Trucks and Steps

After a Mothers Day lunch at a restaurant looking out onto the C&NW main line (I didn't pick the place, I swear!) I headed out to IRM for a few hours of work. An unknown volunteer had already painted most of the 319 step well black (thanks!) and I painted the rest of the step well; it is now ready to install on the car, thereafter to receive a second coat of black in place. The treads will receive the same blue-grey as the upper car sides and grab irons.

After that I headed over to Barn 2, where Charlie Strong helped get me set up with a needle-chipper. I was able to remove all of the encrusted paint from both queen posts (see right, after needle-chipping) and about 60% of the truss rod on the north side of the 319. Eventually I would like to needle-chip and repaint most or all of the car's underbody in a similar fashion to what we did on the 308.

In other CA&E wood car news, Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady were working on preparations for the 36's truck swap which was mentioned on the blog a few weeks ago. They did some work on polishing the axles of the truck we're sending to Connecticut and also made some preparations on the CTA 4000 trailer truck we'll be using as a temporary "shop truck" for the 36 while the trade is going on. Below, Norm and Jeff are seen taking measurements for side bearing clearance on the 4000 truck.

Delivery of Car 309

Julie gave me a set of very detailed and expanded copies of the Electric Railway Review article from Nov. 1907 announcing the delivery of two new cars to the AE&C, the 309 and 310.

These are printed on pages about 12" x 18" and you have to see them to believe them. Unfortunately, my home scanner can't handle pages that size very well and these images aren't the best; I plan to find a better way to scan them. I'll update this post when I do. I've shrunk them to an effective size of 100 pixels per inch.

The only major change to the interior of the 309 was the removal of the International fare register system about 1920.

I've always been impressed by diagrams such as the one of the vestibule side door where all three dimensions are superimposed. The plan shows what must be a window shade box on the inside, which has disappeared. Also, the end doors originally had double panes; the inner one is long gone.

Looking Ahead

World War II Living History Days on Memorial Day Weekend will be the first big event of the year, and lots of preparation is being done. Be sure to spread the word among your friends and neighbors. This is a huge undertaking, and it should really be a success. The 308 and 309 will be running all three days, and I'm glad to see we have full crews signed up.

Yesterday I worked on various miscellaneous projects. Rod ordered some special 140 weight lubricating oil for the roller bearings in the trolley bases, and I picked it up in Marengo. I finished assembling the second base for the 319 and lubricated it. I later lubricated the 308 and 309 bases also. Dan Fenlaciki helped me move the trolley base over to Barn 2. I also took our new trolley hooks over there; I'll need to drill some holes in the running boards to install them. And I sanded down and put a coat of primer on the rest of the window sills in the 319.

And I took the rules test for this year.

Since the IT cars were moved last week, the 277 needed a new piece of tarp to protect it from a leak in the roof. And lots of other stuff was going on. Sorry, I didn't take many pictures.

Here's the S motor on its way over to Barn 11.

319 Report Plus B&M Diner

First, let's take a look at the progress Jack Biesterfeld has been making on the B&M diner. He has just finished work on the coach section, as seen here, and it looks great!

Next is the dining section, which he finished first. It's equipped with delicious- looking plastic food. This car makes an excellent static display for visitors walking through the Lester barn on the raised platform.

Finally, there's the kitchen section. This part was really gutted when the car was put into work train service; all the original fixtures and the partitions were removed. Here we see Jack starting to remove the later kitchen fittings.

At the very front of the car there are still some problems. This is a stove which must weigh about five tons. In the washroom next to it is a huge fuel oil tank. It will have to be cut up in place to be removed. We think they must have removed the side of the car to install it, there's no other way. At some point these things will have to go.

Sorry, what I was doing today may be an anti-climax. First of all, Frank Sirinek and I went out the 321 to get a bus jumper receptacle; we'll need some of its parts for the 460, which we would like to put into service soon. I had looked some more through our storage space for parts, without finding what we need.

Then I spent a few hours working on the trolley bases. One of them I reassembled completely, and then hauled it over to Barn 2.

The other one had two castings rusted together, so Gerry helped by heating it up so they came apart. The smaller casting in the foreground has a small crack which you can't see, so Gerry will weld that up. I also need some more cotter pins of the right size. But I got the bearing back together and adjusted, so there won't be much more to do on this one.

Finally, I painted the window sills on the entire north side of the car. This makes a big improvement in its appearance.

Country Cafe

The restaurant in Harmony has seen several owners over the years, and has been vacant for a while. But it just re-opened two days ago as the Country Cafe, so I decided to stop in and see what's cooking. This is the second restaurant for this owner; his first is the Hi Ho Cafe on N. Cicero in the city. The building has been thoroughly refurbished on the inside, and everything is nice and clean. It's conveniently located about five miles from the Museum on the way to the toll road interchange.

The menu is quite extensive. There are appetizers and sandwiches, burgers for $7-$8, steaks are about $15 to $22 for New York strip, chicken of various sorts for $9-$11, daily specials, Greek specialties, pasta, kebobs, and pizza. And they serve breakfast all day. Hours are 11AM to 10PM M-F, 7AM to 10PM Saturday and Sunday. That's important because several places in the area are closed on Sunday evenings. I had roast chicken with artichokes, and it was quite good, as was the baklava. Service was good, and the place seemed quite busy.

They are also going to have a full bar in operation in about two weeks when the license comes through, they say.

I wouldn't have recommended some of the earlier operations here, but let's hope this one is a success. The population in the area is increasing, of course, so that helps. I always thought it was kind of sad that so few people were willing to live in Harmony with the neighbors.

Controller Inspection

IRM is now officially open for visitors on weekdays, although nothing is running and the barns are not open. And of course we don't charge admission under these circumstances. Still, there were several groups wandering around viewing the outdoor displays and enjoying the nice weather.

I started by putting a final interior coat on three 319 windows and their window shade tracks in the shop. I then turned to finishing (pretty much) inspection and lubrication on the 309, as I had brought out some Vaseline for the controllers and reversers. I still need to do the roof when I have a helper. But say, while we're here, let's take an educational look at how a controller works.

CONTROLLER STUDIES 101

This is a GE C-6 controller for type M control. Most GE models have the same general design. Note that the main drum is geared to the controller handle shaft, so it turns in the opposite direction. At the top, #1 is the reverser drum, with two contacts for forward and reverse, of course. It's mechanically interlocked to the main drum so you can't move the handle unless the reverse key is in forward or reverse, and you can't move the reverse key unless the handle is off. #2 is the spring which drives the throttle mechanism (#3). There are two sliding contacts, wired in series. The throttle can only be engaged by holding the throttle button down while the handle is moved from off to the first point. #4 is the gearing for the main drum. #5 is the star wheel which helps the motorman keep the controller in the correct position for each point. Below that is the main drum (#6) with all of the various contact fingers. The arc chute assembly has been opened, and is off to the right. Finally, #7 is the magnetic blow-out coil at the bottom of the controller.

The second picture shows the main drum advanced to about the third point.

As with all GE type M controllers, this controller switches 600 volts DC, unlike the Westinghouse electro-pneumatic system, where a dropping resistor reduces the voltage to the controller to perhaps 150V.

Any questions? OK, good. There will be a quiz on Wednesday.

I did some cleaning up in the 319. And I helped Joel for a while with the project of removing a spare bus jumper pin, which we need for the 460. We're making some progress, and we figured out what sort of custom-made tool we'll need for the job.

And while walking out to check on the 321, I found some vantage points overlooking the creek.

IRM Puts On the Dog

IRM can really put on the dog(s) when we want to. Barn 6 echoed to the barking of a dozen or more Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs as the local club of GSMD enthusiasts put their pets to work. These dogs are bred for pulling power, and here they are hauling a track cart loaded with weights. A good time was had by all, I believe.

Meanwhile, the Car Dept. was involved in yet another huge switch move, mainly to put as many regular operating cars at doors as possible. Here, for instance, are the blue cars and the 36 at the east end of 84. I was too busy to take many pictures during the switching.

This is our Lake Shore Electric coach #150 in daylight. Now I just need somebody to photoshop in a trolley pole and some steps, and it will be very convincing.

I didn't get much car work done. Jeff Fryman was working in the woodshop; he painted all of the window sticks for the new drop sash for the CA&E steel cars, and also the new trolley hooks for the 319 which Rod Turner made for us.

In fine arts news, IRM was donated a 6' x 9' oil painting of steam locomotives and the roundhouse in Wilmette from the estate of a man in Chicago, and Nick had brought it out to the Museum. It needed a team of five of us to unload the huge crate into the Strahorn library, where the painting will be placed on display. L to R: Buzz, Nick, Tom Hunter, and Frank Devries.

We didn't have room to slide the painting all the way out of its crate, but here's a glimpse of what it looks like.

And here are some views of the interior of the Strahorn. Barb and her team of volunteers are constantly improving the collection of books and artifacts.

309 Inspection, Cont.

Inspection on the 309 continued today, and with a few minor exceptions, everything is done. No problems were found, and the car should be ready for service beginning Memorial Day weekend. Al Reinschmidt helped with this, so it went pretty quickly.

Lubrication is always an annoying job. I seem to be a magnet for grease and dirt, but it's done for this year. Of course, we next need to do the 308, but at least it only has two motors, so there's less work.

After putting the 309 back in Barn 8, Al and I went over to look at the 319. As mentioned earlier, the buzzer cord was broken in two, because for some reason they had been using clothesline. After the rigors of inspection, this seemed like a fun thing to do, so we removed the old buzzer cord and installed a piece of the correct wire-core rope from one end of the car to the other. Attached to the cord in one vestibule there is a leather strap, held on with metal clips, which I'll need to replace, so I took it home. Charlie is still working on the 319's paint job. He's going back to work soon, but promises the 319 will be painted.

Lukin for Good Food?

Al Reinschmidt reports from London that one of our long-time members now has a second career. Looks like a great place to visit next time you're over there!

309 Inspection

The 309's annual inspection started today. Mostly what got done was the hard parts for which the car needs to be over the pit: removing the bottom motor covers, check pole piece clearances, tightness on all axle caps and other bolts, visual inspection, and brake adjustments. All four motors were done, and everything seems fine. I'll try to finish this up on Wednesday, when I'll have more time and maybe a helper or two.

I also took my weekly hike out to the 321 to check the tarp and look for parts. Both the buzzer cord and the panic cord on the 319 are broken in two, so I picked up the extra lengths of buzzer cord that we had on hand. These cords have stranded wire down the middle so they're hard to come by. (And don't use them for trolley rope!)

Meanwhile, Barb Lanphier was hard at work on the various flower beds in the vicinity of the office. She wouldn't let me take her picture, but here is part of the results. The grounds are starting to look much better.

And we have lots of nice wildflowers, too!

In the Light of Day

My primary goal in going out to IRM today was to work on the step well for the 319 (see below), but the highlight of the day was seeing the car itself towed outside Barn 2 for the first time since February. The purpose was to examine one possible match for the "Aurora Grey" color in natural light, but it was nice to see the car in its approximate final appearance outdoors. Charles Strong is doing a terrific job on it; it will be spectacular when painting is complete!

I spent much of my time wire-wheeling the step well seen at left, formerly of the 321 but soon to be fitted to the 319, and priming it. Note that the treads themselves will simply be spray-painted; in the 1950's the treads and leading edges were painted Aurora Grey, rather than silver as in earlier liveries. I also went on a trip over to the 321, which is currently stored in Yard 14, to look for spare bus jumper receptacle parts that will be needed for the 460.

There was a crew of people working on the 460 including Dan Mulvhill, Stan Wdowikowski, Greg Kepka and two people from the Diesel Shop. At right, Stan and Dan are seen attaching a brace for the step well; both step wells, their braces and the pilot were fitted to this end of the 460 over the course of the day.

I also took a peek in the smoking compartment of the 749, where Joe Stupar had spent much of the day installing seat frames that had been rebuilt some years back. This is the last part of the car's interior to be completed. Below is a photo of the smoker with the car's main compartment in the background, with Joe unsuccessfully ducking out of the photo in the background.