Trolley Bus Department

This weekend was another very productive one for us.  Jerry and I spent Saturday doing more cleaning and organizing.  Dave Diamond was able to get us a good deal on a couple fireproof cabinets for storing paint, etc.  One for the Hoffman Garage and one for the Andersen Garage.  Thanks Dave!  We also got the majority of the motor bus collection outside for a couple days and Jerry pressure washed the floor of the Hoffman Garage.  Thanks again to Dave for lending us the power washer.

Max Tyms makes repairs on the Trolley Bus overhead Sunday morning.

On Sunday Max Tyms was able to repair the lightning damaged section for trolley bus overhead – a BIG thanks to Max for taking care of this right away!!  We wasted no time after his repairs were completed and brought out our oldest coach (CSL Brill-American 84) for a little exercise and our newest (Seattle MAN 4020) to provide some unscheduled service for our visitors.  At 4:15 we received a call from our White Bros. trucker Mel, who was transporting the first of the coaches that we are getting from the OERM collection – Seattle Twin 633.  We went to the back gate, let him in, and directed him to the Andersen Garage.  There we proceeded to unload the coach.  As always, Mel delivered the goods undamaged – thanks Mel!

Seattle 633 arrives at its new home, the Andersen Garage.

As with any new arrival, it immediately saw attention.  Having lived out in the California desert for 25 years, you can imagine the spider webs, dust, dirt, dust, grime, and did I mention dust?  Jerry and Richard went to work inspecting, adjusting, cleaning – basically giving the coach a good going over.  By 9:15pm, a short 5 hours after its arrival, we were able to run the coach into the Andersen Garage under its own power!!!  There are still some issues that will keep it out of the operating fleet for a little while, bad trolley bases, some low-voltage issues, and it DEFINITELY needs a thorough cleaning, but we will be doing our best to get our newest acquisition out onto Central Avenue for everyone to enjoy.

Seattle Twin 633 joins Seattle MAN 4020. Although they missed being in service together in Seattle by just a couple years, they will have a chance to serve together here at IRM shortly.

Coming up Saturday, we plan on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 as supplemental service while the trolley pageant is taking place on the main line.  We are looking forward to a good show from the Car Department and love the “can do” attitude that we see over there lately.  Keep it up guys!!!!

Ah the best laid plans...We were planning on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 for Chicago Day and were right on track until Friday morning.  That's when nature decided to throw a monkey wrench into the works.  Lightning struck the trolley bus overhead right in front of the Diner.  It burned up a hanger and a support wire.  Max Tyms was right there to get the wire temporarily back into place, and of course, put the trolley bus line out of service.  He and Jerry Saunders worked on the permanent fix Friday, getting it partially done.  We still needed another part to finish the job.  Knowing Glen Andersen probably had the foresight to squirrel some away for future use, Jerry, Max, Charlie Strong and I searched all our storage locations, finally coming up with the necessary part around lunch time (thank God for Glen!).  Max then cleaned, re-tapped and painted it, making it look like new.  Later in the afternoon Max positioned the new bucket truck and got all the necessary tools and span wire in place to make the fix.  As he started to raise the boom, the truck burst a hydraulic hose.  That put an end to our hope of getting in a few runs late in the day for all the CTA guys that were there for Chicago Day.  Hopefully Dave Diamond and his crew will be able to fix the truck and Max will be able to make the repair so we can provide service on our next scheduled day, July 4th.  Thanks to everyone who jumped into this project on a moment's notice.  We really appreciate the support.

This week we did more cleaning in the Andersen Garage.  We were able to get all of the big parts still left in the garage palletized for easy mobility.

We also worked some more on the CSL 84.  Jerry Saunders installed all new wheel studs on the curbside rear wheel.  He then reinstalled the tires.  After an inspection of the systems, he pronounced the coach ready for testing (much to the delight of the camera-toting public).  After not operating in about 4 years, the coach suffered from a short bout of sit-itis.  But after 3 trips, it started to perform much better.  We have some minor adjustments and additional cleaning to do, but we are now able to move the coach at will.

CSL 84 (built by Brill-American in 1930) makes it first appearance in about 4 years today.

Coming up:  We plan on operating Chicago Marmon 9553 for Chicago Day next Saturday.  ETS legal is drawing up the transfer documents for our Edmonton coach.  We are looking forward to, and are preparing for its arrival.

As we wrapped up for the day (or so we thought), we were intrigued by an unusual headlight shining out the back of barn 6.  We investigated and ran into a group of Car Department guys working on getting the IC cars going.  Jerry jumped in to help and I did what I do best – watched!  After about an hour or so, sure enough out came the 2 IC cars into yard 6.  It was GREAT seeing those cars out in the daylight.  Yet another example of the kind of new and exciting stuff we are now coming to expect from the Car Department.  Can’t wait until the trolley pageant on the 4th!  Keep up the good work guys!!!!

The IC cars poke their nose out near the end of the day today.

Here’s a synopsis of what has been taking place in the Trolley Bus Department over the last several weeks.  Yesterday Wally Unglaub spent the entire morning tearing apart groups, overhead special work, and other parts for easier storage (preparing for the arrival of the Edmonton coach).  Bob Bourne came in from Iowa and operated Chicago Marmon 9553 in the afternoon with Wally riding in back for wye-ing.  We are planning on running that coach again for Chicago Day in 2 weeks.  While that was going on, we were visited by (Regular Member #1) Charlie King, which spurred Richard Schauer and Jerry Saunders to drill and mount brand new trolley boards on the CSL 84 and reconnected the trolley poles/bases.  The newly refurbished air compressor came back to life and sounded great!  We are working on getting some wheel studs to reattach the curbside rear wheels in order to get it rolling again.

In previous weeks, Richard Schauer and I have been going through our stored parts, looking for where we can consolidate and rearrange.  We then bring them to Wally who (carefully) tears them apart, making them easier to store.  Howard Geier spent Memorial Day weekend working on the Curbliner (Des Moines), most notably getting the temporary back doors ready for glass installation.  We have also dedicated a couple weekends toward getting the New York subway cars closer than ever to being added to the operating fleet.  Recent steps forward were attaching retrievers for both trolley poles, and doing a thorough and much needed cleaning of the interior.  There is a little more cleaning left to do as well as a few more loose ends to tie up.  Look for them in the Trolley Pageant next month and in service, dare I say, by the end of the season???  (Reminder:  These cars are still carrying a debt.  If you can, please consider a contribution to the "NY Subway Cars" fund.  We would love to get them a decent coat of paint.)

Sorry I haven’t taken pictures for a while.  I’ll try and get some for the next entry.