Thomas in the Rain

The second Saturday of Thomas featured rain during much of the day, but we are able to deal with it and make the event a success nonetheless.  I was on streetcar relief and was able to take several pictures before the rain started.

The Thomas train consists of six Rock Island cars and one Lackawanna Boonton car.  So this requires a large number of friendly volunteers to keep everyone happy.

At the other end of the train is the snazzy North Western Geep.

Streetcar service is generally provided by our CSL fleet.  Since rain was expected, the 4391 stayed in the barn and the other three handled the crowds.

Dan Buck was the dispatcher.

Down by the station, we see the Percy train coming in off the main.

Ironically enough, we have Thomas running Percy:

And Larry Stone flies in from Nevada to take part!

In the middle of the day, lightning was detected in the area, so the streetcars all pulled their poles and waited out the storm.  The Thomas and Percy trains continued to run.

And as always, there are lots of other activities going on.

And so, thanks to the confident wisdom of everyone, we are able to keep DOWT going as a big part of  our operating season every year.

Sunday Report

Frank writes...

The first weekend of Day Out With Thomas 2025 has come and gone - one down, one to go!

I wasn't able to make it out to the museum until about 2pm, by which time things were starting to wind down. Above is Thomas's second-to-last departure of the day, as seen from the entrance at the Wagner Loop. Richard, Greg, and Jeron were holding down ticket scanning duties while John and a few others managed on-site sales and handed out Happy Holiday Railway flyers to people on their way out. The weather was great, unusually cool for the Thomas event (by which I mean about 80 degrees).

I proceeded to keep myself busy, but unfortunately I neglected to take any more usable photos - sorry! I applied quite a bit more masking to Shaker 63 and then put some primer on the belt rail stripes down the left side of the car. I also spent some time organizing spare parts we have in storage. Many thanks to Richard and Good Nick for their help with this work! Finally, I realized a few weeks ago that NJT 4 and Shaker 63 - our two ex-Twin City Rapid Transit PCCs - had no public signage at all to identify them or speak to their history. So, we printed and laminated some basic signs and on Sunday I taped them in the car windows. We'll see about making more permanent metal signs for the cars later, as time and resources permit.

The New Museum in Town

Art Peterson has sent along a few photos taken on June 5, 1966, by George Krambles when he visited a new (or, at least, recently relocated) museum in a town northwest of Elgin called Union. All photos are from the Krambles-Peterson Archive.

Can anyone identify any of these folks?

Here's Herb Hanson, soon-to-be-purchaser of the Zephyr and later museum president.

This one is identified as Tom Jervan; any idea on the others?

A Family Visit to the Museum

We were lucky to have all our children and grandchildren visiting us last week, and it just wouldn't be complete without a visit to IRM!  Here are the grandchildren on the bench in Barn 9.

Climbing all over the equipment is not a good idea unless you have expert supervision.

And we went for a brief trip.  The younger ones seem to be afraid of the whistle!

We also did a lot of other exciting things, which I won't bore you with.

But as usual, a good time was had by all.

CA&E Steel Car Photos from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

To go along with our recent post with CA&E wood car photos sent by Art Peterson, we now have a collection of great steel car photos. Thanks, Art!

Hey, I know that car. This shot of the 409 dates to around 1930 or the early 1930s; the car is in overall red, but it wears the later version with the Sunset Lines herald rather than its as-delivered scheme with no herald and horizontal pinstripes along the side sheets. Behind it is 435, which was built in 1906 (as part of the same order as cars 300-308) as the parlor car Florence, later became parlor-buffet 601, and was rebuilt in 1929 as coach 435.

It's August 29, 1947, and 410 is outside the shop at Wheaton while car 300 is inside. It looks like the 410 has had a rough day - sharp-eyed viewers will notice something pretty important missing.

Around 1928-1929, two cars - 412 and 418 - were painted orange as part of an experiment to paint Aurora cars and Elgin cars different colors. This trial didn't last long. Here, the 412 is westbound at Laramie in 1932 still in orange paint.

By 1934, when this photo was taken at Lockwood Yard by Robert V. Mehlenbeck, the 412 was back in overall red with the Sunset Lines herald. That seems like kind of an unusual destination sign! I don't think the sign curtains included those (or at least not "theatre") in later years.

This picture was taken on October 30, 1937, and shows 412 westbound at Main and 2nd at the St. Charles terminus of the Geneva branch. The next day, the branch was abandoned.

Here's car 416 on March 31, 1957, in a George Krambles photo. I'm not sure of the location - anyone willing to hazard a guess?

This George Krambles photo of the 416 was taken the same day at Clintonville.

The first three 450-series cars arrived at Wheaton on October 3, 1945. Four days later, on the 7th, Tom Desnoyers snapped this photo of car 451 in the shop awaiting its poles and retrievers.

Cars 451 and 453 are pictured near Wayne on December 16, 1945, on a CERA trip. Give us a few years and maybe we can recreate this shot with the same two cars! Photo by Tom Desnoyers.

On June 19, 1957, just a couple of weeks before abandonment, the 451 is on the loop at Des Plaines Avenue with the 434 and another curve-sider ahead of it.

The 460 and Pullman 417 are at Fifth Avenue in Maywood on March 6, 1958, operating as the "Mass Transit Special." This was an effort by supporters of the railroad to raise interest in restarting service, though you can probably guess how well that ended up going.

Click here to return to the Krambles-Peterson Collection index page

A Sunset Lines Wednesday

Thanks for these photos go to our intrepid cub reporter Fred Zimmerman, who was the weekday motorman on Wednesday this week and expressed an interest in taking the 319 out instead of one of the usual steel interurban cars. It was nice to see the car out on the railroad in a slightly different role.

Fred said the car ran well and was a hit with the visitors, so hopefully we'll see it out more often during the week. If you're reading this and 1) are a weekday motorman, 2) are qualified on the CA&E woods, and 3) are interested in running the 319 on "non-rain" weekdays, email Joel to inquire.

CA&E Wood Car Photos from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

Art Peterson recently sent us a terrific collection of CA&E photos from the Krambles-Peterson Archive. My father added quite a few to our existing CA&E Photo Album page, but here are some extras.

Here's car 20 at Wheaton on May 8, 1945, in a Tom Desnoyers photo. The deferred maintenance of the war years is pretty obvious. It still has its "streamer sash" windows and original doors at the non-cab corners.

Car 300 leads a five-car train west at College Avenue in June 1950 in another Tom Desnoyers photo. 

Here's the 303 westbound at Gunderson on August 17, 1946, in a William C. Janssen photo. You can see that the bottom corners of its pilot haven't been cut back; I believe this is the only car that kept its original pilot profile, and still has it to this day.

George Krambles captured this view of the 320 at Wheaton on June 12, 1937. Like the 321, it wore a folding sign that had been notched out for use on the 311-315 series Kuhlmans. Their MU sockets were originally (albeit briefly) mounted over the anticlimbers. You can also see both headlight plugs on the same side of the train door, but set into the car end rather than into a block as was common in later years.

The red paint on the 320 looks pretty fresh in this August 29, 1950 photo taken by Tom Desnoyers at Racine. The other cars in the train are likely the 105, 321, 205, and 319, which was the so-called "Cannonball consist" often seen together in the later years.

Here's a sorry-looking 321, sporting its own notched-out dash signs, at Desplaines Avenue in an undated photo taken sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The car behind it is a trailer but not a "shorty," so that's probably the 205, part of the aforementioned consist that was often seen together.

Click here to return to the Krambles-Peterson Collection index page

Green Bay & Western Car Update

Thanks to our intrepid roving reporter, Gregg Wolfersheim, for sending along the latest news concerning the restoration work taking place on Green Bay & Western 109 in Barn 4.

We're starting to close up the side of the car. Using a 1x8 oak plank, the back side has notches to fit over the uprights.

Here's another view of the boards set up for cutting. I used a skil saw set up for limited depth.

Here, several boards have been applied - just like Lincoln Logs when I was a kid. The vertical posts and the horizontal boards interlock together. The sill is mostly done above, too.

Independence Day Report

Thanks to our indefatigable freelance photographer, Joel Ahrendt, who sent along a photo report from today's Fourth of July activities.

CSL 144 was in streetcar line service.

IT 101 was operating on the main line. The CA&E wood cars were scheduled to run, but no conductor signed up and their motorman was drafted to serve as dispatcher because the planned dispatcher's plane was delayed, so they stayed in the barn.

The coach train was being pulled by the first GP-7, C&NW 1518.

And the Shay was pulling the "coach-caboose train," which is always popular with visitors.

But wait, there's more! Our friend Bill Wall from Branford sent us a link to a news story about a startling development: Nick Kallas has purchased the Wall diner!

Yes, we're serious.

CA&E Day

Frank writes...

My father and I found ourselves out at IRM for "CA&E Day," the anniversary of the line's abandonment, in this case the 68th anniversary (seems like only yesterday!). But we weren't working; we have family in from out of town, so it was just a quick visit, made quicker by the 90+ temperatures.

We were gratified to see that Paul Schneble was "flying the flag" for the CA&E, running the 460 as the weekday service car.

And in other news, progress continues on Barn 15, as seen here.