Here is another look at projects that are ongoing, but are seldom seen or reported upon, and with detail views, rare in themselves. We are indebted to Steve Iverson for these, and he has been working on this car as reported in recent BLOG ENTRIES here.
Kansas City Public Service 755 is a single ended PCC car, all electric, built by St Louis Car Company in 1946, and seats 51. It arrived at IRM in 1986 via SEPTA as number 2267. The car is stored inside our barns and lighting for images can be most charitably put as 'challenging'. But any picture is better than none, so here goes.
The car as it sits now in all its glory as Frank Sirinek contemplates the next task. Frank Hicks worked on this car to redecorate it in KC colors and graphics, even if only a cosmetic paint job. Looks good, especially in light of what the car looked like in peeling Septa and grafiti.
With work lights providing the only illumination this is the interior, looking to the rear of the car.
And also the interior looking toward the front of the car. You will easily see the TWO and ONE seating plan in the front half of the car, something foreign to us Chicagoans. Of course the Chicago PCC cars were the widest of those models made, if I am not mistaken.
The operator's position, of course, in the left hand front corner.
Mike Stauber is on the roof, which was the object of the recent work blitz.
Looking forward you will see the roof vent restored and installed, and nearer to us, the trolley pole shrouds. Little of this did not receive attention. Frank is on the ladder and seems to be looking down toward his next step.
Looking back over the business end of the roof, there are the shrouds, trolley pole, hook, essentially everything completed in this area.
As with most projects at IRM there are small groups of dedicated volunteers working to bring the equipment back to life. This car has been emptied of stored materials, the exterior repainted, and a LOT of work done to replace the all but opaque windows and get them working. The work is getting to the stage where more funds will be needed, so here again, please consider a donation to fund R755.
VIV stands for Very Important Visitor, and this special Operation Lifesaver train came into and operated upon our trackage on April 16. Thanks to Steve Iverson for forwarding these images. Also note we do not really have a category for general interest NEWS items here, so I entered this under my department category.
Leading the train into Station Track 2 was UP 2010 painted in a special Boy Scouts of America scheme. The trainset was set up to operate "pull-pull" with a locomotive on each end.
Next in line was the observation car FEATHER RIVER. Here is the platform end.
Looking the other way, here is how the train entered IRM station track two.
Behind the locomotive was the FEATHER RIVER, a dome car, the TEXAS EAGLE, and others.
Here is a nice shot inside the seating area on the dome level.
This is the coach seating inside the TEXAS EAGLE.
This is a close up of the upholstery used on these seats. Who else but a fan would take such an image?
The weather was not ideal but how often do you see a first class set of heritage passenger cars operating under trolley wire at IRM? There were a total of three such trips operated on the Belvidere Branch that day, with the mid day trip making a stopover at IRM.
Comments
Wed, 04-11-2018 11:28
You mention in the header that you would like to have the Electroliner operational by its birthday. Was it?
Sun, 04-08-2018 20:03
As a child, IRM was always my favorite place to visit. Well, other than grandma's house next to the Geneva Sub. It's been many years since I now [...]
Wed, 04-04-2018 16:01
Those temporary walls could be constructed in a way that allows their reuse after the phase is done to close off the new phases.
Tue, 03-27-2018 03:08
Why did the smoke box cover on the shay need to be replace Do?
Mon, 03-26-2018 16:29
It never ceases to amaze me of the diligence and passion of the current mix of volunteers associated with IRM in 2018. Back when I was a active [...]
Mon, 03-26-2018 11:10
Awesome paint job Jamie!!! I never would of thought with the Rock Island history this locomotive in this scheme would of been preserved. Thanks for [...]
Sun, 03-25-2018 23:56
The Hick's blog lists it as Fruit Grower's Express FGEX #55407. Arrived in Union June 2016.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:51
Good job on the diesel update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 20:45
Good job on the steam update 2018. Sincere, Ethan A.
Sun, 03-25-2018 00:12
Bill, The 1990 Roster has the PFE #68428; this may be the reefer that we saw moved. It is a rare car and deserves a paint job. Ted Miles, [...]
Fri, 03-16-2018 11:10
It would be rather difficult to operate an 11,000 Volt AC locomotive on our 600 Volt DC wire.
Thu, 03-15-2018 05:57
Good job steam update. Sincerely, Ethan A.