were really slow what with both cars being half-motors!  I think in the future we'll try and include either the 309 or 319 in any two-car trains.

On Saturday I had a chance to grab a photo of my father's new car (below).  And I also got a chance to show some visitors through the 205; along with IRM stalwart Norm Krentel, Bill Fronczak from Arden and Dave Beuchler from Rio Vista were visiting.  Dave is working on a complete restoration of the 205's sister car, car 202, which is being restored as Portland Traction 4001.  He is a fount of information on the mechanical and electrical workings of this series of car.

My assignment Saturday was the streetcar line, running the 144 in the morning and the open car in the afternoon.  The 144 is a great car; it's pretty worn out, and the interior is unrestored, but the car is still in good condition overall and it is one of my favorites simply because it is really the quintessential Chicago streetcar.  Fred Zimmerman was my conductor.

After a few trips on the 144 we put it back in the barn and brought out the Veracruz open car, which is always a big crowd pleaser.

We got many favorable comments from the public about the format and execution of this year's Trolley Pageant.  There truly was nonstop action all day, with different electric trains being constantly cycled into and out of service under the watchful eye of dispatcher Adam Robillard, and it seemed like the visitors really appreciated all the stuff to see, do, and ride.  There were a lot of people who put in a very long day (or more than one) to make it happen, too many for me to remember them all.  But all of that work was richly rewarded and it seemed to be a huge success all around.

Pageant Photos Galore

From Chuck Amstein comes another great collection of photos from yesterday's Trolley Pageant.  Even if you were there, you probably missed some parts of it (I know I did) so this fills in the gaps.  As usual, these are copyright by the photographer and may not be reproduced, etc....

The electric operating crews gather for the morning's organizational meeting.

And the 1630 is being prepped.

Our inspection car is on display. 

The new location of the coal pile is too tempting for little fingers.

It's train time at Wheaton!

 Tim's wooden L cars.

Interior of the 144.

We actually got a large number of people to stand in the 229 for a trip.  Didn't the Zhivagos at least get some wooden bunks?

The 101 had an electrical failure near the end of its run, but luckily the 229 was nearby to pull it back to the depot.  The problem was quickly fixed by our ace repair crew once the car was over the pit.

And here is part of our streetcar parade.  Frank H. is running the 144.

 Ed Rosengren on the 4391.

Frank Sirinek, of course, on the 141.  

 

Dan Buck on the 3142.

And many of our newest CTA rapid transit cars.

The demonstration freight train, pulled by  TM locomotive L-4.

Next, the Vera Cruz open car, and CSL Matchbox 1372, which seldom sees service these days.