Saturday, March 17, 2018

2018 Trolley Care Program Starts

The 2018 Trolley Care Program series began today. Despite the cold start, we saw a good turnout for the session. Participants gathered in 1326 for an introduction then were split into two teams. New members covered maintenance on 836 with Galen and were taught about how the cars function. They were also given a tour of the shop. Returning members joined Kelly and completed maintenance on 5645. The whole group took a trip on 1326 before gathering for lunch. All enjoyed their day.

If you are interested but were unable to attend the first session, we still encourage you to come to future Trolley Care days. You can contact the museum office to be added to the mailing list for the program to receive information throughout the year.

Adam and Katy clear flange ways outside of Kelly Barn before the day began, taking over from Galen and Kelly who greatly appreciated the help

Participants gather outside 1326

Galen shows participants inside one of 1326's journal boxes and explains how the lubrication system works


Meanwhile, Rex and Bruce cleaned up inside 1500 as we prepare for the museum to open next weekend. John installed a new air governor in 2600 and replaced the air gauges on 16. All 7 cars are in an operable state as we enter the 2018 operating season.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Hidden Treasure

Removing damaged paint in the stateroom of the Northern yesterday revealed original gold leafing under a later repainting. Lots of patience and gentle scraping is bringing the pattern out. Much is damaged or missing, but there is enough left that we'll be able to recreate the original design. The light green was the original wall color. There are hard to reach areas on the car where this color was never painted over.

Pattern begins to emerge

Section of the full design on the upper walls

A corner of the pattern

A glimpse of the pattern from the ceiling. This needs more work to be fully revealed