Chuck Amstein Photos of Showcase Weekend

Staff photographer Chuck Amstein has sent in some great images, as usual.   To begin with, you can watch this video of the CA&E train.

(And then, I just noticed  this video taken from the 308 on Labor Day by "foxrivermotorman".)

Jim West flags his train across a busy street.



And we're ready to go into service.







Dan helps by watching poles.  All four of them.

On the tail track.

"308 to dispatcher, call for orders."

And west to the depot.

Change ends, and we're ready for our first trip.

As seen from the Zephyr.

Chuck also rode the Indiana 65, with Jon Fenlaciki, motorman.

With its original IRR fare register.

Kevin Brown, conductor.

The famous South Shore line car also operated.  It has to be towed through the yards, of course.

And Dan and Chris Buck were running the single-truck open car, which was always packed.

Ready to be put away into the barn.

But other cars are being brought out for night operations.















Among other things, the Zephyr was running at night.

And a two-car North Shore train.

And then Chuck got a night ride on the dynamometer, which doesn't run very often.  He says: "The large gauges register the drawbar pull.  Some of this stuff was actually working."

 

The crew quarters.

Hydraulic piston connected to drawbar, for measuring drawbar pul 

Drawbar on right, connected to the large piston.

 

Showcase Report

Saturday of Showcase Weekend was a big success and a lot of fun for everyone, I think.  The weather was perfect and we had a very good crowd of visitors.  We were running the four-car CA&E train, as advertised, mostly just to show we could do it, but on nearly every trip we had three cars full of passengers, more than I expected.  As usual, there were long-time members visiting from out of town, such as Steve Iversen, Randy and Betty Anderson, and others.  I was too busy to take any pictures, but lots of others were taking pictures, and I'm sure we'll get some good submissions.  Dan Mulvihill was our trainman, along with Frank and myself.

Everything went well until our fourth trip at 1:30.  When we got to the east end of the line and changed ends, the train refused to go west.  Diagnosing the problem was not easy, but we tried various things and determined that at least the two cars on the west end would move by themselves.  The situation was made worse by the difficulties in communicating with the dispatcher from Kishwaukee Grove.  Usually we don't have to call from there, and for a while we could hear him clearly but he couldn't hear us.  Finally we got permission to put all the passengers into the 309 and 36, and return to the depot.  (Frank stayed behind with the 308 and 319.)  Here we were met by Rod and Joe, with tools and a spare control jumper.  When we got back to the east end, it didn't take long to determine that the problem was just a defective control jumper, and with a good one in place, the train operated normally.  This caused some significant disruptions to the service, but our dispatcher, Bob Opal, is able to handle stressful situations in a manner all his own, and in the end all was well.

Then for supper we had Fay's Barbeque, which was excellent as usual, followed by night-time operations.  Harold Krewer was the night trick dispatcher, and kept things moving admirably.  When I get some pictures sent in, maybe there will be more to tell. 

 Frank adds...

As my father mentions, it was a fun day.  I missed the first trip of the four-car train, but that afforded me the opportunity to catch the above picture of the train passing Spaulding Tower coming into the station.  Boy, what a great sight!  I was on the crew for the next couple of trips and got to talk with some visiting friends including Ray and Bill Burmaster from Mid-Continent.  Ray told me an interesting story: in 1962 he had tried to purchase a set of rattan seats from the CA&E to install in their Copper Range passenger car.  They had evidently already scrapped most of the "shorties" but agreed to the sale.  Then, at the last minute, they said they couldn't offer the seats any more because they'd been able to sell the entire car - the 36, sold to Gerald Brookins in Cleveland.  Mid-Continent bought a set of North Shore seats instead and just recently they made their way to IRM too as spares for our cars.

Our conversation was cut short by the aforementioned mechanical problems, but after a relaxing spell spent at Kishwaukee Grove I was rescued (rescue train seen above) and the four-car train ran back without issue.  Dinner was great and I got to go for trips on the Zephyr and CTA 4000s afterwards.  I daresay a good time was had by all!

Clear the Track!

We're scheduled to run all four wood cars in passenger service on Saturday, so there were several things that still needed to be done.  First, there was lubrication: check three compressors and 32 main journals, seven of which have waste and need more careful attention.  Then the train was made up, and I checked the control systems and brakes.  And finally ran the train about a car length out of the barn, and back in.  Enough for today.

This was the first time I've had all 12 traction motors powering, and the train seems to run nicely, with little slack action.  Of course, it didn't go very far or very fast, but I can quickly tell if something's wrong.  So I'm confident we're ready for Showcase Weekend.  For a better view of the train, be there on Saturday.

Then it was time to go through the train, clean up, and make sure that we had flags, motorman's stools, and so forth in the right places, and remove anything not needed. such as tools and spare parts.

Over the years, we've collected a good number of small American flags for use on the Fourth and similar occasions.  (The two biggest ones on the left are 48 star flags, for historical purposes.)  They were usually stored in one of the toilet compartments, which always bothered me a little.  So I collected them all and moved them into the 150, where they are now on display.  Much better!

Lost and Found Department:  I also found the following items of value left behind by members, I would think: a nice flashlight, a "fanny pack" or similar item, and a man's necktie.  Identify them by sending me a PM and they're yours!

Then I worked on installing the angle braces for the 36's pilot, recently installed and painted.  One of the bolts I could not get loose, but one brace is now in place, and that will surely be good enough, since the 36 is in the middle of the train.

 

Finally, here's a picture of Barn 9: they've started moving things back in, but it's only about half full.  At one point the entire barn was empty, I'm told.  The reason may surprise you: it was due to a contamination scare.

Scurrilous rumors were spread to the effect that the building was contaminated with large amounts of ferric oxide (a toxic material sometimes called "rust") and that anyone entering Barn 9 was in danger of coming into contact with this rust.   So all of the equipment had to be pulled out of the barn, a thorough examination was made, and experts concluded that these fears were completely unfounded.  So that's a great relief -- we're safe!

Seriously, though, you won't have to worry about toxic contamination this weekend when we'll be showcasing lots of carefully restored equipment.  Bring your camera, you'll have a great time.  And we could still use another trainman or two!

Finishing the Pilot or Tours, We Give Tours

Al writes...

I was out to IRM twice this week.

Yesterday I did spend some time painting the pilot on the 36  that Randy and John had mounted on the car last Saturday. The day started out warm and partly cloudy but by one o'clock we did have some fairly heavy rain. Fearing that I would melt I was stuck in barn eight  after  finishing the pilot until the rain ceased.

Then I went over to help with activities in the shop and to see how I could help Rich Witt with his plans to assemble the third rail beams which requires a tricky bevel cut for the beams. These are required to clear the leaf springs on the trucks. Rich is still designing a system to do this but had not yet started on the task. So I decided to help out with the CTS PCC by priming several of the car card racks.

One significant advancement noted in barn 4 is that the Lake Shore Electric 180 is now wearing new headgear. Canvas is being stretched to finish the roof installation. This will complete the outside restoration of this box trailer.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to provide a tour for several guests.

The primary guest was Mr. Jun Kobayashi of JR East, which is the privatized part of the former Japanese National Railways consisting of the routes around and north of Tokyo. It is been reported that JR East is the most profitable railway in the world with an operating ratio of around 40%.  All those commuter trains you see running side by side in the videos and simulations of Tokyo are JR East operations. But there are some bucolic lines as well, even within the Tokyo suburban network.

Typical Tokyo Commuter Line

Suburban Branch Line in Tokyo

Accompanying Mr. Kobayashi, Was Bob Kollmar and his wife.  Bob is is director of Engineering, Communications and Train Control for the Association of American Railroads.  In that role he is the AAR's primary contact on technical issues on those topics with the FRA and the FCC (no don't blame him for your radio or scanner being obsolete due to narrow banding, that far predates him).

I pointed out to Mr. Kobayashi that JR personnel studied the Electroliner when developing the Shinkansen concept and that a donation from JR might be appropriate.  We'll see where that goes.

One unfortunate thing was a result of the filming at IRM on Friday.  As noted in other posts some of the steam locomotives from barn 9 were parked on the streetcar loop.  Mr. Koboayashi is a bit of a tram fan but we were unable to give him a streetcar ride.


BTW JR East has one of the nicest museums around, sort of modeled after York in the UK.

  I could post a few more photos from the museum if there is interest.

Dinner in the Diner

Among all the other attractive events that will be provided this 60th Anniversary Museum Showcase Weekend, the Zephyr crew will be serving lunch in the Ceres again during operations.  The food is prepared on the train, so it's labor intensive, just like the old days.  We didn't mention it at the time, but my wife and I were visiting and ate on the Zephyr over Labor Day weekend, and it was quite good.  And just so there isn't any sticker shock, I'm including the menu.  This is, in part, a fundraising device for the continuing restoration and maintenance of the Zephyr, but we both thought it quite reasonable.  I'm guessing the same menu will be in effect this weekend.

We both had the ribeye steak sandwich, and it was very good.  We happened to be sitting with Don Askleaf and his wife; they both had the pork chop plate, and were both very satisfied.  And even if you've seen the same scenery a few hundred times before, it's still fun to dine while riding the train.  So this is something else you won't want to miss.  Yummm!

Review of IRM

Here is an interesting review of the Museum from the local paper in Washington, Ill., near Peoria.  This is a family visiting during Thomas days, so it's focused on kids, but it's all very positive, which is good to see. I liked this quote:

The staff was outstanding, informative and very friendly and willing to help. While they were willing to talk in elaborate detail about the equipment, they kept conversations on a level for everyone to understand.

It's always a temptation to start talking in elaborate detail, so I'm glad to see most of us are avoiding that.  Read the whole thing!

Think Green

Frank writes...

I was out at IRM again on Sunday, and this time got to spend the entire time working on the 205.  During the week I picked up a gallon of newly-mixed Indiana Railroad Green from Diamond Paints, which allowed me to put a first coat of green on the anticlimber at the west end of the car (below).

Note that this series of car has a highly unusual "stacked" double anticlimber and that the upper one was painted orange while the lower one was green.  Bob Bruneau had looked at the car structure and concluded that the upper anticlimber was basically just cosmetic: no extra framing exists to support it, and in a collision with a high-floor car it likely wouldn't help any more than a normal steel plate in the same location.  But we're anticipating that this particular theory will remain untested.  I also painted the step on the car, as seen below.

Now we're not 100% certain what color the steps on this car were painted in service.  Very few cars that were painted by IRR had fold-out steps - none of the high-speeds or heavy interurbans did - and I haven't been able to locate any decent high-contrast photos of the 200-series cars in service.  For the time being the steps will be green, but if evidence comes along to the contrary we can easily repaint them orange.

As shown above, I also did some clean-up work on the interior.  This mainly consisted of installing the headliner planks over the windows on the south (right) side, which I had put off so that I could easily remove the side windows when painting the car.  I also installed the window track ratchets that had been removed to enable us to remove the car's windows (this was done back a few years when Jim Heinlein went through and stripped the Portland paint off of all the side windows) as well as the standee grab-irons screwed to the ceiling next to the bulkheads.

And then on to more "thinking green."  Indiana Railroad cars were lettered in dark green (same as the roof color) with silver outlining.  Using the stencil I had previously made up, I traced "INDIANA RAILROAD" onto the letter board.  I ran out of daylight before I could paint the name on the letter board, but that will wait until next time.  I also need to paint on the two pinstripes that run the length of the car, one at the belt rail and one at the floor, and I need to finish making up the "205" stencil for the side sheet numbers as well as another "205" stencil for the numbers over the end windows and a "P.SC." stencil that goes at the ends of the letter boards.

Ra-ra-ra for IRR!  I also reinstalled the car's two retrievers and put some rubber molding on the edge of the 205's metal display sign so that it won't scratch the paint, but that was about it for me.  It was a pretty quiet day at IRM, with relatively few volunteers out.  But we're looking forward to a great Museum Showcase Saturday, with the four-car wood train running in revenue service for the very first time.  But we need trainmen!  If you're not doing anything Saturday, or if you're doing anything less fun than riding CA&E cars (that pretty much covers everyone, right?), sign up today!

Getting Ready

It's been quite a while since we had a weekend where nothing special was happening at IRM.  There was Vintage Transport, then Band Organs, then Thomas, then the Extravaganza -- whew!  But now it's time to get ready for Showcase Weekend, so we need to keep working!   (I try to tell myself...)

The 36 will be making its debut in passenger service next Saturday, and courtesy of Gwyn Stupar, we have professional artwork!  Forward to the past, I say!

It's only a week away, so this seemed like the only opportunity to get the pilot mounted.  Luckily I was able to recruit John Faulhaber to help me.  I hopefully predicted it wouldn't take too long, but it turned out to be harder than expected.  Nonetheless, John is a hard and productive worker and we managed to get it attached.  Thanks, John!  Al had put primer on the inside surfaces, and after it was in place, I put primer on the outside. 

One of us will be able to paint it black this week. 

From there, it's on to the interior.  I vacuumed the car out, and removed the various piles of tools and parts that had accumulated.  

 

 

 Here's the #1 end motorman's position.

 

And this is the #2 or "solarium" end.  There's no electrical cabinet, so behind the motorman is a window, and everybody in the car can see what you're doing.  Just don't fall asleep.

 For now, though, the 36 will be in the middle of the train because it doesn't have a working compressor.

It still looks rather shabby, I must admit, but when it's repainted it will look just like 1948 again!  Be sure to get a ride next Saturday!  There are some caveats: only the windows on the north side can be latched

open, don't try to lower the window shades, and don't try to reverse the seats.  The seats almost all work, but need to be lubricated.

And I worked on window shades, and fixed the buzzer in the 309, and so on.  Rich Witt showed me what he is planning to do on the third rail beams -- that's a big help.

 

Meanwhile, Tim is hard at work on the 24, of course.  Here he shows off a couple of the various colors he has matched: the basic green on the corner post, and the dark brown on the roof.

And lots of switching was going on, cleaning up from Labor Day and getting ready for Member's Day, and what not.  Most of the Museum's loose steam locomotives were lined up on the car line alongside Barn 9.

And the GG-1 was out in the sun for one of its rare appearances.

Museum Showcase Weekend this year should be another big success!