Sprucing Up

355 received its maintenance last weekend. The car has been placed in reserve status due to increasing damages on the underside from the heaving of the barn floor. We've decided to take advantage of having the car out of service and Scott W has started varnishing the seats. Boy does the car look better already! And he's just getting started.

Varnish work in progress on 355

Tad completed primer work on 169's east end, giving the car its first big visual progress jump in far too long. He's planning on tackling the work around the clerestory next and we're delighted to see the project moving ahead once again.

169's east end is looking sharper

Elsewhere, Adam continued paint work on 18's roof. John is finishing up work on the journal boxes for 3001's east end truck. Galen cleaned out the pit, a needed job so we can roll our nice new pump cart around while working on 1326. Kelly finished up the wiring work under 1.

We were happy to have Scott Kritzky stop by to visit with his son William who's gotten a lot bigger since the last time we saw him. Hopefully we'll be seeing them again soon.

Oh and take a look at the final product of 836's seat refurbishment! We caught the car out in the sun to really show off the great work Scott and Galen did. And, by the way, they did all this in the dark back of the barn working with only drop lights to see by.

Change of Fleet

We're saddened to report that 5645 has been removed from service. The car developed a hot box with bearing melting last week. Inspection revealed that the journal boxes are skewed in the frame indicating box and/or slider plate failing. The car will require extensive truck work, similar to what John has been doing for 3001. At this point, with both of our small shop trucks under 3001, we've decided to place 5645 in storage and prioritize repairing 1326 which will be a shorter repair time-wise. We're ordering a cart to aid in safely dropping 1326's armatures into the pit and hope to start work by fall.

On a happier note, we welcomed Steve Giarrusso to the shop yesterday. He replaced the failed compressor switch on 355. He then joined Kelly in performing routing maintenance on 16. Galen completed temporary truck repairs for the car and it has been released for limited service. We hope to see 16 running one trip a week for the public. It has also be designated as the official training car for new motormen.

Scott completed varnish work in 836 and it will be running regular service, replacing 5645 as the main closed car. We've also released 65 to limited service, allowing it to complete one trip a week. Both 16 and 65 have old rattan seating which cannot stand up to the rigors of coronavirus cleaning, so the cars must quarantine after meeting with the public as their method of disinfecting. The Operations Department will schedule the cars to ensure adequate time for the virus to die off between passenger trips.

Tad has completed removal of the paint from the undersides of clerestory sides on 169. He also completed primer work on the east end wall.

169's clerestory sides are now paint free

Primer work is complete on east wall of 169

Lou completed a window repair on 836 and made a new gasket for 18's brake stand.

Lou works on cutting a new gasket for 18

Some Fun with 1 and Digging into 18's Issues

Today 1 got some sprucing up. Galen trimmed the extra lengths off the roof boards and the evened out the roofing. Wil and Kelly washed the windows, much improving visibility. The car made two trips on the line before rain threatened and it had to be put away as it is no where near ready to face inclement weather. Wil and Kelly ran the car to celebrate their birthdays and Galen, Mike, and Ryan also took a turn at the controls.

1 with cleaned up roofing

Wil at the controls after completing an eastbound trip

Kelly prepares for the westbound trip (Galen Semprebon photo)

Scott did some cleaning up inside 18 then moved back onto 836, preparing the seats for their next coat of varnish. Lou swapped the two brake stands in the locomotive which allowed us to determine the source of the leak in the air system was one of the brake stands and not the piping itself. He disassembled and began cleaning the stand. Galen finished the work. We found a seized component but issues persist. A new gasket will be made and will hopefully help the problem. The journal boxes were also inspected. Kelly removed mouse nests from five of them and Wil did the much needed oiling.

18's brake stand apart for cleaning

John is making progress with weld repairs to 3001's journal boxes.

Journal box work in progress

Line Car 1 is on the Move!

Yesterday brought opening day to the museum under hot, humid conditions. It also brought a new sight to staff and visitors. Line car 1 received its poles and ventured out around the yard for some basic testing. It made two trips up and down the yard before lunch. After lunch, it ventured up to the shop to drop off all of the tools we'd been using to work on it. This had the added benefit of letting us test the car through some more switches and around a curve. So far everything looks good. The weather did us in and we called it a day early, but we hope to take the car out on the line one evening this coming week for its first test trip. A myriad of little things remain needed to complete the car, but it is a delight to see it mobile for the first time in the eleven years it has been on the property.

Hooks and catchers installed on 1 last Monday night

1 sneaks out of the barn on a bug. Mike Luzzi video

Roof side view of pole installation on 1

First move with poles. Gina Alimberti video

1 sits on North Road curve with 4 after its first trip down the yard

Wil runs brakes on the first trip up the yard. Only the east end controller is functional at the moment. Mike Luzzi photo

Galen takes a turn at the controls and makes the second run down the yard

1 up at the shop to offload tools

Mike continues work on S193, More black paint has been added and the car again sports its lettering and numbers.

S193 shows off its new markings

Scott and Lou worked on 836. Scott continued work on varnishing the seats. Lou finished the refurbishment of the west end controller and replaced a section of broken upper window frame on the north side of the car.

Freshly varnished seat in 836

Lou works on reassembling the arc shoot for 836's west end controller

Adam did some painting on 18's roof. Tad worked on removing paint from the underside of 169's roof around the clerestory.

Progress on 18's roof. Adam Krause photo

Record Project Day

Today we set a new record for number of vehicles worked on: 7! Crew members worked separately or with those they arrived at the museum with to comply with social distancing requirements.

We're delighted to welcome new volunteer Tad Adams to the shop. He worked on removing paint from the underside of 169's east end roof (this is the one project I never made it back to get photos of. Sorry, Tad!).

Progress is zipping along on car 1. Galen and Kelly have installed roof cleats and three roof boards are attached. Lou rebuilt the second arc shoot set for the car. He also applied fresh insulating varnish to the interiors of both controllers.

Roof cleats on 1

1's new roof boards

Lou works on applying insulating varnish in 1's controller

Mike added another coat of red and yellow paint to S193, which is looking much better for all the attention.

Mike at work on S193

S193's new paint (Mike Luzzi photos)

During the week, Larry added a coat of polyurethane to 4's seats and today Wil and Jayden added another coat. The seats are looking better. 

4's seats after the second coat of poly

Once they were finished with 4, Wil and Jayden moved on to 5645 and painted half of the seats. This is a major and long overdue improvement for the car.

Wil and Jayden at work

5645's newly painted seats

Adam worked on locomotive 18, prepping the roof for paint.

Adam at work on 18's roof

Close up views of the prep work on 18 (Adam Krause photos)

John has sandblasted, primed, and mostly painted 3001's truck.

John at work painting

Truck progress so far (John ran out of paint and needs to get more!)

Jeremy was in during the week. He disassembled and cleaned 16's air governor so it no longer leaks. He and Kelly also finished repairs to the wiring harness and performed a minor repair to the brake rigging.

The air governor received fresh paint on the cover as part of its refurbishment (Jeremy Stager photo)

The armature and field coils for the spare air compressor received a coat of insulating varnish.

Fresh varnish on the compressor armature

Lots of Fresh Paint

A couple of weeks ago we were happy to host an United Way Day of Caring group of systems engineers from Pratt and Whitney. Among other things, they got some painting done on 18. They touched up the sides where John and Steve completed the patch panels and added fresh stripping to the ends.

Completed patches and new paint

The Operations Department has jumped on to helping out with improving the appearance of the operating fleet. They have started with 1326. Operations Manager Justin Chasse and Chief Motorman Roger Pierson touched up paint on the sides and added the missing striping and number to the south side. Motormen Aiden Nies and Owen Dalton repainted the floor.

1326's newly added number and stripes

 Owen at work on the floor of 1326 (photo credit Aiden Nies)

Finished floor in 1326

Work also continues on 3001. The armatures from motors 1 and 2 have been sent out for rewinding. The field coils have been removed from the motor casings. The end caps and gear cases have been cleaned.

Adam, Brian, and Galen work on removing field coils

Lou and Galen work on separating field coils

3001's East End Truck Further Disassembled & Back to Work on 18

Today the crew jumped right back into working on disassembling 3001's east end truck. Galen cut out the stubborn bolt holding motor 2 in place and it was removed. The truck was rolled outside and, with help from Tim and the Pettibone, the frame was lifted off the axles and placed on supports in preparation for sand blasting. The crew, Galen, Adam, Lou, and Brian, completed some further disassembly on the truck, removing the brake shoes and other details. They also removed the armatures and brush holders from motors 1 and 2. Elsewhere, Fred continued working on preparing interior pieces for refinishing while John worked on a door mechanism.

Tim lowers the truck onto supports using the Pettibone

Lou works on disassembling the truck

Motors 1 and 2 are partially disassembled

Fred works on removing old paint from an interior piece

18 was moved back into place outside the shop so work could continue. Kelly and John finished welding the last patch panel on the south side. Then Kelly did the first patch on the north side. Both patches got a coat of primer to keep them from rusting.

John works on 18

Switching and Steel Work

With 2600 out of service it has been placed into storage and the shop is currently hosting 1850, which is on its way to the Visitors' Center to be put on display. Car 65 will be coming out of the Visitors' Center to be repaired and placed into service. While we had 1850 with us, we took the opportunity to give the car a quick checkup so we know what we'll be facing when its turn comes for restoration. We've confirmed that the car will need major truck work. One truck is about two inches out of tram (think of tram as the equivalent to wheel alignment in your car). 1850 is also in need of some structural work due to how it rocks as it travels down the line and lots of cosmetic work. We hope to have the opportunity to work on the cosmetic issues over the winters. The car received a good dusting from Kelly and Wil so it'll be a bit more presentable once it gets inside.

1850 visits the shop

Galen and John have begun assessing the work 65 will need before it can return to service. Bruce and Rex have started making the roof brackets the car will need.

Galen worked on 18. While the brake stand is now fully reassembled, another rotted out pipe has been located and more work will be needed before the locomotive can see service.

John has been at work on 3001's structural steel. Some photos of his progress are below.

Patching at the east end of the south side

Patching at the west end of the south side

Structural reinforcing patches on the frame near the west end