Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Operational

Ray Piesciuk posted earlier about the good news for CTA 2153/2154.  It is TRUE - here 2154 pokes its nose out of Barn 4 while Dave Fullarton is fussing below the car.  Mate 2153 is inside over the pit.  Note the trolley pole installed on the roof of 2154 to allow this normally third rail only car to operate on our railway.

Many Parts are Needed

Dave Fullarton is engaged in restoring part of a trolley base to be used on our elevated cars.  Disassemble (not always easy), needle scale away old paint, grease, and rust, sandblast for final cleanup, and then you may START the painting.

Left Side Interior

The interior of Cleveland Transit System 4223 is undergoing a transformation at almost warp speed.  Lorne Tweed and Eric Lorenz busily drill holes, tap for screws, and anchor the new parts in place.  That would be post caps, panels below the standee windows, and the rail above them.

Bulls Eye Lights

Eric has restored one of the many bulls eye light fixtures that will be mounted in the ceiling of 4223.  Not a trivial task for one of these but for 31??  Nevertheless this first one is absolutely perfect, better than new to my eye.

Chair Shop

John Mc Kelvey makes this job look easy but I would not want to tackle it.  Here he is reupholstering a nice chair destined for the LAKE CITY.  He previously stripped it down, cleaned and refinished the wood parts, and is now applying this appropriate period fabric.  You need to see it in person - VERY NICE WORK!

Family Days Train

Many of you have probably heard that we hosted the Union Pacific Family Days picnic and outing for Chicago Service Unit employees and families.  Lots of equipment was brought by UP for display and this is a view of the three car passenger train departing east from Station Track 2 behind C&NW heritage painted SD 70.