Trolley Bus Photo Collection from Jeron Glander

Car Department volunteer Jeron Glander recently acquired some photos taken of trolley buses at IRM in the 1970s and these are shown below, with caption data from the original photos (photographer unknown) and from Richard Schauer.

These photos are copyrighted by Jeron Glander.

Do not reproduce without permission!

Cleveland Pullman 874 in the newly built trolley bus garage, spring 1973

Milwaukee Marmon 441 turning in the usual way in front of the Andersen Garage until the loop was built, using a stinger, Spring 1973. In the right background is Milwaukee streetcar 966 prior to the construction of the Cretney Barn, which was built over that car.

Milwaukee Marmon 441 posed on Railroad Ave. in front of Yard 1, Fall 1972.

Milwaukee Marmon 441 looking east near the wood shop on Central Avenue, Spring 1973.

Chicago Brill 84 upon receipt from ERHS, May 19, 1973. Note that it had a left rear tire fire.

Chicago Brill 84, May 19, 1973. The front end still shows scars of its backhoe tangle today.

Chicago Marmon 9553 from the back seat of Marmon 9631, July 11, 1973. That morning both coaches ran themselves onto trucks in Chicago and began service at IRM in the afternoon.

Wednesday Report

Another busy and productive Wednesday results in the following report, which as usual covers only a small part of all the things going on at IRM.  Hey, I'm mostly trying to work on my own projects.

Such as the thresholds for the 451.  The two pieces for the #1 end were painted on the bottom and bolted in place.

And then I did the cutting and planing for the two blocks for the #2 end.  A lot of planing was required, and the sound is very annoying, but that's the price you pay for progress.  The metal plate has some significant surface rust, but is still structurally sound. 

The wooden blocks will be covered with metal tread plates.  This one had gotten bent, so I asked Gerry to heat it up and bend it back.  To his surprise, it started to melt!!!  It turns out these plates are partly made of lead.  It's an unnecessarily complicated design, if you ask us.

But Gerry was able to bend it cold, with the use of the right tools.   Thanks!

So it looks like this.  There are two other plates to cover the rest of the wood.

And the first block is bolted in place at the #2 end.

  I will have to chisel away some of the rotted floor behind it before the second block can be installed.

Well, let's see what other people are doing.  Over the past few months, Norm has gotten excellent help on the Michigan Electric 28 from a new member, Rich Castagna, seen here at right.  They're working on installing the floor in the baggage compartment.

Jack Biesterfeld is polishing hardware for the windows in the 109.

Henry is working on seat frames for the 306.  John Sheldon has been making good progress on rebuilding the floor inside the car, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Tim has a long row of new rattan seats for the 1754. 

Rich Witt is drilling holes for assembling the complicated windows for the 109.

Finally, I helped Bob Olson a little with a Track Dept. project.  He needs new wear plates for the tie inserter, and got a block of some sort of nylon material.  We tried cutting it on the table saw, but it started to melt.  That doesn't happen with wood!  The big bandsaw turned out to be a better choice.  With care, you can cut a very straight line. 

At home, I'm in the process of making new frames for the sign boxes on the 451 and 453.

They're held in place with about a dozen machine screws.  And I needed to check that the tapped holes in the various boxes all have the same pattern.

More on this later!

A New Threshold

While the 451 is basically complete, it's been missing its thresholds at each end for a long time.  And that seemed like a good project to tackle next.  I was able to locate some wood that would be suitable for use, and good progress was made yesterday.

First, the end of the car looks like this:

The wood I decided to use required a lot of planing.  Before and after:

Wood was cut to shape, as seen here.  The metal plates will be attached with screws.

The wood is attached to the frame of the car with bolts going into tapped holes.  Getting everything to line up before installation requires careful placement.  

But both pieces line up properly.

And finally, both pieces got a coat of primer.

The next project will be making wooden frames for the roll signs at each end of the 451 and 453, which can be done at home.   More on that soon.

Meanwhile, there was action on most of the usual projects.  Tim continues making seats for the 1754.

Victor and Bill discuss what needs to be done on the bobber.

John Sheldon continues working on the 306, and here Dan Fenlaciki is welding on the exposed frame of the car.

And riveting and welding were being done on the 28.

Doodlebug Report

Gregg Wolfersheim sends us another progress report on the M-35:

The recently installed ceiling panel in M35 suddenly decided to unpaint itself! Not sure what caused it, but I had to totally strip it in place.  (Dec. 17)

Another view of the peeling paint. Everything was removed and reprimed.

Today (Jan. 2) I was able to repaint the affected panel. We see the panel with grey primer, and then with the ivory color applied. Some of the trim pieces got a second coat, too. And, the window slides are in place within the window posts on the first opening in the smoker section.

Thursday Report

To start the new year, here's a quick report on Car Shop activities today.  Thursdays are usually rather sparsely attended.

I wanted to take the one rusted-out trap door from the 451 to the metal working shop in Gilberts, so first I checked on the 453.  This car also had three doors in good condition, with one badly rusted along the outside edge, as seen here.

So it was removed from the car and taken along.  We might as well have the two done at the same time, and the one from the 453 serves as a good template for what the other one should look like.

And in the afternoon they were dropped off at Harmony, and I'll be waiting for a quote before work actually starts.  Otherwise, I worked on cleaning and sorting parts in the 451 and installing a few more.  I also got a chance to talk with Gregg about painting the 453.

 Jon is making good progress on the roof of the 65.

Work is also progressing on the 28.   The subfloor is being installed:

And the riveting is nearly complete:

Finally, outside our new line department guys have installed the poles behind the MPB and were stringing the wires today.  I had to leave before the new line was connected.

That's enough for today, but stay tuned for a doodlebug report.  And Happy New Year!

Highlights of 2019

It's time once again to celebrate as we review the accomplishments of 2019.  As always, additions and corrections are welcome!

• Acquisitions: 

1. CA&E St. Louis car #453
2. C&NW bilevel #25
3. The private car Pawnee
4. Toronto CLRV #4034
5. U28B locomotive TTI #260 (ex-CB&Q)

• Construction of our Multi-Purpose Building started and has progressed rapidly.
• The Marengo Depot is now heated and was used for the Happy Holiday events
• Construction of the inspection pit in the Steam Shop
• The Electroliner got put back together
• Operation of both the Decapod and the Shay several times this year
• First operation of the velocipede!
• Special days such as Pumpkin, Thomas, Vintage Transport, and Happy Holiday all went well.
• And as usual, operations proceeded smoothly and safely during the year, thanks to our operating department.
• Perhaps most importantly, we have several new active volunteers.  We are certainly grateful for their help, and hope they will stay with us for a long time!

And a public service announcement:

There's plenty  to celebrate, but don't let others talk you into overdoing things.  You might regret it.