1808 In Motion

We'll have some regular news of restoration progress up soon, but Tim wanted me to post these stills and videos as soon as possible to show the 1808 in action.  Although a lot of the body has been disassembled, it can still operate under its own power, and even carry any passengers brave or foolhardy enough to ride along.  Of course, you had to be there at the right time.  The car needed to be wyed, and this was the best time to do it.

And as soon as it was back in the barn, restoration resumed.  

Saturday Operation

Saturday provided us with nice weather and an excellent crowd of visitors, all of whom seemed to be having a good time.  Mainline trains included the 1630 pulling the coach train, the wooden L cars 1797 and 1268, and the 36 and 309.  Then the 749 was running the Union shuttle all day, plus the 4391 and 3142 on the streetcar loop.  What more could you want?

I was too busy to take many pictures, but here's what we've got:

I got to run the train for a couple of trips.  Photo by John Csoka.  As often happens, I got to meet some of our regular blog readers.

Frank and Vivian paid a visit and went for a ride.

Next operation will be on July 3rd.  You won't want to miss it.

Frank adds...

A couple of interesting things Vivian and I happened upon during our wandering around:

Over at the bus barn, Richard and Jerry had towed the CTA articulated trolley bus, the "Queen Mary," out of the barn as part of the re-shuffling project. I couldn't tell you whether I've ever seen this thing outside.

And then late in the day, Good Nick and Mikey brought the 18 over to the inspection pit. Stay tuned!

Good Advice

We no longer link to RyPN due to the often objectionable content and so forth, but I must admit that I still visit it once in a while -- one of those guilty pleasures.  But I was struck by a recent comment from one of the many pseudonymous posters:

For me, based on the financials that I see on paper as well as the actual work that I see done when I visit... IRM is by far the best place to donate my money. That's my personal decision of course and your mileage may vary.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Recent GG-1 Progress

Thanks to our intrepid freelance correspondent Bill Wulfert for sending along this update of recent work on our Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1:

David Fullarton finished mounting the GG1 seat cushions and backs to the seat frames.  The seats were recovered by John McKelvey with help from Jane Blackburn.  David would like to clean up the seat pedestals inside of the locomotive before they are remounted.  They are presently stored inside of the Baldie (4146).  These are the nicest seats you will ever see in a Baldie!

Last Tuesday I painted the "F", "WATER" & "FUEL OIL" lettering on the GG1. It previously only had one WATER label.  Buzz Morisette created the lettering, and Warren Newhauser cut the vinyl stencils. Another item checked off of the GG1 list.

Last Autumn, Gregg Wolfersheim added a steam connector pipe to the south end of the GG1. They had steam heat during their whole life.

ITM Retrospective, or "You Can't Go Back Home Again"

Our intrepid cub reporter Zach Ehlers has filed this trip report...

On Sunday, Greg, Nick, and myself were in central Indiana picking up a donation. While in the neighborhood, we stopped by Noblesville to see what was left of the Indiana Transportation Museum. Faithful viewers may recall that ITM was evicted from their long time home in Forest Park by the city in 2018. IRM was able to rescue CNS&M 172, among other things, from the fray. A link to some adventures during this time can be found here and here.

Starting in 2019, a new operator, the "Nickel Plate Express", began operating on portions of the Nickel Plate Railroad formerly operated by ITM. In the fall of 2021, the city of Noblesville broke ground on a project to revitalize the former site of ITM in Forest Park for operation by the NPE. On June 11th, these facilities opened. Those that remember what ITM was like in its waning years will be very surprised to see how the area looks now. 

This is the scene that greets patrons of the park and railroad now. Significant investment in the landscaping and structures has taken place.

The whole place now has a park like atmosphere, with new restrooms and a playground.

These are the former display tracks. It could be like a jungle wandering through the weeds and the equipment at one time. The city has removed at least two tracks here and significantly ballasted the other two.

The Hobbs Depot is one of the original structures from ITM that was retained. We could not see inside, but presumably it has been revitalized like the exterior. (Hobbs is approximately 20 miles northeast of Noblesville along the Nickel Plate).

East of the pole barn, a large environmental remediation operation has taken place. Most all evidence of ITM's presence is gone, save for the PRR keystone in the foreground.

At the south end of the park, the Nickel Plate Express' train is...well...parked. The F9 is a former Erie Mining unit.

Finally, this view looks south down what was once the "trolley main". 172 and a few 4000's used to run here as the museum's only rail operation before they expanded to the Nickel Plate.

The city has completely transformed the park into what could be considered a family friendly area attraction. While it's sad to see an organization like ITM go under, and most certainly see the equipment suffer for it, the city has done quite well in turning this area around.

Ya Snooze, Ya Lose

 Tim Peters points out that it's never safe to turn your back at IRM.  You just don't know what might happen next.

I can only suppose these new historic artifacts will significantly reduce our operating expenses.

Line Car Progress

 Gregg Wolfersheim sends us another update on his restoration of the IT line car.  Impressive progress is being made!

The first of many pieces of siding have been cut to length, then primed on both sides. After the primer dried, a coat of Indian Red was applied.

 Here the lower pieces are getting a coat of paint.

Both the back side and front, as seen here, have been painted. A few days will allow them to dry before installation.

Today the first batch was nailed on the car.

Visit to 315 at Rockhill

On my trip to Boston, I was able to stop at the Rockhill Trolley Museum to see the progress that has been made on the restoration of CA&E 315, and it's very impressive.  The car is being restored to its as-built condition, and the work is beautiful.

This particular car has dual sets of DB-131 contactors, and the boxes are the same as on the 308.

The roof looks great too:

The original ceiling panels and many other parts are neatly stored nearby.

New ceiling panels were fabricated, then painted and stenciled by hand, and then installed.  The result is stunning.

The wall panels have all been stripped down, then stained and varnished.

This is the smoker section:

With all of the seat frames removed, it was relatively easy to remove the covers on the heaters.  This is something we've never done with the wood cars.

The toilet compartment on this car was removed by the CA&E in later years, so it has been rebuilt.  Looks just like new.

This is really something to look forward to!

Monday Milestones

 After two weeks of traveling, it was time to get back to work on Monday.  The most important thing on the 460 roof project was to install the replacement piece of tack molding at the #2 end.

As I predicted, after drying out for two weeks, the molding kept its curve and fits the car perfectly:

There was some more trimming of various sorts required, then I had to drill and tap new holes for the machine screws to hold it in place, but finally it lines up with the old tack moldings exactly.

Finally, it was painted and attached permanently.  I'm pretty much ready to start stretching canvas.

Then I cut out the rest of the saddles from the white oak I had acquired earlier.  They still need to be sanded and drilled.  And the stock for the running boards should be arriving soon.

What were the others doing?  Tim continues on structural repairs to the 1808, of course:

John S. and Fred are painting the roof on the 306.  It looks great.

Also, John pointed out that he was able to bend the long saddles which go at either end of the roof.  Bending this thick stock is not easy, but having to cut them out, as we do with the much shorter ones on most of the cars, would be wasteful.

Pete and Fritz were continuing their complete refinishing of the 160's interior:

And Jon F. has completed reassembling the rear compartment in the 65.

And finally, I brought out the brake shoe for the Cleveland car that Seashore has generously loaned us. 

In order for the 18...

...to be in regular service, we of course need eight correct brake shoes in good condition, and it will be expensive to have new ones made.  At least we now have a good pattern.  And watch this space for the exciting opportunity to contribute to the effort!