Trolley Bus Department

This weekend was a FULL one to say the least.  We spent the previous week pulling seven coaches out of the Andersen Garage and readied/helped decorate it for the USO dance Saturday night.  The weekend itself was filled with troubleshooting (the Edmonton coach which gave us some minor problems), filming and even a little baseball.  In addition, we provided service to and from the dance starting at about 6pm until the end of the dance at around 10pm on Saturday night.  We were also able to clear out the garage and return the coaches to the building by 6pm today (Monday).  Richard Schauer was a HUGE part of making this weekend go as smoothly as it did for us.  Thanks so much Richard!!!!

The personal highlight for me had to be the opportunity I had on Sunday to fly with one of the WWII planes that were adding to the battle realism all weekend.  Here are a few of the photos.  (I’ll post video on YouTube as soon as my editing software starts cooperating).

The Zephyr on the Main Line

The Anzio Battle as seen from the Air

The C A and E Cars at Johnson Siding during the Battle

The Museum Looking South Easterly

The Museum Looking North

The Andersen and Hoffman Garages

Thanks to reenactors Phil and Rebecca who arranged the flight and pilots Steve and Randy who graciously offered to take me up to get photos and video to help promote the museum in print and on TV.

June is our target month to start on the restoration of the LA Brill.

Those of you who are members should be receiving your June issue of Rail & Wire shortly.  They went into the mail 05/18 - a week ago today.

Last Thursday, Richard Schauer and I moved 7 coaches out of the Andersen Garage so the WWII folks could start setting up for the USO dance that will be held there on Saturday, May 29.

7 Coaches Out in the Sun

We will join with the streetcar to provide service to and from the dance.  We also did some waterproofing on the Seattle 4020.  On Friday B&G came by to power wash the garage floor (thanks guys!).  Afterward, I swept out as much of the excess water as I could.  That night we had a table at the Rockford Riverhawks game promoting the WWII event.  Rebecca, one of the WWII reenactors, accompanied by the other "Rockford Peaches", represented (and promoted) IRM and threw out the first pitch.

Rebecca Throws Out the First Pitch

The girls promoted IRM and the WWII event and were a big hit with the fans

In addition, Ed Rosengren did an interview with the radio play-by-play guy during the third inning.

Ed Rosengren Promoting IRM During Play-by-Play

We spent all Saturday and Sunday working on some nagging little issues - cleaning, oiling, etc., as well as reattaching the motor compartment cover on the Seattle 633.  Yesterday (Monday) we had the Chicago Marmon running around for the WGN shoot.  We also had to move the Edmonton 181 to get the Marmon down to the west end.  Unfortunately when we went to put the coaches away, the 181 would not move.  Richard worked on it for about an hour, but no luck.  We ran out of daylight, so will be working on it again during the week and/or this weekend to try and get it going again.

The weekend's work:  Wally Unglaub continued cleaning the interior of the SF 614 while Howard Geier continued buffing the outside.  It's really starting to look nicer - thanks guys, the work is paying off!  I was filming for the June episode of IRM-TV, Richard Scahuer worked on the nagging problems plaguing the singles, and Jerry Saunders was involved with the massive switch move.  I have some videos of the switch move on You Tube.  Here are the links (hope they work).  Saturday's move video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKHKXjne8t8&layer_token=ed363534fe30966f and the video from Sunday can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNw1x8c0q1E&layer_token=20d3430210a4954e.  Sorry for the video quality, it seems the better the camera, the worse the video looks on You Tube.  Next weekend we plan on completing the maintenance of the overhead switches and getting the line back into service.  We may also try and tackle reattaching the poles to the 614.  Today I took the department truck (the Dodge Locomotive) into Tim's right in Union for some work.  The service was outstanding - he earns the TB Dept. "highly recommended" seal of approval.  Thanks Tim!!!