Two Milwaukee Streetcars

They are on their way!

Steam Cleaning

All of the wheelsets had been removed from the trucks as previously reported.  Sunday, a new high pressure steam cleaner was christened to remove layers of oil and grease from the wheelsets, and also from the second truck frame, seen to the left.

In They Go

Greg Kepka and Dan Fenlaciki roll in the second wheelset, a rental truck for this purpose.

Number Three

The big forklift does the heavy lifting, while Greg and Dan walk alongside to make sure it stays put.  By the end of the afternoon, all were loaded and secured, the truck rear door buttoned up, ready to drive off today.  By now, as I type, they should be at the wheel shop.

Of course we still could use some money for this current and active project.  There are still some pledged matching funds available, so every dollar you send in to FUND RTMS, will make Santa very happy - each dollar becomes two.

A Dirty Job

Work continues and good progress is being made on this project.  Mike Stauber drew the short straw and was cleaning the last set of wheels that are now ready to go to the wheel shop.  Frank Sirinek was also involved in this job, but was not recorded in this image.

Shipping

In order to ship the wheels, we have decided to rent a truck and do the transportation ourselves.  Several of the regular denizens of the wood shop manhandled some 12 foot timbers through our saw, to cut dados allowing the wheel flanges to be set and not shift during the journey.  Lorne Tweed is checking the results

Moving On

With the wheelsets cleaned up, Frank and Mike quickly moved on to the cleaning and priming, painting of the truck parts, now disassembled, from the second truck.

As reported earlier, the second motor truck was removed from the car last Sunday.  But the Electric Car Department does not rest on their laurels.  A crew was set up to completely disassemble the truck to get the wheelsets out on Tuesday!

Wheelsets

Yes, this is the second set removed, ready to be shipped to the wheel shop!

Motors

Here are the two traction motors removed from truck number two.  It has probably been over a half century since this truck was out from under the car floor, when it was still in Milwaukee.  And it looks it!  Lots of grime, crud, and dirt in evidence.  Frank Sirinek has already begun the task of cleaning one piece at a time and he was helped by Victor Humphreys, readying them to be primed and painted.

BLOG readers should be sure to follow comments on these pages.  Especially noteworthy is one from Tom Sharratt who is very active in this work, and he notes MATCH MONEY is still available to turn your donations from one dollar to two, for every contribution sent.

We have had to wait about 16 weeks for the new tires to be manufactured for this project.  The waiting is over!  They are done, have been shipped, and are probably on the road north to Illinois as I type.

Coming Out Party

Not exactly a party but a cause to rejoice nevertheless.  The 972 came out of Barn 4 to the east for moving into position for the next stage.  If you think it looks odd, that is due to the right hand end being up in the air on a shop truck.

Set Aside

Then into the pocket on track 40, to allow for the next move in this chess game.  It was a bit tricky getting it to negotiate the diverging side of this track switch, but accomplished without incident.

Going Up

The car is inched east for secure footing on the concrete apron of Track 41. Joel Ahrendt is placing heavy car stands for use after the car is in the air.  I was not able to stay to witness the fact, but it is confirmed that the second original truck is out from under the car and ready to be disassembled.

We are very close to reaching the fundraising goal set at the beginning of this project earlier this year.  Yes, THIS YEAR!  That is really fast progress judged by any preservation or restoration project.  Please help out on this, large or small donation to help us reach the goal, and maybe to provide a little extra, as any unforeseen repairs crop up along the way.  It is not too late to send your help to restricted fund RTMS.

Wheelsets

With the wheelsets out of one truck, the bearing surfaces were being cleaned up and wrapped to protect them during the next steps at the machine shop.

Then it was time for a SWITCH MOVE!!  This can either inspire terror in the hearts of the crew assigned to do this, or awe and lots of pics snapped by the bystanders.  We needed TM 972 back in Barn 4, behind three cars at the west end of Track 41.  And it started the day four cars deep on Track 83.

TM 972

About 4 PM here it came, heading east into Barn 4.  I cannot remember the last time this car may have been on this track; and it was moved here to pull the remaining original truck from beneath the car, then to remove the wheelsets on that.

Sand Springs 68

One of the byproducts of any such planned string of moves is the appearance outdoors of cars that seldom see daylight.  Here, SS 68 rests on track 43 to the west of Barn 4.  Later it motored under its own power to a new spot inside Barn 8 for the coming winter months.

It has been some time since we posted an entry on this project.  But there is a lot of news!!  The new tires were ordered some months ago and the promised delivery date is fast approaching.

The Truck

One of the trucks from TM 972 has been on Track 42 at the east end of Barn 4.  John Faulhaber and Gerry Dettloff attacked it with the idea of dismantling the assembly to get the wheelsets out.  In this pic the traction motor is out, and the main truck bolster has been chained and is being lifted free.

Naked Truck

With the bolster assembly removed and set aside, we can see what the 'next layer' looks like.

Sideframes

The final step was to remove the lower sideframe castings, journal bearings, and journal boxes.  At days end the two wheelsets were out, marked, and ready to ship.

It is not too late for you all to help on this project.  A substantial amount of match money has been pledged to the project, and some of it still remains.  So every dollar you generously contribute to fund R TMS will become TWO DOLLARS!!  Please consider a year end donation to this project.

We got some publicity for the project this week, and for IRM.  The Thursday issue of the Waukegan News Sun had a few pics and information on the CNS&M 354, which once plied the streets of Waukegan.

Interior

This is the fine looking interior of the 354 with car lighting working again thanks to the Electric Car Department and some troubleshooting.  This feature was worked on to show off the interior to best advantage for the photographer shooting the story.

Car Cards

Victor Humphreys helped on this task, and here he is distracted, reading some of the very old car card advertising inside the car.

This remains an active project and we really need your donations help to bring this back to operation, any amount large or small is still being accepted with our thanks.  And we have challenge grant money that will match your contribution dollar for dollar at 100% parity.  This is a great way for you to help IRM and stretch your dollars.  Please specify fund RTMS on your check.