RPO Day

How could we forget to mention that Saturday was RPO Day?  The RPO train was powered by the IT Diesel, a GP-7, and the Burlington RPO was manned by retired clerks, as always.  Chuck Amstein was on hand to capture the action.

714 and 749 were providing interurban service.

And on the mainline, the RPO tosses out a bag for delivery while another one is snatched from the hook.  Just like clockwork.

Meanwhile, work continues way back in Barn 8.  Chuck has to take a few pictures like this in order to keep his job, I keep telling him.  But good employees like him are hard to find!

And in other exciting news, the 1630 is undergoing its hydro test, something you don't get to see every day.

And I guess this is supposed to be a preview for the Transport Extravaganza in August.

 Don't miss it!

Almost Ready for Service

Today the weather was beautiful; we seem to have gone from winter to summer in one week.  I was able to complete the inspection of the 308, except for lubrication.  I hope to do this on Wednesday if I can get some help.  Anyway, the air system was checked out, the feed valve was carefully adjusted from 74 to 72, and everything seems to work fine now.  I also installed some new contactor tips.  We had a number of new DB-131 tips made, since the 409 needed them, and some of the spares come in handy on the 308.  With luck, I'll be getting a picture or two of myself working on this from our staff photographer, Chuck Amstein.  And I checked the controllers and the roof hardware.  Then I couple up the 319 and checked that the hoses and electrical connections are all working properly.

The bigger the blue flag, the safer.

Later in the day, I repainted the piping under the motorman's valve that we had worked on last time.  It would be annoying to have it look like the shutoff valve on the piping in your basement, but it doesn't look nearly so ugly after painting.  In any case, IRM is on the job.  Rod was telling me that he's been working on a solution to this problem.  We have a new volunteer who has access to a 3-D metal printer.  He's been able to "print" a new coach key that works, and they are planning to design and print a replacement handle that will look much like the original that can be attached to the new cutout valves.  That will be a noticeable improvement.  In the meantime, what we have now will be acceptable.

Inspection continues on other cars; here Dave Fullarton is working on installing hoses for the sanders on the Budd cars.  The sanders were removed a while back, and we will probably not use them very much, but it might be nice to be able to sand the rails once in a while.  

In property improvement news, here is the frame for holding up the Santa Fe sign near the entrance.

A couple of years ago, we acquired the letters from the top of the Santa Fe office building, or Railway Exchange, downtown along Michigan, and for many years this was a noticeable part of the Chicago skyline.  We don't have a tall building (yet) on which to mount the sign, but it will soon be placed where visitors enter the property.  "Santa Fe, all the way!"

 Work steadily progresses on the Cleveland PCC.  It looks like the control stand is going together nicely.

 The Russell plow makes a stunning display at the front end of Barn 8.  This is a popular place for families to pose their children.

We had a pretty good number of visitors, and revenue operation was in full swing, with two streetcars, the Diesel coach train, North Shore, and L.  And next week is Memorial Day weekend.   Where does the time go?

That Hissing Sound

On Wednesday we started on inspection for the 308, seen here poking its nose out the door.  We ran into some annoying problems.  It's nothing we can't fix, but more work needs to be done.

The traction motors appear to be fine.  Here we are looking straight up at the commutator.  On the left, you can see a small part of the lower field coil.

The cut-out cocks under the motorman's valves tend to develop leaks over the years.  That hissing sound you hear is not just annoying, it makes the compressor work harder and affects the control of the brakes.  On the 308, we decided the #1 end needed to be fixed.  It looks here like something's missing.

Dan Mulvihill was helping us again, and he put in a lot of effort to repair the leaking valve.

This is what the disassembled mechanism looks like.  If the valve body and the chamber are not both perfectly conical, air leaks out.  Hisssssssss....

Meanwhile, Gerry Dettloff and John Faulhaber are getting close to getting the brake system working on the LSE boxcar.   Seen here, from left to right the brake cylinder, auxiliary reservoir, and K triple valve are all one assembly.  The system was tested on shop air, and the cylinder moves!

Despite our best efforts, the 308's cutout could not be repaired to anyone's satisfaction, so a new valve has been installed.  And the hissing is gone.  As seen here, it may be somewhat of an eyesore, but by removing the yellow rubber and painting everything blue, it will blend right in.  You'll see.

Thanks to Dan for helping all day; Rod provided the new valve, made new gaskets for the unions, modified the handle, and assisted as always with expert advice.

UP Doodlebug Update

Some more pictures from Gregg Wolfersheim of his work on the UP Doodlebug M-35.   He writes:

Two views of the forward Men's room wall in the doodlebug. The varnished walls were painted by the UP. A number of years ago, someone started to remove the peeling paint.

The upper part of the same wall.

This is the opposite wall (rear) where the sink is mounted on the right side of the picture. The dark spot is where the waste container was mounted. Evidently at some point, there was a fire in the trash and it scorched the wall. The UP just painted over that! I found this while removing the paint.

This is the clamping bracket that held the oil filter for the Winton engine. It was mounted on the wall near the engine. I've stripped the pieces on the right. The piece in the top of the picture is the base. It's bolted to the floor, thus raising the filter case about 8 inches up. All these parts are very greasy and still had most of the yellow paint on them. Now, if we could only find the filter case itself??

Milwaukee's... best?

Frank writes...

I was out at IRM for a few hours again Sunday afternoon, but once again I was helping with switching and didn't get anything done in the way of car restoration.  So this post will be another gallery of oddities and curiosities, I'm afraid.

Sunday's theme was MILWAUKEE - for some reason, nearly all of the equipment we were moving around turned out to hail from Milwaukee, most of it from the Milwaukee Electric (aka "the TM") with some from the North Shore.  Many of these cars are not exactly the gems of the collection, at least as far as condition goes, but oh well - they're all historic in their own way.  Greg Kepka was running the Army 45-tonner while Joel Ahrendt and Richard Schauer were the other ground men in addition to myself.

First CSL 2843 got moved to its new semi-permanent home on track 71 behind the E223; I didn't get a photo but it hasn't changed much since last week.  Then behind it went North Shore 354, shown above.  It used to run at IRM but needs wheel work.  It sure looks nice though!

Keep moving, nothing to see here...

Next up was a lineup of TM equipment on track 64.  Above is the L7, which was nicely repainted a few years ago.  It runs but it was easier to haul it around with the diesel than pump it up and move it under power.

Then there was the M-15, which was built in the Milwaukee Electric's shops as a freight motor.  It was later sold to the Municipality of East Troy Railroad, where it had a line platform added.  It runs but needs roof work among other things.

Here's North Shore 763, which was acquired from East Troy around 1989.  It is complete but needs rewiring work, truck work, and interior and roof repair.

Here's a neat one: Milwaukee Electric 1135, the parlor car "Menominee," which along with TM coach 1129 comprised IRM's second and third cars.  Unfortunately both of these cars are in poor condition, owing largely to a mid-1920s rebuilding in the TM shops which severely reduced their structural strength.  They were both repainted by Bill Nedden back in the 1970s, so they look nice, but it would take a whole lot of money to rebuild them.

The "Menominee" and another TM car, line car D22, were moved down to the south yards via the connector - definitely rare mileage for these two, as they've definitely never traversed this track.  Above the 1135 is spotted at "Mosquito Haven," South Junction, while the D22 is taken over to its new home in Barn 11.

And here's the D22 in all its dubious glory.  This thing has an odd history; built in the company shops as a cab-on-flat work car, it was later enclosed and made into a line car.  Its most unusual feature may be a brake stand and fold-away controller on the roof so you can run the thing from the rooftop platform.  Back in '98 or '99 Jim Blower repainted the D22 and I lettered it; if memory serves Ed Tobin and Bob Bruneau made some new windows for it about the same time.  But the rest of the car is awfully rotten.

Soon after this I departed for home, but the switching continued; I got the parting shot above of Milwaukee Electric crane D16 as the other guys started to shuffle the contents of Barn 13.

And if you've about had it with green and yellow (Richard made the observation "I guess life in Milwaukee is drab green... with a little yellow") here's an antidote for you: CA&E 460, about which we had a recent inquiry, during another switch move earlier in the day.  It ran itself out of the barn and back without trouble.

Be Prepared

Where do I start?  For one thing, today we had wintry weather, which would be fine in the middle of November, but in the middle of May it's quite disconcerting.  So I went to a professional, and asked Dan Buck: "What are the theological implications if Hell is freezing over in the middle of May???"   He says he thinks it means the End is near.  So if you haven't done so already, please start praying.

The Museum was quite busy today.  We had a large contingent of Boy Scouts, who naturally must "be prepared" for any eventuality.  There were tents all over the parking lot area.

And here they are admiring the Russel snow plow.  I'm afraid it won't be long before the nice black paint is worn off the lower surfaces of the plow.

 And they had a portable rock climbing wall, which has nothing to do with railroading, but keeps them out of trouble, I suppose.

And here they are learning how to build track.  This short section will be used for storing trucks for the Coach Dept., I'm told.  The Track Dept. were very active in teaching about the various aspects of track building and maintenance.  It's always good to learn a useful trade.

I started by switching out the 319 and 308, since we're planning to inspect the 308 this Wednesday.  Fortunately I was able to get the cars back inside before the sleet started.   And that's no joke.

And there was also an NYC historical society visiting, among others, which is probably why the S motor was outside on display.  What a classic -- this would be a good candidate for a cosmetic restoration.  And perhaps a short section of overhead third rail.

After switching, I went to work as promised on removing the tarp fragments from the 321 and getting them out of the barn.  It was pretty exhausting, but everything went well.  The barn looks much better.   The car still has odd bits of rope hanging from various parts, but those will disappear soon.

The tarps were deposited over by the dumpster.  Dave says I should cut them up into smaller pieces and put them into the dumpster gradually, so the job isn't done yet.

But with an extension cord, I can have lights in the 321 for the first time in six or seven years.  

 And then I activated the big box fan to move air through the car for a while.  My father bought this for me at a farm auction back in the seventies, and it still works.  I might have liked to keep it on, but there's always a nonzero chance something would go wrong in the barn, and that would be doubleplusungood.  You can barely see it here, but the lights show up how many cobwebs there are.   Ugh.   And I did some sweeping and sorting.   This will take a while.

 I did inspection on the 319's controllers, as seen here.  

Speaking of inspection, the 1797 was over the pit.  Joel and Gregg were doing the work.

Norm and Jeff continue their efforts on the Michigan car.  I noticed there was a large opening on this side of the car.   They said I could fill it ("We have lots of openings!") but no thanks.   Maybe later.

Bill was working on the 24.  The lighting isn't the best, but he is painting the arc chutes on the controller with Glyptal.  

And revenue service was in full swing.  I didn't get a picture of the newer L cars, but their heat was greatly appreciated.   The 431 was running as a single car; it also has good heat.  

And Jamie smiles for the camera from the cab of the 504.  To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I can tell the difference between Chinese Red (CB&Q) and Pimpernel Scarlet (CA&E), but they're both very flashy.