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.

Read more »

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!!"

Read more »

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.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

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!

Read more »