Entries by Ray Piesciuk

Excellent progress is being made on the construction on Central & Railroad.  We are anticipating being able to provide service on Bus Day!!!  Our plan is to run 6 different trolley buses throughout the day, with 2 motor buses supplementing that service.  All trips will originate and end at the Andersen Garage - home of the Bus Stop Shop.  Trolley buses will depart Andersen at :00, :15, :30 and :45 past the hour.  If able, motor buses will run trips between those times, so vehicles will alternate between trolley and motor buses with every trip.  Here is our tentative schedule (as always, subject to change due to equipment/road conditions or other factors):  First 4 trips (11:00am - 11:45am) will be Seattle MAN 4020.  The next 4 (12:00pm - 12:45pm) will be Dayton Flyer 925.  1:00pm - 1:45pm will feature Seattle Twin 633.  2:00pm - 2:45pm will be Milwaukee Marmon-Herrington 441.  3:00pm - 3:45pm will see Seattle Gillig 4123, and finally 4:00pm - 4:45pm CTA Marmon-Herrington 9553 will be in service.  The two motor buses providing supplemental service will be Janesville RTS 412 and CMC GM 605.  We will not have set times for them due to condition and other factors.

We also invite private owners of former transit buses to bring them out and display them.  There is no registration required.  If you would like to display your bus, come into the main parking lot and go all the way to the gate at the east end of the entrance drive.  There will be someone near the Wagner loop to assist you to enter and park you bus on the grass just south of the Wagner loop.  These privately owned buses may not be driven around the property nor give rides, but it does give you the opportunity to "show it" to all our Bus Day visitors!!!

Should anything change, an update will be posted on this blog.  Don't forget, no matter what the road conditions, the Bus Stop Shop will be open all day in the Andersen Garage, where you can browse through and buy excess items from our collection.  We hope to see you out on Saturday!!!

As many of you know, construction has started on the streetcar track that will be located down the middle of Main Street, and will eventually become part of the Carline extension.  That project has resulted in the intersection of Central & Railroad being torn up.  Of course that is a part of our Trolley Bus line.  B&G and our contractors are working feverishly to make one lane of that intersection at least passable by Bus Day on 10/01.  At this point, NO GUARANTEE could be given that the line will be able to be used on 10/01, but it looks good for limited operation.  If all goes as we hope, we will operate westbound on Central, turn north on Railroad and around the Wagner Loop.  On the return trip southbound on Railroad, we will hop the trolley poles to the northbound wires and operate back on the "wrong" side until the double wire ends at the used bookstore.

No matter the outcome of the construction issue, we WILL have motor bus operation (as always, based on condition) on 10/01 using the Janesville RTS 412 and the Chicago Motor Coach GM 605, which Vince Allen and John LeBeau were able to get running reliably yesterday (09/24).  We WILL have many of the trolley and motor buses outside the garages, open for inspection and for photos.  We WILL have several trolley and motor buses inside the garages open for inspection.  We WILL have the Bus Stop Shop open for business, selling excess memorabilia from the museum's collection.

As I receive further updates I will post them on this blog.  Thanks to everyone for their questions, inquiries and interest in this event!!!

At 10:15am on Wednesday 11/25/2015, Seattle Gillig Trolley Bus 4123 rolled off the truck trailer under its own power!  The bus was loaded in Seattle on Saturday afternoon.  Thanks to the guys at Extreme Trucking, it safely made the cross-country trip in about 3½ days.  As usual, the guys at MEHVA (Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association) out in Seattle took care of us.  They chose a coach that was in great shape and mechanically sound.  They also sent along ever critical extra parts.

Seattle Gillig 4123 officailly arrives at IRM at 10:15am on 11/25/2015.

Our coach has a build date of February 13, 2002.  It is exactly 13 years, 9 months and 12 days old.  It may very well be the youngest piece of equipment ever to join the museum's historic collection.

Seattle Gillig 4123 immediately after unloading, in front of the Andersen Garage (11/25/2015)

We were able to make two test trips and it performed wonderfully.  As this is such a new bus, there are a couple things that we are figuring out as we go and we have a couple outstanding questions for the MEHVA guys, but it was great running a bus that could easily still be in service.  We are immediately getting busy emptying, cleaning, inspecting and testing the bus and will hopefully have it in service for the Christmas event in a week and a half.

Street side view of Seattle Gillig 4123 at Central and Depot ( 11/25/2015)

In this season of giving thanks, those involved with this acquisition come to mind.  First, thanks to all the guys out in Seattle for arranging this and taking care of the loading.  Thanks to the Board of Directors for having the foresight to approve such an exciting new acquisition.  As always, a HUGE thank you goes to Richard Schauer.  He arranged the trucking and took care of all that was necessary to "de-shippify" the bus once it arrived - putting back all the things that had to be done/undone in order to ship it.  Finally, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported the Trolley Bus Department over the years.  With the previous acquisitions from MOT in St. Louis and this one, our trucking costs are in the $15,000 range.  Even though vehicles are either donated or made available at scrap value, it still costs a considerable amount to transport them to the museum.  Your past and continued support allows us to keep working and (hopefully) keep acquiring as exciting opportunities (like this one) arise.

Seattle Gillig at the Wagner Loop on the first test trip ( 11/25/2015)

We in the Trolley Bus & Motor Bus Departments wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

Last weekend (Thursday through Sunday!) we were able to finish the reorganization of the Andersen and Hoffman Garages.  A HUGE thank you to Wes Lloyd, who worked alongside me and Richard Schauer the entire day on Sunday.  Without his help it is doubtful we would have been able to finish the job last weekend.  Once complete, we gave a tour of the newly acquired coaches to President Joe Stupar, First Lady Gwyn Stupar along with other Directors, former Directors and volunteers.  Once that was finished, we all joined Frank Hicks and a good size crew to tarp one of the CA&E cars in yard 11.  It was a busy and rewarding weekend!

Yesterday started out lending a hand to Joel Ahrendt, who wanted to accomplish the simple task of moving CA&E 460 to the pit for inspection.   There just happened to be a couple trucks and two other CA&E cars blocking his path.  So we set about getting the two trucks, newly delivered for Tim Peters' 1024 project, ready to be moved.  As usual, Richard Schauer was an integral part of the team.  After a good deal of oil in strategic places, with additional help from Fred McGullam, Bob Olsen & Tim Peters, and encouragement from Marcus Ruef & Randy Hicks, we were able to get the trucks relocated.  We then switched to other two CA&E cars and Joel was finally, with cooperation from the Diesel guys, able to get 460 to the pit.

During the week, Richard and Greg Kepka acquired, primed and painted a new trolley board for Chicago Marmon-Herrington 9553.  Yesterday afternoon, with the help of Thomas Slater and David Fullarton, we installed it on the coach.  It may be one of the coaches we put into service to shuttle visitors to and from the parking lot during the Christmas event, so it was critical that this maintenance was done prior to the event.  Now, it is ready to go!!

We just received the bill for trucking the four newly acquired coaches from MOT in St. Louis.  The cost came to around $8,000.  Any assistance with defraying this cost via donations will be very gladly accepted!!!  Sorry, no pictures this week.

These past several months have seen and incredible amount of activity and progress in both the Trolley Bus and Motor Bus Departments.  I want to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us.  Not only the volunteers, but those of you who have supported us via donations - to EVERYONE who has helped, you are GREATLY appreciated!!!

On Wednesday evening, trucking company West and Son delivered our final two acquisitions from Museum of Transportation.  The first is Connecticut Company 590.  It is a 1937 Yellow Coach model 716 (Our SECOND Yellow Coach in as many weeks!)  This is a tiny bus, seating only 23.  In fact it was transported on a roll-deck truck, the kind used to haul big pick-ups or large minivans. 

Connecticut Company 590 - Built by Yellow Coach in 1937 (10/29/2015).

This is a front engine bus.  Looking at the design, that is hard to believe.  Inside, the motor is housed right beside the driver.  The photo shows the front grill missing but don't fear, it is inside the bus!  The interior is in the best shape of the 4 new vehicles.  This is really a neat little bus!!

Connecticut Company 590 - Interior View Looking Toward Back (10/29/2015).

Connecticut Company 590 - Interior View Looking Toward Front.  Yes that is a single seat facing BACKWARD next to the driver (10/29/2015).

The second one of the evening is Indianapolis Railways Trolley Coach 527.  It is a 1934 Brill and we believe it is the only surviving trolley coach from Indianapolis, home of Marmon-Herrington.  Another unique thing is that it uses two GE 1154 motors - again we believe that this is the only vehicle still in existence that uses those motors.  The 527 is in pretty tough shape, but as with all these new acquisitions, it is complete and we felt it is significant enough to save.

Indianapolis Railways 527 - Built by Brill in 1934 (10/29/2015).

These acquisitions could not have been accomplished without the help of West & Sons Trucking.  They were extremely professional and took excellent care of these somewhat fragile and non-weather resistant vehicles.  Special thanks goes out to Richard Schauer, who met the trucker upon each delivery and helped them unload.  He also has been doing research on the vehicles and has provided much of the info included here.  Thanks also to Rod Turner who helped us unload Wednesday evening.  In fact Wednesday's job was accomplished in record time.  It sure helps to have an extra pair of hands.  Thank you gentlemen!!!

All four of the new coaches will be on display in the Hoffman Garage, so next season stop by and take a look for yourself.  If any of us in the Motor Bus or Trolley Bus Departments are around, please feel free to ask us questions or even open up the buses so you can take a look inside.