Macassar of the Innocents

That was pretty bad, wasn't it? That's why we're making all new antimacassars for IT 277. Here's one of the first production ones turned out by my daughter Esther, and they look great. Once they are finished, I'll get the words "Illinois Terminal" silk-screened along the bottom, as on the originals.

I also brought out a repaired armrest. Restoration of the IT cars has had to take a back seat for a while due to the Trolleyville acquisitions, but they're not being forgotten.

Update: Our old friend Dick Lukin wants me to point out that they're not white, it just looks that way due to the flash picture in the darkness, I guess. The color is actually more of a buff. And he says:

I was the last passenger trainman collecting tickets on the last IT train [yes...train....two cars] from Danville. I just happened to have my uniform in my car and at the last minute, there were so many people wanting to ride the last train that the conductor dug out a half motor and coupled it up to the motor. I went to my car and dressed in my IC uniform and lifted tix on the last train. Lots of fun in those days.

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It's COLLLLLD!

Fa-reezing, in fact. (Hey, we bring you the surprising news you might not get elsewhere...) But there was still a large number of members out working. It helps that B&G do such a good job of plowing the property.

Joel, for instance, brought out his chili for us to try. It was great -- so I rewarded him with a box of parts from the 277 for him to clean and repaint in his spare time. Thanks, Joel! And of course, the nice warm wood shop attracts several workers. I'll let Bob report on those.

I worked for a while stripping a 277 window; I also had a chance to start cleaning up the interior of the 319. Joe and I looked through both of the new cars, and I took several pictures which I'll add to the photo album.

Nothing more to report from Cleveland, I'm afraid, but the "Minute Men" are standing by to spring into action when their Museum calls!



And Bob Kutella adds:

"We always appreciate the turnout in poor weather, and yesterday we had a pretty good crew working in the shops. As usual it can be thirsty work, but thankfully we were able to go to one of our vending machines for - - -

AN ICE COLD COKE!!"

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News from Decatur Shops

That should be in quotes: "Decatur Shops" has now shrunk to the baggage compartment of the 277. But there's always something to do, even in this frigid weather. First of all, I had to fill a crack in one of the 518 windows, then sand it down and give it a first coat of primer. I was also able to stain the inside surfaces of both 518 windows currently in the shop.

I removed the metal plate which was barely attached to one of the body posts. This is certainly the most rotted out section of the car, and I would like to start by patching it. From the picture you can see how the outer half or so of the post has rotted away, but the inner half is still OK. I measured it for making patch pieces. The horizontal blocks had already been patched by Bob Bruneau at some point. And then I did some sanding and scraping on interior walls of the front compartment, where it's at least tolerable.

There was a stream of members coming through Barn 8 to see the recent acquisitions.

There wasn't anything I could do on the new cars except take a few pictures of the roof. Notice that the 36 never got "Utility" ventilators like the newer wood cars. Instead, there's just some simple louvers, some of which (L) have metal baffles to direct air into the car. There are only three per side, so less ventilation than on the others.

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Nail-Biting Time

... but rather than just sit at home and worry, I went out to IRM and did some more work on the 277.
First, though, I went to R&B in Woodstock and picked up the steel channels which they made for the 205. Now Frank should be able to make more progress on the cosmetic restoration.

On the way there, I noticed that the old Manufacturer's Junction caboose was looking worse than I remembered it, so I stopped to take a picture.

Then I spent some time painting ventilators for the 277, and finished two windows, as seen here. I also worked on cutting and preparing parts for fixing the hole in the roof of the 518, as pictured last time. And one 518 window was missing its hardware, so the correct parts were located and installed.

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277 Update

After all the excitement during the Museum Showcase weekend last week, today seemed rather quiet by comparison. Sort of a calm before the storm.

I installed the last ventilator on the south side of the 277, as seen here. Later, I got the rest of the ventilators from storage and started painting them with brown primer. I also put some spare window glass that had been in the 277 into storage, and did some other sorting.

And I painted two windows from the 277 and varnished two from the 518.

Finally, I started fixing the roof of the 518.

The roof is generally in very good condition, but it had one hole for some reason, as seen here. Also, the top grab iron was loose, which isn't good. There's also one missing, which I'll need to replace. I can use the ladder at the other end to get on top of the car, fortunately. The roof is entirely canvas (with some small spot patches) and no tar paper, so it's much better than the 277.




I cut away the canvas to check the condition of the wood. The wood that needs to be replaced is limited, as I had hoped, so this should go pretty fast. I have some tongue and groove boards and canvas left over from the 277 project, which I can use here.

And I showed Wally and Les the inside of the 277, which they hadn't seen for at least 20 years.

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Have a Seat!

Dan Fenlaciki gave me a lot of help yesterday. First we spent some time checking the compressors on the 277 and 233 with the megger, to test the status of the insulation. The car has two compressors, which are needed to provide air for a multi-car train, and we need both of them to operate.

Then we spent a couple of hours installing the rest of the seats in the main compartment of the 277, so it could be ready for service. Here Dan is relaxing in the newly-finished section. He also helped with removing some of my tools and larger items, such as my vacuum cleaner and fan.

We also paid a brief visit to the Art Train, where Fred Ash is making good progress on the displays. The car currently has a display on Burnham's Chicago Plan, and it looks very professionally done -- "just like downtown!" Burnham's plan was an amazing, very grandiose document, so it bears a striking resemblance to IRM's own Main Street plan. Good work, Fred!

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A Little of Everything

It was a beautiful day out at the Museum and attendance seemed to be good. There was lots of activity in various places.

I started by installing another ventilator on the 277. I realized from pictures that one more is needed on the right side of the car, so I took one out of storage and painted it. It was also apparent that we will need to install the smokestack for the coal stove at the rear end of the car. (Obvious enough when you think about it!) I found the smokestack parts in storage; part was already restored and painted by Bob Bruneau, but the base needs some body and fender work.

Later in the day I inspected the motors and checked lubrication of the armature bearings. Everything seems to be fine. I also spent some time cleaning out tools and supplies from the 277 that I won't be needing soon.

I inspected the two blue cars. I found that one of the arm rests in the 309 had come loose and was sitting on a seat, so I repaired it and reinstalled it. The car is now ready for service.

I knew that the window wiper at the #1 end of the 308 was defective, so I decided to replace it. Fortunately, I have several spares. The installation is a little harder than it looks, but the device now works fine. We don't run the cars in the rain, but it's nice to be able to demonstrate how the "Armstrong" wipers work occasionally.

I also wandered over and took a couple of pictures of the Track Department working on Barn 11. Track 114 is now complete and is being leveled.

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277 Update

Today I reinstalled the trolley pole on the 277. This is not easy to do with only two hands, but with some effort it can be accomplished. Everything is tightened down and I believe the trolley base is approximately tensioned -- we'll have to check the tension when the car is outside under higher wire.

I then inspected and lubricated the two compressors, and tested the air brake system. Everything worked as expected, so operation is near!

Then, armed with more caulk, I installed four ventilators along the south side of the car. I decided I needed to check pictures to be sure where the ventilator should be at the front of the car. As mentioned before, these ventilators don't actually ventilate anything, but they make the car look correct and keep rain from running into holes in the tar paper.

And in ground-breaking news, work is starting on the Car Department shop extension on the south side of Barn 4. Dave and Carl spent all day excavating the dirt for the floor of the extension, as seen here. And Max has been working for a couple of weeks to make the required changes to the electric service.

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Boiling Water!

We'll start with something more exciting than anything I could accomplish. The Steam Team test fired the 428 today, and it was great to see smoke rising into the air and hear the steam whistle blowing. Tom Schneider and all of his crew can be very proud of their accomplishments so far.

Watch out! We're blowing down the boiler!

It struck me again how much more involved this whole process is than just meggering a few motors and putting oil in the armature bearings. Congratulations!

Sorry, that's as good as it gets. I started the day by installing two of the repainted ventilators on the 277 with a combination of screws and nails. There are two more ready to go, but I ran out of caulk.

These ventilators don't actually ventilate anything due to the installation of air conditioning, but they were left in place until the end of service. They were removed when the roof was covered with tar paper. However, it was then no longer possible to know where the holes in the roof were, so over the years klutzes like me broke holes in the tar paper, as you can see here. So until the ventilators are reinstalled, there are huge holes in the roof covering, making it dangerous to run the cars if there's any threat of rain.

I got three more ventilators out of storage and put a first coat of primer on them. They're generally in good shape. We're lucky to have a complete set --it's amazing how many different forms of roof ventilators there were for such a simple function.

I then spent several hours repainting window frames and stripping others for the 277.

I spent some time showing visitors through the 309, after they started asking questions about the wood cars. Hey, it beats working!

Frank Sirinek gave me a copy of some interesting CA&E documents he got from Wendell Dillinger -- these are detailed descriptions of the cars from June 1922, about eight pages each, of our three wood cars. I'll have more about these after I've had a chance to analyze them. In return, I gave him (well, not him personally, IRM) a West Towns switch lock and key which I found in an antique store in Upper Michigan while on vacation. Who would have thought?

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Ventilators, Windows, Visitors

Today I decided to start on the 277's ventilators. Bob Bruneau had painted four of them with primer many years ago, and they were stored in the 306. So I brought them over to Barn 8. Two I lifted onto the roof, but the other two were partly rusted out and needed to be fixed, as seen here. This is just what Bondo was made for! The clamps are holding the wood backing prior to application. The paint sticks which Diamond hands out like candy are just right for this purpose.

After the filler has set and has been sanded, another coat of primer is applied and they look like this:

I might point out that these ventilators no longer function, due to the installation of air conditioning. But they may eventually keep rain from running into the car through the holes in the tar paper!

Then I cleaned up two windows for the 518 and installed them. I also loosened up a seat frame which was stuck in the middle, and got it to move, so I could install the seat cushion. Seating in the 518 is now complete.

Next, some more windows. This is one of the 277's storm windows, which I had epoxied last time. (L) After stripping the first layer of interior paint, we see the light green with which it was first painted. (It is light green, you'll just have to trust me.) And by the way, that light green looks strangely familiar -- where have I seen that before?

After complete stripping, (R) a first coat of white primer. Since this window will always be stored in the up position, I decided to leave the original paint on part of it, in case anybody in the vast future is interested.

And after some more body work, a coat of brown primer on the exterior.


I was pleased to note that the Museum was quite busy for a weekday. The diner was crowded when I went over there, and we were running a two-car North Shore train. Some sort of blue tank engine arrived on a trailer, but it had a mask over its face so I couldn't see who it was....

Finally, I met some visitors from the Kentucky Railway Museum, Ned Brown and Willy Ward, old acquaintances of our own David Wilkins. Ned is the Safety Director there. I showed them the interior of the 277, and we talked about L&N steam engines, FRA inspections, David Wilkins, and other topics of interest. It was all good, though. We're always happy to see visitors from other museums!

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More of Everything

The first thing to do was to reposition a bracket on the roof of the 277. I then started working on the trolley pole in the shop. With some help from Bob Heinlein and Dan Bixler, we removed the old shoe, fixed up some of the parts, installed new shunts, and put it all together.

Then I did more painting on the interior. The rear of the main compartment has an aisle between the heater compartment on one side and the toilet compartment on the other. I put a finish coat on all the sheet metal parts. It's difficult to take good pictures in this confined space, so I hope these before and after pictures help.

The next project was to mop the linoleum floor in the main compartment, and then apply two coats of wax. Again, this is hard to photograph. But it looks much better and helps protect the historic linoleum.

I also found the right ladder and installed several more screws to hold the lobster trap in place. The 277's rope guard is missing, so we'll have to have a new one fabricated, but it's a fairly complicated assembly. But the lobster trap will serve temporarily as a rope guard to keep the trolley rope from rubbing on the bottom of the canvas.

In other activities, Stan and Warren moved the recently-arrived trucks for the South Shore line car into Barn 8.







And here's some inter-departmental cooperation, as the 3007's bell is mounted for a photo op later in the day.

The 3007 and some other Burlington equipment were posed out on the station tracks in the afternoon. This just wouldn't be complete without a picture of other railfans taking pictures....

In crime news, I noticed that somebody had pulled the 309's pole out from under the hook. But because the rope was securely cleated to the retriever, the crooks were baffled and no harm was done. This just shows how important it is to cleat the trolley ropes when cars are stored in the barn, per Car Department policy.

So I called the Union cops, the state police, and the FBI. They're hard at work on the case, and arrests are expected soon.

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277 Update

I started by putting primer on the rest of the surfaces of the lobster trap, as seen here. After about four hours, it was dry to the touch.

Meanwhile, I did some more painting in the interior. The parts of the duct I had scraped down earlier were rolled with a first finish coat, as seen here. And more of the smoker bulkhead was painted. I also did more sorting and cleaning inside the car.

Finally, Gerry Detloff helped me raise the lobster trap onto the roof. It's hard to take a good picture inside the barn, at least from the ground. I'll need the right size ladder to install the rest of the screws holding it to the roof.

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Building a Better Lobster Trap

The first thing to do today was to check up on the 308 and 309; everything looked fine. They operated both days over the weekend. On Saturday, I was the motorman with Greg Ceurvorst as conductor; after two trips it started to rain so the train had to be put away. Yesterday the cars operated for the Transport Extravaganza as seen here, with Jim Nauer and Dave Hammer.

Then it was on to the 277's interior. I sanded down some of the areas already painted and put on a first or second coat of white primer, including the sheet metal air conditioning duct seen at left.

Then I started to fix up the 277's lobster trap, as mentioned last time. This design is much easier to rebuild than the North Shore's. The longitudinal members are just steel plates, and the slats don't have much of a bend. On the North Shore all of these parts are wood and have to be steam-bent or cut to shape.

Three of the slats were missing parts, so they had to be removed, as seen here. I was able to re-use all of the machine screws that hold them in, however.

I scraped off all of the loose paint and rust and put brown primer on everything. This, of course, is the underside of the assembly. Next time I'll turn it over and paint the top side.





And here's a detail from an in-service photograph which shows what the trap will look like when it's installed. The next thing to install will be the ventilators along both sides of the roof.

And the Camp Grant is down to a pile of pieces, most of which are already in the dump trucks. Here we see a workman torching apart the underframe, and a pile of parts we're saving, such as a drawbar and the brake cylinder.

Soon the Camp Grant will be just another bad memory, like the mobile classrooms.

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