Two Milwaukee Streetcars

Let's talk about brakes and stopping of a streetcar.  Many grasp the concept that the motorman's brake valve sends air pressure to a cylinder.  That extends a piston and rod and somehow though bell cranks and more levers and rods, move the brake shoes to grip the wheel treads and stop the car.  As they say the devil is in the details.

A streetcar goes around some pretty sharp curves, and if a conventional system of levers was used, the act of that truck rotating and pivoting would serve to apply the brakes unintentionally.  In fact that is what happened on many early designs.  The designers came up with many ways to overcome this.  Basically some way to direct the force toward the center pivot of the truck, thereby isolating any unwanted forces, regardless of the orientation of the truck and the curvature of the track ti was negotiating.

Which brings us to our project car, TM 972.  They used a heavy circular plate, an arc or portion of a circle, hung above the rear frame member of the truck.  The brake rod from the cylinder came close to that and then was connected to a harp or something with rollers or sliders that could move left or right along that arc.  Thus, if correctly designed and installed, the braking for the truck would be relatively independent of its rotation.  The second part of the equation is how to release the brakes.  As air is released from the brake cylinder, there is nothing to make the piston return to its position of rest.  So again, perhaps more levers and springs to pull the brake shoes off of the wheel treads.

On our project car that system of parts was worn badly, almost to the point of failure.  Clearly the company in Milwaukee was not investing in anything but absolutely minimum needed maintenance and repairs.  Now that the new wheels are on, and the truck almost 100% rebuilt, the assembly work continues.  In the case of the above mentioned description we find that many parts need replacement. 

Spring Anchor

So here is the assembly for the return spring.  Four nicely machined NEW parts that fit perfectly!  I am constantly amazed at the depth of knowledge and skills of our volunteers.  You cannot go buy any such parts, or find an instruction manual on the internet.  Yet they have the mechanical common sense to understand the design, to determine if replacement is needed, to machine new parts and thus help insure long term preservation.  WOW!

This is just a quick photo showing that progress continues, and the first traction truck is BACK TOGETHER.  Next up, motors and journal bearings

Going Together

Gerry Dettloff is lowering the completed truck frame on the east end.

There seem to many balls that need to be keep in the air this season, and somehow milestones continue to occur in many of the major projects.  By end of day the truck was completely assembled.  And just in case you wondered how we get so much done on a weekend Saturday or Sunday, there are folks volunteering and working nearly every day of the week on one project or another.

A lot has happened on this project in just the last two short months.  A few of these pics have appeared in the BLOG previously, but some of you may have missed them, so I will review the milestones now.

New Wheelsets

The wheelsets returned with new tires mounted upon them in the first week of May.  They are beautiful.

Second Truck

The second truck was steam cleaned and restored and repainted in our shop space as shown here.  Those who have been following this project know that a substantial amount of time and money were expended in what amounted to a total disassembly and rebuild of the thoroughly worn out first truck for the TM 972.

Assembly Area

All of the restored parts for the first truck were moved to the east end of Barn 4 where the assembly is being done.

Spring Forward

The first assembly steps included installation of these new leaf spring assemblies.

Bolster

This past week saw the other set of leaf springs installed and the truck bolster inserted into the frame, along with all the bars, nuts, bolts and other parts in this area.  Everything from the spring plank to the side bearings are ready for the next step.

But now for the real excitement.  DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN!!  I bet there might be an ad card in the car from Wrigley's but we received pledges for new MATCHING DONATION money this week amounting to several thousand dollars.  There is no doubt this money is needed, as there are always new discoveries and items needing repair on any restoration project.  SO PLEASE, consider a donation to fund RTMS and each dollar you send will become two for moving the work closer to completion!

Many of you may be thirsting for information on our project to restore two Milwaukee Streetcars to operation.  The project moves steadily forward, limited only by the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day and only 7 days in a week.

First Truck

Shop work and painting has been completed on the first truck and it has now been moved to an assembly area at the east end of Barn 4!!  Stay tuned.

Second Truck

The second truck has been disassembled and power washed, and resides inside the shop.  Frank Sirinek (not shown) and Fred Zimmerman are repainting it.

It will be very exciting to see the assembly work proceed and that means then installing the motors and moving forward.  Many of you have been very generous in sending donations, but we are not out of the woods yet.  The restricted fund to designate your donation is RTMS and you might want to consider a donation as paying forward, your ticket for a ride!

STOP THE PRESSES!

Wheelsets

THE WHEELSETS HAVE RETURNED TO IRM!

Recall that the goal of this project is to restore two operating streetcars to service at IRM.  As they say on TV, do it big or go home.  The wheelsets are back at IRM with new steel tires applied, and they look spectacular.

Here is a short summary of the project to date.  New steel tires were ordered and custom made, enough to apply to both streetcars.  The trucks were removed from the TM 972 and extensively rebuilt.  One truck has had essentially a total rebuild as we found badly worn pins and bushings in the linkage, rods, levers and brake systems.  This was not something anticipated and was discovered after the trucks were being dismantled.

What is one to do, stop everything?  In the true IRM spirit we had to repair these items while the truck was out and disassembled.  Such is the life of a restorationist.  We could have had the needed parts custom made and waited until September for delivery and another six weeks to install them.  Instead we made these ourselves in the machine shop, and heat treated and hardened them on site.

This saved us months on the timeline and saved us about $4000 in costs.  See where this is going?  It also added up to about $8000 in unanticipated expenses, so money in the fund is running very low, about non existent.  We have spent money ahead on common parts for the CNS&M 354 to get the same treatment but need your support now to see the TM 972 running this season.

We are ready to begin final re-assembly of the trucks NOW and will keep you updated of any 'new' discoveries.  Please keep this major project on track and moving ahead with a donation to fund  RTMS.  We really need this and the money is not squandered.

This is an active and ongoing project with the goal of restoring two cars to operation - TM 972 and CNS&M 354.

Assembly

Jeff Brady is assembling the many components of the truck.  This is a complex and intricate process involving many pieces and requires a level of expertise I do not share.

There are and have been many players in this project.  The recent focus has been to rebuild this truck from the 972.  As might be expected in a car which left service in 1958, and then may have been near the end of its useful life, we have uncovered many areas needing attention.  These are never known for sure until the disassembly and inspection is well along the way.

For example, the pedestal liners were missing in one case, or cracked and worn in bad repair.  We managed to get new liners fabricated - cost $2000.

Then we were on to the the pins and bushings used to connect the many moving parts in this truck, primarily but not exclusively associated with the braking system.  I have reported extensively on that process and progress. Over one hundred specialty bushings were manufactured in our shop and heat treated.  In the past we ordered these parts from outside vendors, but in today's world that would have been very costly to meet needed dimensions - none are 'standard' - and a delay of 3-4 months for delivery.  By making them ourselves we were able to complete them in about nine weeks at a savings of several thousand dollars.

Hardened pins are used in these bushings, and none of these were simple.  All of those involved a lot of machining, heat treating, and were made in our shop.  Again, savings in time and money.

The bottom line is that over $8000 in unanticipated costs were added to make these upgrades and the rebuild.  We will have a mechanically reliable and safe car to operate.  So, we again thank you all for your support but must again ask for help to continue the work and move forward.  The restricted fund is designated RTMS and donations can continue to be sent to

Illinois Railway Museum

Box 427

Union, IL 60180

We hope you can help on this and we all look forward to seeing this car roll down our line this year.

It really is amazing to witness the work on this project.  It is significant on so many fronts - engineering, machining, metallurgy, and the massive amount of less than ordinary GRUNT WORK.

Assembly

Jeff Brady is dry fitting and assembling some of the completed levers and rigging in the truck.  That is correct - enough of the new bushings and pins have been fabricated and heat treated to see how it goes back together.  He is inserting the new pin into a lever nicknamed a 'dog bone' due to its resemblance to such doggie snack treats.

The Dog Bones

Here is a closer look at the dog bones and how they fit into the truck.  There are two of these in each quadrant to next receive the brake head castings, which in turn hold the brake shoes.

Boring

Each of the many parts in this truck receives attention.  This once bent brake lever has been heated and straightened, as seen by the gray discoloration on the casting.  The old deteriorated bushings have been removed with a hydraulic press.  Here the lever is on the drill press table and about to get its holes reamed to receive the new bushings.  As I said above it is truly amazing, doing this on a wish and prayer with old tools and a lot of hard work and commitment from the volunteers.