Passenger Car Department

     Buzz has been focusing on the further restoration and upgrades of our famous "private varnish"  passenger car The Ely.  While working on the ceiling in the Ely he noticed the 32 volt light fixtures had paper insulators that were  deteriorating from heat built up and old age.  He searched various web sites and ordered new replacements but had to modify them to fit.  A few porcelain  sockets were in such bad shape that Buzz decided to try and make a few new ones.Recently, Shelly found this  upper clearstory window which had been removed many years ago.  Its  original location was above the porters station.  Buzz recently refinished it and it is now re-installed.  Thanks to Victor for the brass pull. The clearstory windows in the Ely, like other 100 plus year old cars, have an intricate latch/hinge mechanism.  This was also rebuilt.   Notice that this part of the window was as built and still has its wood finish.  The observation lounge has the clearstory painted white with a pinstrip pattern.  Yellowing is from the varnish covering the gold leaf.  We assume this change was made after electrification in the 1910 to 1920 era.  If you know of any lounge photos taken in this car showing the clearstory please contact us as we are in the process of restoring the Obs clearstory.  We plan to have the PV opened for tours but only if docents can be found.   Want to help?  Please see Paul C., Mark G., Buzz M or myself for further details.   YES, donations are needed to continue the progress.   Thanks  Buzz and Roger   

Here is a little progress report on our job to completely restore the 2612 to operation.  Our crew has expanded their efforts and I now see the possibility of getting all window frames and window sills painted before Thomas! Yes, the entire interior might be completely repainted by the time Thomas rolls up to our gate!   Its a great job everyone has been doing.  It's a lot of repetitive work. You would be surprised how long some tasks take. Eventually if you keep at it, the work does get completed.    These four people are the nucleus of our work team on the RI 2612.   Thanks again to Howard,  Loraine, Dan and Austin.   Without them the car would not be ready for this years Thomas Event!. 

       Here are more pictures of the Mt. Harvard when I was last working on the car in June 17,18 and 19.   This time my biggest project was to remove the old propane furnace located in the women's bathroom.  This was one of the biggest obstacles in returning the car to its Pullman ancestry.  Not only did I remove the furace and ductwork but also threw away a small commode which was located under one of the two sinks.  And of course, just my luck, it had some liquid "stuff" in it.   Moving it out of the washroom and into the hallway was no easy task.  Luckily, nothing spilled onto the floor. An accident could have made it a real "stinky" mess.  I, then, sled it to the vestibule and "airmailed" it off the platform unto the blast.   I was certainly happy when that was done with.I next removed the furnace and the duct work by systematically cutting it apart with a small electric saw I had recently purchased.   It was no easy task.  Between the noise of the blade cutting into the thin vibrating  steel and the sound from the saw really made it quite noisy.   With a little bit of luck I removed, first, the duct work then struggled with the furnace itself.  I  slowly dragged the heavy furnace from the women's wash room to the vestibule and again pushed it off the "cliff" and onto the ground.   Luckily, the next day one of the guys came around and helped with dumping it into the steel recycling bin.  A number of members have wondered if we can use the Mt Harvard as a  tail car.  The answer is Yes.  There is a back up whistle as well as device for operating the brakes when making a back-up movement.  You need not open the door because there is a handle inside that operates the brake valve.  Pullman thought of everything.  When operating in cold weather all that had to be done was to activate the valve inside the warm car.  The operator and his customers need not worry about getting a blast of cold air from an open door.  What modern conveniences!    I had some extra time on Saturday so I helped Skip  Litcher move his tender inside the steam shop and then to attach it to the body of the No. 2 steam engine .         Again, I would like to remind all the readers about the 1:1 matching grant offer from the Milwaukee Road Historical Association.    Here is your opportunity to make the most of your donation dollars.   For every one dollar given by you, the donor, to the  Mt. Harvard the MRHA will match it.  The total match  by MRHA will be  to a total of $10,000.00.    But don't wait to long . This offer expires August 31, 2015.   What a great offer!   Thanks again to MRHA for making this offer.      Roger