Trolley Bus Department

Over the past several weekends we have continued working on the LA Brill 8002.  Helping out has been the ever-present Richard Schauer along with David Fullarton and Greg Cuervorst.  Over the last several weeks the following progress has been made:  The tar that was under the old flooring has been almost completely removed.  The unsalvageable portion of the Masonite ceiling has been removed and the rest has had the paint scrapped off.  The interior lights have been removed and thoroughly cleaned.  The edge of the old wood roofing, which is caked in tar and tar-like material, has been removed from about 1/4 of the bus.  Over 1/2 of the interior window frames have been thoroughly cleaned and their shine restored.  The wood for the new roof has been purchased.  Either next weekend or after Happy Holiday Railway, we will be spending some serious time in the Wood Shop turning 16' 1x6s into tongue-in-groove roofing.  Also today we fired up and ran the Edmonton BBC 181 for a final check before the Christmas event since it will be used as a warming station for our visitors.

The work on the LA Brill 8002 is continuing.  The interior has been completely cleaned out and the old rubber flooring has been taken up.  There are sections where the glue has a very strong bond with the wood floor.  Those sections need to be hand scraped, which has been started.

Yesterday Richard Schauer and I worked on removing the old roofing material.  20 years ago the original tongue-in-grove roofing was covered with a temporary fix of plywood to keep the inside dry.  Both were in poor condition and were removed.  Careful measurements and patterns were kept so we can replicate the original roof.  All the interior Masonite will need to be removed and most has.  We are keeping sections of this also for patterns.  In the weeks to come we will be continuing to remove what remains of the roofing, Masonite and de-Garrett-izing the coach (removing all the modifications that were made post-service by Garrett Industries, the 1st post-LA owner).

Richard Schauer provided service throughout the day Saturday, bringing out several coaches.  We started the day with the Edmonton 181, followed by Chicago Marmon 9553, then Seattle MAN 4020.  Once Charlie King arrived, they pulled “his baby”, the CSL 84, out of the garage.  They parked it at Central and Depot where it immediately drew a crowd.  For about an hour, Charlie greeted the steady stream of visitors and treated them to tours of the coach and stories about the coach in service and ongoing restoration.  I spent the day working the Cash & Cary Chicago Sign table to raise money for the restoration of the many signs around the property.  It was our best day ever!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and made a purchase/donation.  Many of the signs already restored (North Shore, South Shore, CA&E, IC…) were lit up all day and looked fantastic.  You can help by visiting the “Signs For Sale” button on the home page and purchasing your very own piece of Chicago history.  Overall it was a great day.  Kudos to the volunteers in all the departments who made this year’s event a success.