Bound For Glory

Remember that Toronto PCC that was doomed by the destructive effects of outdoor storage?   We now direct your attention to this wooden L car in the IRM collection. 

Unlike the PCC, this train is bound for glory.  In a matter of weeks, it will be moved over to Barn 4 and restoration to like-new condition will begin.  It will take a lot of work, but we now have the time, the tools, and the talent to devote to this project.  But that will be possible only because the car has been stored inside for so long, protected from the ravages of the weather.  Otherwise, by now this would be another hopeless basket case, like so many others around the country.

The 1024 is the oldest rapid transit car in our collection, built by Pullman in 1898.  It's a prime example of the first generation of rapid transit equipment.  The only other Chicago "gate car" in existence is car 1, which was moved at huge expense into the Chicago History Museum, restored, and put on static display.  But the 1024 will be restored to operate again, giving our visitors the experience of actually riding such a vehicle.

There are several lessons to be learned from this story, but the one we want to stress today, of course, is that indoor storage makes restorations like this possible.  And as long as we have historic artifacts still sitting outside, the job of building storage barns is not done.  We certainly can't restore every car simultaneously, but with indoor storage they will be preserved and eventually get the attention they deserve.  Otherwise, we wind up with a collection of wrecks.  Like the "Train of Terror".

Wondering what you could do to help?  It's easy!  There are several different funds set up to collect money to be used for barn construction; here at Hicks Car Works we prefer the Electric Car fund with the code name RISWEC.  You can send a check to this address:

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL   60180

or you can donate on-line through our secure website at this link.

Any and every amount helps, but remember that one foot of indoor storage space costs $215.  That's a good measure for most of us to use when deciding how much we can afford to donate.  Thanks!

36 Report

The process of stripping and repainting the 36 continued at its usual pace today; I was able to finish stripping, then sand and put a first coat of primer on sectors 15-18, as seen here.  It's going well, and no major issues to report.

 

 Jeff Brady was working on the 28, as usual, and took the time to come over and look at the 36.  We talked about various issues with the restoration.

 

 Lots of other things were going on, of course.  Among other things, the silver cars were switched back into their place on 51 now that Terror is officially over.  And I talked to Bob Kutella about the wood for the third rail beams.

 Meanwhile, Tim Peters is making tremendous progress on the 4412 roof job.  In the last two days he has tacked down both sides of the canvas, as seen here.  Rod timed him, and when things are set up, he can tack down the canvas at a rate of one foot in five minutes, or 12 feet per hour.  He says presumably when this was being done in the old days, one man could tack down a roof in one day.  

So he's well on his way to finishing this job by Thanksgiving, on the advertised.  You have to see it to believe it.

There's always plenty of work to be done over the winter.  Come on out and join the fun!

This Hell-Bound Train

We now direct your attention to this Toronto PCC car, belonging to a private collector:

This is what happens when you let your train go to hell.  Any time, money, and effort you had put into acquiring and storing it are wasted.  Of course, this particular car is not at IRM, but the same processes that have rendered it unsalvageable are operating on all of our equipment that is still stored outside. And we have many historically valuable pieces being degraded by the weather due to lack of indoor storage.  

The solution is well known: build a carbarn to house the equipment.  Indoor storage reduces environmental damage to the equipment to an imperceptible amount.  We may not have the manpower and resources to restore these artifacts in the near future, but with indoor storage they will still be there when we are ready.

You might be wondering what you could do to help.  It's easy!  There are several different funds set up to collect money to be used for barn construction; here at Hicks Car Works we prefer the Electric Car fund with the magic code name RISWEC.  (That stands for "Return It Soon, We Expect Contributions".)  You can send a check to this address:

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL   60180

or you can donate on-line through our secure website at this link.

Any and every amount helps, but remember that one foot of indoor storage space costs $215.  That's a good measure for most of us to use when deciding how much we can afford to donate.  Thanks!

What, Is It Winter Already?

The regular operating season is pretty much over.  Happy Holidays Railway is coming up in December, to be sure, and if you are a small child, or have small children, or know somebody who has small children and would be willing to let you borrow them, that would be a great thing to do.  But the display barns are closed until next spring.  That has its advantages, as you'll see.

The B&G guys were hard at work today, collecting the benches and putting them into the barns, cleaning out and storing the recycling and trash cans, and all the many other unglamorous but necessary things they do.

I was now able to move the scaffold out onto the paving, so I can finish stripping the one remaining side of the 36. After arriving at the property, I realized I had left my earmuffs and safety glasses at home, so there was no sanding and thus no painting today.  But I could do a lot of paint stripping with the heat gun.  I worked on finishing the door frame, and started on the letterboard, upper siding, and the window section.  The car now reads "Columbia Park and South" so there's some progress.

You can't see it, but I have sheets of plywood under the scaffold extending to the rail to catch all the paint chips and debris so it can be collected and disposed of properly.  And if I'm using the heat gun, I always stop at least half an hour before leaving, to make sure nothing is smoldering in some hidden nook or cranny.  You can't be too careful!

Bob Kutella and Gerry Dettloff made two trips to Owl Lumber to pick up hardwood for several projects the other day.  One of them will be making new third rail beams for the 36.  Here are the raw pieces.  I'm hoping the shop guys will do this for me over the winter under Bob's expert guidance, so I can continue working on the cars in Barn 8.  This is an excellent project for people to help with during the cold weather, in our nice heated shop.  Of course, this high-quality lumber isn't cheap.  I don't have the exact figure yet, but the total for four beams will be about $500.  The hardware we got from Trolleyville needs to be dug out of storage sometime.  That sounds interesting, anyone want to help?

Meanwhile, there were several other projects moving forward, even on a relatively slow day such as Thursday.  Tim Peters, with the help of Frank Kehoe, is making great progress on a complete roof job on the 4412.  The canvas was soaked before being placed on the car, but it hasn't dried out completely yet, so Tim didn't want to start tacking it down quite yet.

 

And Max Tyms is now busily installing the crossarms for trolley wire over the connector track!  This will be a great improvement. The connector track allows us to turn cars around without using the main wye, but until now it's required the use of a locomotive.

I had often wondered just how fast a CA&E car would have to be going to coast all the way along the connector from the Barn 8 leads to South Junction, but now that won't be necessary.  Drat!

Economy Class

The only good thing one can generally say about economy-class accommodations is that they save money.  Otherwise, conditions are usually cramped, stuffy, poorly ventilated, and bad for one's health in the long run.  We've probably all been there at one time or another.

This is our version of economy class.  A tarp offers protection from rain, snow, and sun, but doesn't last very long, requires constant maintenance, and provides no opportunities for display or restoration.  That's why IRM is right now planning to build another storage barn to enable us to upgrade much of our historic collection currently in economy class to covered storage.  And that of course requires money, as we keep pointing out.

Your contributions can make a big difference.  We urge you to donate soon, so that construction can begin.  The magic code word RISWEC identifies the fund for Electric Car Department indoor storage and work space.  You can send a check to this address:

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL   60180

or you can donate online through our secure website at this link.

Thanks!

Clear the Track

Track 82 is currently a solid line of seven 6000-series L cars, and they all needed to be rearranged in a switch move today.  That gave me an opportunity to take a picture with the entire track empty.  Here we see the varied collection of cars on 83: L cars, interurbans, work equipment, and a streetcar.  In contrast, 84 is a solid line of six wooden interurban cars, three of them built in 1906.  And this is just a small sample of IRM's vast and varied collection.

While the 6000's were being switched, it was a little like working in a subway tunnel, but no matter.  I stripped, sanded, and repainted another three sectors of the lower siding.  The chalk marks indicate various holes I needed to fill with body filler.  In the center of the car is a circular pattern, showing the screw holes for one of Gerry's old covered wagon emblems.  I wonder where those wound up?

Here's the first coat of primer on sectors 22-24.  Let's see here, that gets me up to five sevenths of one third, right?  Slightly less than one fourth.  I then did some more stripping on the window sills and posts.  I basically never left Barn 8, but we had several visitors wandering through, several of whom I talked to about various things.  Max was working on the wire outside the barn, which is very good. 

I'm sure lots of other projects were being advanced, but you'll have to look elsewhere for news.  Don't forget to check the department blog regularly, it has all the news we somehow missed.

Buy It Now

The push is on to build the next car barn, and the main way this is done is sell barn space, sold by the foot.  Most of the space in Barn 14 has already been sold, and the rest is being distributed quickly.  Once the entire barn has been allocated, construction can begin.  But by that time it will be too late to buy more space, and if you have something you want to go inside, you will just have to wait until the next barn.  Whenever that might be.

Barn space can be purchased by restricted funds for specific pieces of equipment, or by departments.  When a department purchases barn space, the department head decides which pieces of equipment to move inside, usually by consulting the members of his department, of course.  That's why we're urging you to contribute to the Electric Car fund RISWEC.  It allows the department the flexibility to do what is in the overall best interests of the collection.

At current rates, it may only be a few months before all of the available barn space has been allocated, and the window of opportunity will close.  That's why we need your contributions now.  Be sure to specify the Electric Car fund RISWEC.  Current charges are $215 per foot, so think in terms of feet if you can.  But amounts of any size are welcome.  You can mail your check to:

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL   60180

or pay online through the Museum store at this link.

As an example, here's one of the cars for which I'm the Project Manager: CA&E 321.  It was bought by the Museum in 1962 and was stored inside starting with the construction of Barn 2 in 1976.  So when the current system of track space and barn space charges was instituted, it was "grandfathered" in. In 2009, it had to be tarped and stored outside to make room for the Trolleyville collection, along with several other cars.  It's still under a tarp, as I mention every so often.  Your donations will make it possible to bring cars like this back inside so it can once more be on public display.  Thanks!

One Half of One Third

 

Another day of paint stripping, sanding, and repainting the lower siding brought me half-way down the side of the car.  So progress is slow but steady.

For a break, I hiked out to Yard 14 to check on the 321, and looked through the car checking for leaks.  Everything appears to be in good condition.  But we can't keep this up forever.  Hmmm, I wonder if there's some better way to preserve these cars?  I also checked on one of our containers.

And then, making sure I don't get too puffed up about what I've accomplished, there's Tim Peters blasting along on the 4412.  All of the new tack molding is in place and he's busily attaching the screws to fasten it down.  He's planning to soak the canvas tomorrow and put it in place on the roof on Saturday, when there will be plenty of people around to help.  OK, count me in!

Train of Terror

No, this isn't the annual Train of Terror at IRM.  But sights like this will become more common, unless you act to help out now.

Hopeless wrecks like the one above are the inevitable result when there's not enough indoor storage space for vintage railroad equipment.  That's why we're making a major effort right now to build another carbarn soon, before it's too late for some of the irreplaceable cars in our collection.  Of course, that's expensive, and the cost can only go up with the passing years.  Right now the cost for indoor storage space is $215 per foot of track.  That's probably a reasonable goal for most of us, one or two feet of space.  

Your Museum needs to have sufficient money in hand to contract out the construction of the next barn.  We here at Hicks Car Works would suggest you contribute to the Electric Car restricted fund for indoor storage.  This fund has the code name RISWEC, which stands for Restricted -- Indoor Storage and Work (space) -- Electric Car. There are several other restricted funds which will also be used to pay for barn construction.  If you pay by check, be sure to include the restricted fund code, and mail to:

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL    60180

You can also pay online by going to this link and choosing the correct department and amount.  It's that easy!  And of course, either way it's tax-deductible.

Anyone who might be interested in making a substantial contribution, or has specific questions, should probably contact our Executive Director, Nick Kallas, at the Museum.  You can call him or email nkallas at irm dot org.  

And by the way, if you want to ride the actual Train of Terror, this weekend will be your last chance.  I'm afraid, I'm really afraid, that you might miss this thrilling experience.  Don't let it pass you by!

Dig Deep

As Frank has mentioned, the push is on to start work on the next carbarn.  And we can't emphasize enough how important this is to the preservation of our collection.  There's a lot of valuable equipment still sitting outside.  Although Barn 14 won't be able to hold everything, it will be a giant step forward.  But the Museum cannot commit to beginning construction until sufficient funds are on hand.  And that's where you come in, of course.

There's another point that we probably haven't repeated often enough.  The Trolleyville collection was acquired nearly three years ago, and it was worth every penny, yet all the debts incurred have not been paid off.  The Trolleyville fund is still deep in the red.  We had to pay for actually buying the cars and equipment, then loading and transporting them, and now we still need to pay for track and barn space.

This is not cheap, but you can still make a big difference.  Think in terms of feet.  Barn track space currently costs $215 per foot.  The cost of putting a single 50' car inside may be way out of reach for most of us, but a foot or two certainly isn't.  We urge you to dig deep into your pockets and put your best foot forward.  Your contributions are, of course, tax-deductible.

Donations can be made on-line through the IRM home page, or of course by check or money order to fund RISWEC.  Those of use who are actually doing the restoration work are contributing to this fund, and we'd appreciate any help you can give.   Thanks!

PCC on the Pit

Friday and Saturday I got the opportunity to help out a bit with inspection work on Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority 63, a PCC car built for Minneapolis and later sold to the Shaker Heights line in Cleveland.  It was acquired by IRM from Trolleyville in 2010 and has had its interior refurbished by Frank Sirinek and Mike Stauber.  It was acquired complete, and had operated at Trolleyville, but had not been fully inspected at IRM.  However Jeff Hakner, an IRM member from Connecticut who also moonlights as Chairman of the Board at Branford among other duties at that museum, was visiting this weekend.  He has worked on PCC cars with GE control (all of the other PCC's at IRM, besides 63, have Westinghouse control) and agreed to help take a look at the car.

Above (L-R) Frank Sirinek, Jeff Hakner, and Eric Lorenz discuss the wiring on the 63.  We lack a wiring diagram for this car, which was built as a single-unit PCC and rebuilt for MU service at Shaker, so if any blog reader knows where we might be able to find one, we'd greatly appreciate it!












Above left, Dan Fenlaciki installs new batteries in the car; above right (L-R) Bill Wulfert, Eric Lorenz and Richard Schauer look over wiring diagrams for other GE PCC cars looking for points of comparison.  Eric and Richard are our two PCC experts and they took point on helping Jeff to diagnose car 63's issues.  By the time I left, at about 4pm Saturday, they were working on sequencing the car on low voltage but had encountered some issues with the mechanical pedal linkage and with the line switch.  With luck and more work, this car could be an addition to IRM's operating fleet.  This would make it the first PCC other than the 4391 to operate at IRM in about a quarter century.












I also helped a bit on the 36 project.  Above left, my father works on stripping more paint; above right, the rear of the Knutsen 5B retriever from the 36 that I needle-chipped.  I thought it was slightly interesting that the CA&E apparently assigned this one the number 70.

In other news, I was told that at the board meeting Saturday fundraising efforts for the next barn, to be built over Yard 14 I believe, were approved.  Several of the cars acquired from Trolleyville still don't have their track space money paid off, and until that is taken care of, cars like the 321 can't go back inside, so please be generous and donate to track space for the 319 or 36.  As always, all donations are tax deductible and are greatly appreciated!

UPDATE: Check the comments section on this post for "the rest of the story!"

36 Report

 Most of the day was spent stripping, sanding, and painting another two sectors of the lower siding on the aisle side of the car.  I wanted to do more, but the cord on our heat gun gave out, due to the constant use we've been putting it to, I suppose.  They just don't make 'em like they used to. 

And Frank needle-chipped one of the retrievers, and it was later painted with a first coat of brown primer, at the same time as the siding.  And we looked at the underbody some more, and I checked what needs to be done on the roof.

Our friend Jeff Hakner was visiting from Branford, and Frank will have a much longer post on what he was doing.