Trolley Bus Department

We split the department Saturday with Richard Schauer operating trolley coaches, while Jerry Saunders and I ran the New York subway cars.

For the majority of the day, we operated the Chicago Marmon 9553.  In the afternoon Richard decided to pull out a few additional coaches for the Members.  Making a few trip each was Seattle M-A-N 4020, Chicago Brill-American 84, Seattle Twin 633 and Milwaukee Marmon 441.  Due to the lack of adequate lighting at the wye and lack of adequate ground personnel, we decided for safety sake not to operate in the evening.  Our last scheduled operating day of the season is in two weeks (10/03).  As of right now it looks like it will be Seattle M-A-N 4020 handling operations that day.  With the OERM deal now in full swing, we have decided not to have any scheduled operation in 2010.  Does that mean no TBs at all next year?  Of course not.  Those of you who visit often or watch the webcams know, you never know when you will see a trolley coach coming down Central Avenue.

At about 2:00pm Saturday, NYCTA 7926-7927 made their first revenue trip at IRM.  We subsequently made 2 more daytime and 4 nighttime round trips on the mainline, finally wrapping up a little after midnight.  The cars performed flawlessly!  We heard MANY positive and supportive comments from the visitors and members alike.  Saturday was the culmination of a 12 year dream/ordeal to get the cars here and operational.  I’d like to add my personal congratulations to Jerry, whose perseverance and patience (wait a minute, Jerry?  Patience???) single-handedly were responsible for getting the cars here.  We hope to have all the nagging bugs worked out by sometime next season so the Redbirds can see limited revenue service, then the goal is to have them in the regular service fleet in 2011.

Hats off AGAIN to the Car Department guys.  I watched them for months working to get cars ready for Saturday.  They had so many cars that no NSL cars came out and the IT101 had to be cancelled!  What a great “problem” to have and what a fantastic turn-around from just a couple years ago.  You guys (and Krystine & Gwen) rock!!!

Sorry, no pictures as I was in service.  I know Pete Pedersen among others took some excellent shots to document one of the most exciting days I have ever experienced at IRM.

Another exciting weekend in the Trolley Bus Department.  On Friday, Jerry Saunders moved an entire row of motor coaches out of the Hoffman Garage to facilitate the unloading and garaging of the SF Fageol-Twin 614.  I arrived in the afternoon to help move some parts from the back of the garage.  On Saturday, Jerry and I chased our new coach through the bustling streets of downtown Union, IL, taking videos.

SF Fageol-Twin 614 arrives at IRM on 09/12/2009.

Upon arrival, we found that unloading it was very simple.  After all these years, the handbrake still worked great, so we tipped the trailer back, and with Jerry at the wheel, we let gravity do all the work.  We then towed it into the Hoffman garage with the department Dodge Ram locomotive.  After lunch we pushed it back out on Central Avenue and went to work on the initial cleaning and inspection.  We found the coach to be in a bit rougher shape than our last OERM coach, the Seattle Twin 633 – which took us 5 hours to get running, so we expected the Fageol to take us more time.  We turned out to be correct as it took 5 and a half hours to get the Fageol to run itself back into the Hoffman Garage under its own power.

The 614 awaits unloading in front of the Hoffman Garage while the CA&E cars go into service - 09/12/2009.

To be fair, we had much more help Saturday.  A big thank you to the usual suspects, Richard Schauer and Jerry Saunders as well as Warren Lloyd, Charlie Strong, Al Reinschmidt, and Nick Kallas (yes, you read that correctly).  This crew gave us a big hand in the unloading and initial cleaning of the coach.  As always, our trucker Mel came through with his usual professional job and transported the coach across the country without incident.

After unloading, the 614 sits in the loop in front of the Andersen Garage - 09/12/2009.

Naturally there are some issues with the 614.  Unfortunately the seats did not fare as well as the 633 – most are split, sun baked and/or downright torn up.  Although the windows were covered, this coach lived out in the desert longer than the 633, and I suspect whoever came up with the great idea of covering the windows didn’t think of it until several years after the 614 arrived at OERM.  As we experienced with the 633, there are some wiring issues which have to be tracked down.  And dirty!!!!  It took a month of weekends to get the 633 looking as nice as it does today; I suspect it will take at least twice as long with the 614.

Jerry Saunders and Al Reinschmidt start the LONG process of cleaning out over 30 years of desert dust - 09/12/2009.

On Sunday, Jerry and I did some paint touch-ups on the NY Cars and worked on the insulation for the power cables on the roof of one of the cars.  We are planning on washing the interior of the cars on Friday for their first day of revenue service on Member’s Day this Saturday.  We are also planning on some nighttime runs after dinner.

Friday afternoon/evening was spent doing a little more cleaning in the interior of the Seattle 633.  With the exception of a little of the floor, the inside is immaculate (well, almost).

Freshly painted NYCTA Subway Cars on the tail track 09/06/2009.

On Saturday, Howard Geier worked on installing the glass in the newly fabricated rear doors of the Des Moines Brill “Curbliner”.  Richard Schauer provided service using the Chicago Marmon 9553 for many happy visitors.  Jerry Saunders and I worked Saturday and Sunday on a “Home Depot” paint job on the NY Subway Cars.  They were starting to look a little shabby, so the investment of $75 and a couple days work got them looking pretty nice.  They are scheduled to make their service debut on Member’s Day.  Hopefully, mechanically the cars will cooperate.

NYCTA Cars at Johnson Siding 09/06/2009.

On Monday, Richard and I finished up what we could on the equipment roster including measuring the new switcher on the connector track.  The file will now be sent to the department curators for them to approve and fill in some still missing blank spaces.

In the “when it rains, it pours” category, after some delays in both, it looks like the Edmonton BBC and the SF Fageol from OERM will BOTH be delivered next weekend.  No guarantee, but right now that’s the way things are looking.