Bright Lights

Last time we saw the new lights installed in the inspection pit.  On Thursday the electrician was busy putting newer and brighter lights in the shop areas.

It occasionally helps to have a clear view of what you're doing.

Most of the time I was working on painting six new siding pieces for the Jewell Road shelter.

They already had primer on all sides, and today I was able to put finish red on all sides.

And while I was over at Barn 11 collecting parts in the 321, since it was raining I stopped in at Jewell Road to see if there was any water leaking into the structure.  It seemed completely dry.  I may be ready to start replacing the siding when we have a clear day.

Back in the shop, the 306 guys are working on various parts.  Gerry cleaned and repainted these brackets for the door motor linkage.  

 

John was hard at work on the heater wiring.

Tim was working on the 1808, of course.  And finally, the IT line car is getting lettered.  Buzz is responsible for providing all the professional-looking artwork.  And the lighting in the new barn is noticeably better than what we had in the old Barn 4.

 

Tuesday Travelogue

Another productive day at the Museum saw progress with several ongoing projects.  I was able to put primer on all sides of the next three pieces for residing Jewell Road.

And I worked on some parts projects, and did some cleaning.

Several of the weekday guys were working on the 306.  Here it is in the new section of Barn 4.

The ceiling of the vestibule is being painted.  That's always a pain in the neck.

All doors have now been mounted, and work continues on making the door mechanisms operational.

Here John is removing the conduit for the heater circuits to be repaired.

Tim continues repainting the interior of the 1808.  It is now getting the correct colors, a delicious blend of chocolate and butterscotch.  Termites must find this an irresistible combination.

He works at blinding speed:

And on Monday, new LED lights were installed in the inspection pit.  This should be a big improvement when there's a car blocking the general illumination.

As I was lining up to take this shot, my camera gave me some advice: "Get a little closer".  Sure, and fall into the pit.  No thanks!

Electroliner Visit

I had a chance to visit with Ed Oslowski and the others on the Electroliner team.  They continue to make steady progress, but because the Liner is over in Barn 7, we don't often get to see what is being done.  They have a lot to be proud of.

New castings for the marker lights.

The motorman's cab in A1.  It's hard to get a picture of such a confined space.  Claustrophobes need not apply.

New parts for the narrow section of the door.

Old and new sections of the crossover plates.

Work is progressing in the tavern-lounge.

One of the problems is that SEPTA painted over a lot of the interior, such as the original naugahyde covering in the lounge area.  So this has to be replaced.

It's astounding how many parts there are to this train.  It's extremely complicated, compared to the old wooden cars we're more used to seeing.  But Ed and the others are keeping detailed records of everything they do, so that it can all be put back together correctly.  Thanks!!!

Red Redo

Frank writes...

I arrived at IRM mid-afternoon Sunday to find that between my father, Joel, Jimmy, and others, the inspection work on the 319 was practically finished. A huge thank you to everyone who helped with that! And that was good, because I had promised Zach that as part of the preparation for the Illinois Traction Society convention at IRM coming up in two weeks, I'd paint our lowly IT caboose. I was also very happy that the weather was gorgeous, about 75-80 degrees and sunny. (I should mention that the ITS convention is not open to the public, but if you'd like to join the organization, click here.)

IT 988, shown above, was built by St. Louis Car Company in 1953 and served the IT - and, later, the N&W - until it came to IRM in 1990. It did run a few years under wire on the IT. It started in red with IT lettering, then spent many years in IT green, then finished its days back in red with N&W lettering. After it came to IRM, we gave it a quick coat of red and painted the IT number panels (though not the "Illinois Terminal" lettering along the top) back on the car. It last ran in 2011, during the last ITS convention, but mostly it's used as the department bunkhouse.

Anyway, the 988 has been looking pretty sad in recent years. Zach sourced some red of the correct shade, so we got to work with a quickie paint job. Admittedly, this is not a long-term solution, but the plan is to do some needed welding work on the 988 within the next few years and then give it a proper paint job. Above, Jimmy gets the bottom edge of the side sheets.

And here Will is rolling the north side of the caboose. The new paint is far from perfect, but the before-and-after effect is certainly remarkable. Many thanks to both Will and Jimmy for all their help!

And here's yours truly with a roller on the end of a broom handle, trying to get paint on the roof of the cupola. Thanks to Nick Espevik for this shot.

Unfortunately, the sun had set by the time I got a photo of the final result (the West Towns streetcar was parked right next to the 988 for the entire day, which blocked photography but provided an appreciated source of shade). About this time I also worked with Joel to switch the 319 back over to Barn 8. Since there's no wire over the pit lead, Joel has been using the 25-tonner to get cars from the live wire inside Barn 4 across our own little "Idaho gap" to the live wire over on the streetcar line.

Are you unhappy with your governor? Are you looking for a new one? Well, come to Ahrendt's Abode of Antiquated Air Appliances and Ancillaries, where Joel will fix you up with a governor that will serve you properly. In this case, the "J" governor on the 319 wasn't cooperating - the differential was at about 5 pounds and couldn't be adjusted - so Joel swapped in a spare so that the car is serviceable. This is the governor that came out of the car; Joel's planning to clean it up so that it can be put back on the 319. Thank you!

And finally, after dinner, Greg, Nick, and I took the repainted windows from the 18 over to that car and reinstalled them. So, the 18 once again has a full set of windows, and we've cleared up some space on the wood shop benches for the weekday crew.

Saturday Footnote

 Another brief note on what's been happening.  I just haven't had time to take more pictures.

I started putting white primer on the new siding boards for Jewell Road in the car shop.

The shorter boards are being done at home.

The track guys were working on removing unwanted material from track 34, as mentioned earlier.  Big machines make the work go fast.

The 319 has been moved over the pit for inspection.  Unfortunately the pit had some flooding, which took a while to clean up.

And here's another view of the 1702 in the new barn section.

It's easy to forget just how wretched this car looked before Gregg started on it.  Here's a picture from Bill Wulfert, taken just two and a half years ago.

Take a Seat

It's not often a deal like this comes along!  Thanks to a confluence of favorable events, we are able to offer you an opportunity like no other.  We're planning to install new upholstery in all three of our CA&E curved-sider cars, and you can help at an amazingly low price!  You can see the complete details at this link.  Your contribution will be greatly appreciated.

Friday Snapshots

 Friday was a relatively calm time at the Museum, but there's always something going on.  Here are some very brief notes on a few of the current projects.

I made new siding pieces for the Jewell Road shelter, as seen here.

Tim continues to paint the interior of the 1808.

It looks great.

By now you should be able to guess which car this goes to, and who is making it:

The Track Department are always busy, and here they are doing tie replacement on the main line.

You should be able to see the tie crane in the distance.

Not all track work takes place outside, however.  Track 34 has mysteriously vanished:

But its replacement is a high priority.

Line Car Update

 Gregg Wolfersheim sends us some more pictures of the exciting progress on the Illinois Terminal 1702:

A little more progress on the cosmetic restoration of the line car. Both pilots were needle chipped and then primed.

Two truck frames also got needle chipped and wire wheeled before a coat of primer was applied.

The widows and some of the grab irons were masked off.

The car was moved closer to the roll up door, with a large fan set up in the doorway. I borrowed the steam department's new scissor lift and commenced spraying a final coat of Indian Red.

Right after painting.

The next day the black was shot on the trucks, air tanks, valves and pilots.

The number 1 end. The car number will be applied above the door.

Painting about 95% done. The chains need to be reattached on this side of the car. Next is applying the stencils and painting the lettering and herald.