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Sunday, March 6. 2011Trolley Bus Department Update - 03/06/2011Saturday morning started out at the post office, mailing out a bunch of Snowflake tickets. Don’t forget, less than 3 weeks left to get your tickets soon! Proceeds go toward acquiring a pair of CTA 2200s once they are retired from service.
Upon returning to the property I had a long talk with DC Line Superintendent Max Tyms regarding our ongoing planning to build the long awaited loop on the west end of the trolley bus line. His attitude is exactly the same as ours, “let’s do it!” He had some excellent observations and suggestions. Former DC Line Superintendent Bob Rayunec also visited. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to talk with him, but he had a lengthy conversation with Max about the loop.
I then returned to the Andersen Garage where Gary Andersen was already taking more measurements in preparation of his work with the front of the Dayton Flyer 960, which he will be making ready to be an interactive display. Once he finished, Richard pulled out the Edmonton 181 so we could get to the Chicago Marmon 9553. The Chicago Marmons have the longest turning radius, so after looking that number up in the book, we decided to do our own test. After turning the coach 180 degrees, we measured outside bumper to outside bumper. We figured that we need a loop measuring an absolute minimum of 99 feet. Fortunately we have a little over 120 feet from Railroad Ave. by the present wye to the evergreen tree line at the parking lot fence. Plenty of room for our loop.
Next step is to see what stock of overhead parts are squirreled away in our many storage containers, which we will continue to do over the next few weekends. We will also continue to work with Dave Diamond on the exact placement of the loop for pavement, and with Max for placement of poles and overhead needs. With commodity prices at record highs, the copper overhead wire is expected to be one of our biggest expenses. If you would like to help, please consider a donation to the Trolley Bus Department. If all goes well, we all can enjoy trolley bus service free of backing moves in the very near future. Sunday, March 6. 2011Wood Shop and Other News - March 5, 2011This Blog entry will cover several topics not strictly related to wood shop activity, but some exciting news, and views. To start off, Henry Vincent grabbed my camera and made the trek to Barn 2 to check on progress with painting CTS 4223, our PCC car from Cleveland.  Front Since last reported here in any detail, the car was moved to Barn 2, where conditions are more amenable to painting. We owe the Internal Combustion Department BIG TIME for sharing this space. Here is the front of the car with the unique paint scheme and color separations from Cleveland.  Left Rear The left rear in all its glory.  Right Rear And here the right rear. Not bad, and perhaps the dark red or maroon striping will be laid out to apply this coming week!  Let There Be Light Henry quickly returned to our shop space and worked all day with Max Tyms to complete wiring and lighting for the shop addition. Here, the new light fixtures are being assembled and wired, ready to be hung on the ceiling.  Windows Tim Peters has done a lot of window work in the last few weeks. A total of 18 new frames in three sizes have been made for Tim's project, wood CRT 1797 L car. Here he is doing some of the trim and finish work, rabbeting and plowing out some tricky recesses to mount the hardware. Note the stack of finished frames.  Post It Not a POST IT note, but a new post repair for the car side. Randy Hicks has taken on the task of making substantial repairs to our Illinois Terminal 277 combine. It is planned to be in operation at the end of April for the visiting Illinois Traction Society members.  Kansas City Mike Stauber and Frank Sirinek continue with work on our Kansas City PCC car. Last week's post saw them working on some interior paneling, and here they have two of the rear side windows in the shop, being cleaned and repaired. Note the two panels of glass in this one frame. Kansas City cars were unique, I believe, in using cobalt blue tinted glass in some locations in the car. Too bad, but the passengers were not treated to looking at the world through rose colored glass. Frank and Mike supplied a lot of info for engineering work to continue to get new brake shoes cast for Chicago Surface Lines 3142. Regular work continued in the shop on other projects, including seat restoration for the Vera Cruz open car, Rich Witt doing finish work to rout pockets for window lift hardware on two new windows for the Villa Falls, and more work on 11 new windows for the IC Diner 3996. All the tenons were cut and the first new frame was custom fitted, ready for gluing. |
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Comments
Sun, 05-19-2013 22:13
Hello again. I had an idea that was (somewhat rudely, mid-sentence) dismissed in talking to a museum volunteer a few years back, but here it goes [...]
Thu, 05-16-2013 21:52
Looking good Bob! I hope to come out soon once I'm done with school.
Wed, 05-15-2013 21:28
I was not around at the time. General discussion suggests that it was "pretty marginal" in a number of areas. Nigel
Mon, 05-13-2013 11:08
"THUMBS UP!"
Fri, 05-10-2013 02:15
No, it will not be necessary to hold any of the work waiting for the plow to be turned, end for end. Weather will be the major factor, but there will [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 19:54
The CGW X-38 plow is really coming to life. Bob Kutella and Vic and crew need to be very proud of your collective efforts. I am very appreciative of [...]
Thu, 05-09-2013 15:20
The snowplow looks great! Are you going to apply the door and upper windows befor it is turned to continue work?
Thu, 05-09-2013 09:09
Max, Is there any progress to report yet, in regards to the installation of the poles and overhead wires? Have a good day, sir.
Wed, 05-08-2013 18:40
Thanks for the update! I still don't understand why Commonwealth #5 was removed from service. Do you know why?
Tue, 05-07-2013 09:28
Mr. Kolanowski.....I was just wondering if the Spaulding webcam will be up and running soon for us stay-at-homes. Thanks!2FP
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:04
Max, Has work begun yet on the construction phase of erecting the poles and putting up the wire? Wish I could be there to watch it happen.
Mon, 05-06-2013 23:02
Keep up the good work, Bob. Wish I could be there to help!!!!!!!