More Canvas

Lots of progress got done today; the main thing from my perspective is that the center canvas is now on the roof of the 319.

In the morning, I finished painting the roof, and then rolled out the canvas and soaked it for a long time.  It was then allowed to dry in the sun for a while.

The damp canvas is heavy, but I was able to lift it up the stairs onto the scaffold by myself, and then onto the roof.  After rolling it out, this is what it looks like when still wet, rather wrinkled and lumpy.  Like you slept under a bridge, as my mother would say.

While we're up here, turn around and look outside.  I must admit I tend to look down on streetcars....

During the day, the canvas seemed to stretch by at least three feet.  Most of this was probably pulling out the wrinkles, but as it dries, it should stretch.  In a week or so, we should be ready to start tacking.

Meanwhile, let's look at the other roof projects over in Barn 4.  The 810 has gotten a final coat of paint, and it looks great!  This is the only Lake Shore Electric car to be fully restored.  Of course, it doesn't have windows, seats, electrical equipment, and so on, but it has still been a huge project, and the result is going to be stunning.

 

And then the Michigan Electric 28 team have done a fantastic job on their roof.  They have evidently decided that wind propulsion will be more feasible than replacing the original control system....

In any case, it looks great.

Among other things, the 141 was out for a couple of trips, including a West Towns fan trip charter.

The weather today was perfect.  So let's take a walk out to the south yards

The cutoff track seems to be pretty much done.

And here's the 14-15 switch, which has been there for a while, but now the yard 15 track has been completed.

This is yard 13.  Tracks 1 and 2 are now complete but need ballast, it appears.

From left to right, in the distance you can see the storage building, then the single track of yard 15, and then yard 14, no longer as crowded as it used to be.  All we need now is a barn or two.

And I checked up on the 321, still its same old dreary self.

 

Yard 14 from the southwest.

Yard 15.

Contractors were finishing up the concrete pad for the storage barn extension.  And beyond that, excavation has started for more storage.  We could never have too much available space.

And this is, I believe, the eventual route of the car line extension.





Max has extended the power line parallel to Olson Road to the new facilities.




And in Barn 11, our toy train is waiting for eventual service.

Safety pictures are always good.  For some reason, the roof cables on the 319 are criss-crossed, so they have to pass under the trolley wire in the barn.  None of the other cars have this "feature".  I will want to tie the roof cables closer to the trolley wire, and would rather not rely on the ancient insulation, so I put in some special trolley wire covers that Max has provided us.  They're the yellow tubes in the picture.  Rated for 15 kV, they ought to be more than sufficient for 600V.

319 Report

Progress on the roof of the 319 today was very satisfying.  At one point, I needed some rope, and two different people I asked about it immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was thinking of hanging myself.  Not yet!

After a couple hours of work, I was able to remove the remaining canvas, saddles, running boards, and other hardware from the roof, and tie up the roof cables so they're out of the way. I can vaguely remember the 309 looking like this in the Morton barn back about 1976, before it was recanvassed.

After some wood repair and a thorough sweeping, it was ready for paint.  I used a roller with a long handle so it could all be done standing up.  I must be getting old.  Anyway, the roof is now completely painted except for one end, which I'll do next time.  This is not absolutely necessary, but protects the wood from any moisture that may wick through the canvas.  And soon, we should be able to wet the canvas and roll it out on the roof.

The coach department guys are now working on one of the Boonton cars, #556.  I was asked to take several pictures inside the restroom for future reference; here's one of them.  We want to get every last little detail right when the car is repainted.

Meanwhile, Tim and Frank K. were hard at work on the 24.  And:

News from the South

I was too lazy to take pictures, but it can now be revealed that:

1) Yard 15 for now will be one track, and it's complete and is storing rolling stock.

2) The contractors are rapidly completing the remaining two tracks in Yard 13.

3) Ground is being prepared for an extension to the storage facility. 

Pretty exciting, isn't it?

Museum Showcase Weekend/Members' Weekend and How Heber Was My Valley

David writes....

My bags are packed (sort of). I have rounded up my various pieces of IRM ephemera (keys, rulebook, grip), which were dispersed to various parts of the house as a result of the big move to Utah. The conductor's uniform is going to the dry cleaners this week, and the conductor's dress shoes will get polished soon. Most importantly, I have purchased airline tickets.

I shall see all of you at IRM on Members' Day/Museum Showcase Weekend! I am very excited, as I haven't seen most of you in over a year.

 

Recently, I accepted a long-standing invitation to drive up to Heber and see their operation first-hand. Heber City, Utah is on the other side of the Wasatch mountains. It is only about 10 or so miles from my house, but one cannot drive there that directly. To get there, I drive I-80 up Parley’s Canyon to Park City, then take U.S. 40 down into the Heber Valley. The Heber Valley Historic Railroad is a non-profit, quasi-state owned operation that runs excursion trains on the former D&RGW Provo Canyon Branch. The branch ran from Provo up Provo Canyon. Heber was at the end of the branch. When built in the 1890s, the branch was 25 miles long. In the late 1930s, as a result of the Deer Creek Dam project which impounded part of the Provo River, the railroad was relocated to essentially "hug" the edge of the Deer Creek Reservoir. This relocation added about 2 miles to the length of the line, as well as some spectacular grades.  The railroad is not like what I'm used to, being rather curvy and with grades of around 4% in some places. 

 

Up until the late 1940s, Heber was the sheep-shipping capital of the United States. On Sundays, the Rio Grande would send a 100 car train of empty stock cars, pulled by a 2-8-8-2 up the branch to drop off empties at the various loading points. During the week, the regular local would take out the cars as they were loaded. The line is now disconnected. The last 9 or so miles into Provo is a bike trail. I did not take very many pictures, but did get to ride in the cab of their diesel locomotive, #1813, a EMD built MRS-1 locomtoive, built for the Army's Transportation Corps in the 1950s. It was a fun day and I think I’ll be back to take their rule test soon.

Chuck Amstein Presents...

From Sunday, Aug. 31, we have pictures taken by Chuck Amstein, with his comments:

Last minute track repairs before 1630 arrives.

The condensation on the tender indicates a hot, sticky day.

The coach train included five Rock Island suburban cars.  Three generations of my family commuted on these cars.

CA&E and Rock Island - my perfect combination.  Throw in some Illinois Terminal and you've hit the trifecta.

The Zephyr's air conditioning was real popular today.

WC 7525 was out for a spin.

Some of the guest band organs.

 All the usual restrictions apply.  Thanks, Chuck!

Just Visiting

On Sunday, we were just visiting.  My daughter who lives in Phoenix was visiting us, and we all decided to go see the band organs.  

The 308 and 309 were running, so we went for a ride.  Jeff Obarek was the motorman, and Larry Stone the conductor again.  Everything was going well, and we had a good crowd of visitors enjoying the festivities.

It's nice to sit back and relax.

The Zephyr was operating, although I didn't get a picture of it.  But here's the 1630:

And we rode the 4391 with Paul Springer and Zach Ehlers.

 

And looked at the Dodge inspection car, which right now is on display near Barn 11.  This stub track, 110 I suppose, is used by the Track Dept.

But don't worry, we're soon going to be posting many more pictures from yesterday, courtesy of our staff photographer.




And finally, a couple more clips of band organs: