65 Makes its Debut

We're excited to report that Car 65 made its first public service trip since 1997 Friday night. Galen and Kelly would like to thank the crew who worked so hard with them this past month to make this Holiday miracle happen- Wil, Jayden, Justin, Roger, Mike, Jeremy, and Adam. The car was upgraded in status from emergency replacement for 1326 to desperately needed to keep Winterfest running smoothly as 5645 had to be placed out of service this past week due to truck damage, leaving 836 the only operational high passenger capacity closed car.

65 came out a wonderful success, taking 2 trips Friday night and another 5 or 6 on Saturday without any major issues. The car remains under shop supervision at this time and will only run in limited service. 5645 will be switched up to the shop after the ice melts so the truck can be reviewed to determine the extent of the damage.

65 on North Road curve before its first passenger trip Friday night

65 waits for its second night in service Saturday afternoon

On another happy note, progress continues on reverse engineering full series/parallel segments for car 836. Kelly 3D modeled a second approximation for what an unworn segment would look like and Wil got it 3D printed thanks to his school. They and Jayden test fitted it into the car yesterday and it is looking good. It needs a bit more tweaking to replace lost material and match a factory scale sketch, but is a marked improvement over prototype #1.

Segment prototype. Wil Gambardella photo

Test fitting the prototype into 836

65 is Back in the Shop

Minor repairs have been completed on 836 and 5645 and now all 5 regular service trolleys are ready for Winterfest. That work complete, Adam, Kelly, and Galen performed the necessary switching work to bring car 65 into the shop. 65 will be prepared as a reserve status car for Winterfest, substituting for car 1326.

The crew immediately set to work on the car. Galen and Adam worked on the faulty west end whistle valve, finally locating one in stores that works. This resolves one major issue in putting the car into service. Wil and Jayden began the process of cleaning the windows and vacuuming the flooring. The car has collected a lot of dirt and oddball debris in its decades of rest. Brian re-affixed some loose trim and Kelly began removing deteriorated car cards. The car needs a lot more love before it will be ready for its Winterfest debut. If you'd like to help, please reach out to Kelly.

Wil works on cleaning windows

Jayden painstakingly vacuums out the grooves in the floor

Brain re-attaches trim

Car Beautification and More

The shop would like to thank the Operations Department for all their hard work on beautifying the fleet in September. We're sorry we're so late in doing this. Thank you Justin Chasse, Mike Luzzi, Jeremy Stager, & Roger Pierson! Also thank you to Aiden Nies and his team for painting all the car floors this year!

Painting 16's controllers and handbrakes. Justin Chasse and Mike Luzzi photos

New car signs for 4. Mike Luzzi photo

Newly painted floor on car 4. Mike Luzzi photo

Touching up paint on car 4. Justin Chasse photo

Preparing 836 for paint. Justin Chasse photos

Fresh paint on 836's controller. Justin Chasse photo

In other news, John is working on truck repairs for 3001. The second armature has been repaired and will be picked up this week. Galen repaired thrust collars on car 4. Kelly documented and disassembled a replacement arc shoot set for line car 1. This set will be cleaned up and reinsulated over the winter then installed in the spring to replace the decayed set in the car's west end.

Car 1326 has been placed out of service for the rest of the year due to its reoccurring gear issues. Car 65 will be brought back to the shop for final preparation for running during the Winterfest season. Anyone who would like to help with preparing car 65 is encouraged to reach out to Kelly and Justin.

John works on 3001's trucks

Disassembled replacement arc shoot set for line car 1

Justin and Jeremy have also been at work scrapping out the remains of the boxcar that had been in Newbury siding. The car is mostly gone and will be fully removed this month.

Bringing the boxcar remains in from Newbury Siding. Justin Chasse photo

Scrapping in front of Northern Barn. Justin Chasse photos

S193 Gets a New Running Board

The Operations Department is back at work on the cars. Motormen Mike Luzzi and Jeremy Stager and Chief Superintendent Justin Chasse have begun tackling improvements on S193. Much of the old paint has been scraped down in preparation for fresh coating. Mike is working on recreating the car's graphics. Last week a new running board was installed on the south side of the car. The hand rails were reinstalled and all railings received a fresh coat of black paint.

New boards and painted rails, body prep work is in full evidence (Mike Luzzi photo)

Freshly painted grab bars (Mike Luzzi photos)

Graphics recreation in process (Mike Luzzi photos)

Fall Maintenance Complete Thanks to Troop 818

The shop would like to thank the 9 members of Scout Troop 818 who came out last weekend to help finish fall fleet maintenance. Cars 355, 4, and 16 were cared for. You were awesome and we hope to see you again.

Repairs to car 1326 are completed and it returned to service yesterday afternoon. Car 4 has come to the shop to have some preventative work done. We're applying fresh lacquer to the motor windings. Car 4 will be out of service for several weeks while the repairs happen.

OPs Progress on 15

The Operations Department continues to work on PCC 15, removing old paint and putting on a fresh coat of protective primer.

Chief Motorman Roger Pierson pauses while applying fresh paint to 15 (Ryan Trombly photo)

Motorman Sully Mrowka works on removing old paint from 15 (Ryan Trombly photo)

Fall maintenance has begun for the operating fleet. Kelly and Adam cared for car 836 then jumped up to the shop to help Galen and Rob Brogle with 5645. These two cars are now ready for the special events season. Galen, John, and Rob repaired a damaged brake beam on 5645 yesterday. Car 1326 is back in the shop with more motor gearing issues. It will be out of service for several weeks while the repair is made and additional preventative actions are taken. Maintenance work for the fleet will continue next weekend.

The first armature for car 3001 has returned from refurbishment.

Roofing Started on 1

Galen, Brian, and Tim began the installation of the roll roofing onto line car 1. All material is laid down. It will need to be tucked and trimmed at the edges and the seams sealed. They began marking out positions for the roof cleats.

Roof in place on 1

Galen and Brian work on fitting roofing (Tim Lesniak photo)

John continues work on 3001's air piping.

New east end piping in 3001

New west end piping

Car 1326 was returned to service. Motor repairs are complete and the car is running nicely.

Air Pipe Work in Progress on 3001

John has been at work replacing 3001's air piping. He started with the west end brake stand and is moving down the car.

3001's new west end brake stand piping

The Operations Department has started work on the repaint for PCC 15. The are striping the old, peeling paint from the exterior of the car and will begin priming the bare metal as they work around the car.

Chief Motorman Roger Pierson removes paint from 15 (Ryan Trombly photos)

We welcome John Schnabel back to the museum and the shop.

1326 is in the shop for repair. The nut that holds the pinion gear on the armature worked itself loose on motor 2. There is minor damage to the nut and armature to be repaired. We will also readjust the brushes on motor 4 and fix a leak in the west end brake stand while we have the car. The car will be out of service for a few weeks. We thank Morgan Cummins and Roger Pierson for reporting the car sounding "off", which let us catch the issue before it got any worse.

Motor 2 gears on 1326, notice the misalignment between the gears

Work Begins on Line Car

Work began on line car 1 today as part of the Trolley Care Program. Galen and Kelly were joined by Steve, Harrison, Adam, and Larry. The first goal of the day was to remove the coal stove from the car to allow the motor access hatch to open That completed, the motor leads were separated and the motors tested. Unfortunately, both motors showed indications of being wet, so drying efforts are in progress. The motors will be tested again in a few weeks to see how the drying is progressing. The crew was able to hook up the car to power using a bug and confirm that the interior lights work.
The old roof boards and cleats were removed along with the remains of the canvas roof. A new, durable roll roof will be installed on the car. Several of the cleats will be replaced and all new roof boards will be used.

Harrison and Steve remove the last pieces of old roof

The lights are on

Chris is working on replacing west end steel in 3100. The car is on jacks to facilitate this work.

Line Car 1 Brought to the Shop

The crew spent a large part of today switching cars around. Car 65 has been temporarily put into storage so line car 1 can visit the shop for inspection. The line car will be reviewed as part of the Trolley Care Program next week. Today's initial quick physical inspection was positive. Car 3100 is back outside the shop as Chris Perry will be spending the next week with us to work on it. New Jersey Transit PCC 15 has been moved up to the track outside Northern Barn where the Operations Department will work on striping and repainting both the exterior and the interior. Finally, the box car was shifted further down the loop track to allow the SC&ET Department access to the overhead for repairs.

Line car 1 is in the shop and its tarp has been removed

Motormen Aiden Nies and Owen Dalton have painted 836's floor, which was much needed and is highly appreciated.

836's new floor paint

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