Car 3001 Winter Update

 A lot has happened in the shop during the Winter to Connecticut Company Car 3001.

To start, all of the cars motors now have new bearings manufactured and attached.

The new bearing on the motor

An example of the new bearing

The shop has also rebuilt the motor field coils and soldered new leads to the coils. 

Newly wired Motor Field Coil

The cars journal boxes have been rewelded and newly fitted shims have been manufactured for them.

Newly Welded Journal Boxes

Shim inserted into the journal box

A shim in process of being created

The motor cases for the car have also been cleaned and the pinion and commutator mounts have been created to be attached to the motor case.

Cleaned Motorcase

Pinion and Commutator mounts to be put on the motor case

Finally, the West end truck of 3001 has been put back into Tram by heating the metal to be bent back into place.

West end truck back into tram

65's New East End Lumber

 For the past two weeks, Car 65 has been getting a facelift in the shop. The front of car was almost completely disassembled and replaced with all new wood planks on the front of the car giving it a fresh look. While inspecting the inner wall behind the outer planks, some decay on the wiring of the car was found. During the replacement, those wires were replaced to prevent the further decay of the wiring on the car. 

65's new front end

Once this project on 65 is completed, the shop will refocus back onto car 3001 to continue work on the restoration. 

For the Halloween Season, car 5645 has been running almost daily to help break in the new components that were installed during the cars time in the shop. This car has been running without issue since its release back into operations.

During November's off season, the entirety of CTM's property has been decorated with thousands of Christmas Lights. On the mainline, crews have been working very hard to complete track repairs to Hartman's Siding as well as restore the overhead power out to Station 9. Both of these projects have been happily completed and Winterfest of 2021 will be a great show!

5645 Nears Return to Service

 Over the last few weeks, we've gone over the work done to car 5645, and finally that hard work is coming to an end. This week in the shop, the door mechanism on the car was getting some much needed service as well as some cleaning. John also installed a new line switch into the controller of the car. Last Wednesday the car went out on a test run and most of the issues were resolved, with only a few remaining fixes needed. This car will be back in service for the 81st anniversary event on September 4th.

Car 16 returned to service this week and began running in public service with a new pole base roof section.

Car 3001 continues being worked on and specifically over these few weeks, work has focused on the field coils, motor cases, and work on the trucks.

Coming next Saturday is the Connecticut Trolley Museums 81st anniversary. This event has been named "Everything That Moves," and as the title implies, everything that CTM has in operating condition will be running in a trolley parade for the public. Be sure to check out the event on the CTM main page at www.ct-trolley.org

Summer 2021 Update

 Hi everyone! First I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. We at the Shop Blog are definitely now trying harder to update this blog somewhat weekly. Anyways, onto the updates!

After Winterfest of 2020, 5645 went out of service for some major overhaul work. This work mainly consisted of the bearings and trucks. We hope to have 5645 back in service by August. 

All the cars in the operating fleet have had their standard maintenance with cleaning controllers and bearings.

Earlier in the month car 355 experienced a problem where the breaker to the controller would open and so the controller would not operate the car unless reset. The problem part in the breaker was replaced. Once the new part was installed, it was discovered that the locking arm for the breaker arm itself needed to be replaced. After the new locking arms were built, the breaker operated like new.

Car 3001's progress is coming along nicely. The bearings have been completed on the car and John is currently working on the motor cases.

In track news, Camillo has been making amazing progress on the mainline. 6 new ties have been installed at Station 8 and trolley service is now extended past Station 7 out to that point. Hartman's siding is also being renovated to facilitate the easier movement of cars in and out of the Visitor's Center.

November 2020 Update

 A lot has happened at the museum since we last posted. 

As of 11/21/2020 the 4, 355, 836, 16, 1326, and 303 (for special service) have been serviced and are ready for operations.

John continues to work on Line Car 1 and 3001. Line car 1 should have functioning controllers on both ends of the car soon as well as design ideas and prep for the safety platform and diving board system for service in 2021 (Date TBA). 

Minor work continues on 5645 including doors, controllers, and getting the car prepared for overhaul work in 2021.

Dennis Pacelli has been instrumental in assisting John and taking on projects of his own to maintain and keep our fleet in excellent operating order.

303 needed 2 extra days of work to repair, service, and bring the car to operational standards because of Dennis's outstanding effort. 

101 and 18 will also be getting work done in 2021. In 2021 we will continue to rebuild the track and overhead infustructure on the museum property and having good service cars and locomotives at the ready.

Thanks to our new Track Department head Camilo Santiago, a section of North Road Track 2 has been dug out and new ties put underneath it to support the track. 

Camilio replacing a rail on North Road Track 2

We'd also like to extend a huge thank you to Roger Pierson and his crew for their dedication to decorating the inside of the Visitor Center for Winterfest this year!

Truck Work and Maintenance

 During the week a lot of work was done on 3001. The main focus was on the trucks. One of the trucks for 3001 has been disassembled and the parts are being worked on so the truck can be reassembled.

3001's disassembled truck

With this, the armature's for the trucks are being shipped out to be rebuilt similar to how 1326's armature was.

 

3001's armature's

John also worked on the journal boxes for this truck. Since they have been sitting for so long, there were some holes in them. John welded them shut to keep oil inside of the journals and during future operation.

Welded section of one of the journal boxes

It was discovered that diesel 1 has a small oil leak in one of the oil hoses, and a new hose in on order to replace the one currently inside the locomotive.

Car 4 also saw some work done this week. Wil, Jayden, and Sully put more oil in the journal boxes on Saturday.

Shop Work Continues

To start, we'd like to specially thank Kelly and Galen for all the hard work they have put in over the years to keep the trolley cars rolling! 

During the week, the top of car 4's pole had a minor problem and had to be taken out of service for a short period of time. John quickly replaced the head of 4's pole and got it back into service. 

The new head of 4's pole

There has been continuing progress on 3001, and this week's focus was on the springs and suspension of the car. John has been working on restoring the springs to be able to put back onto the trucks of the car.

3001's temporary west end truck

There has also been an effort to reorganize the shop and prioritize where parts are stored so they are more readily available for use.

Scott removing grease from bearings

 Finally, last week car 836's west end window needed to be replaced. Roger from operations removed the window from the car and had it replaced with Plexiglas. It was reinstalled on Saturday by Roger with the help of Jayden and Sully.

Roger and Jayden installing the new window

Passing the Torch

This post is a week late and for that I apologize. It will also be my last for now. Galen and I have both reached a point where is it best for us to step away from the museum. We leave the shop in John's capable hands and I leave this blog with in the hands of my wonderful crew. I'm sure they'll keep you up to date on goings on in the shop.

With 1326 in the shop for motor repairs, Lou has begun refurbishing the controllers, another needed job.

Lou works on disassembling an arc shoot set from 1326

Scott is helping John out with 3001 by completing final cleaning on the journal boxes.

Scott pauses in his work to say hi

Tad is making great progress on 169. He's gotten much of the front of the clerestory prepped and has started priming work on the sides where accessible.

Clerestory paint work in progress on 169

While it's hard to say goodbye, I know the cars are in very good hands. I can still be reached via the contact gizmo on the sidebar if you need to get a hold of me for whatever reason. All the best. Kelly

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.

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

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

We're Back - 2 Cars Repaired and Many Projects A-go

The shop is back to work with limited crew to comply to social distancing and other CT requirements. We're excited to see our crew and have lots of good news to share with you.

First and most exciting, both 836 and 16 have been repaired. Galen undercut 836's compressor armature, solving the arching problem. Kelly repaired 16's wiring harness where a connector had been shorting out to the brake beam. The harness was opened, the connector re-taped and moved to the top, and the harness re-wrapped. The harness will be snugged up to keep it further away from the brakes. The car also got its west end brake stand cleaned.

Char marks on the brake beam show 16's problem

Using the time we've been given where no cars are running, we set about building something we've not had the luxury of having, a spare DH-16 compressor. Two high quality candidates were removed from the remains of Conn Co 2022, which was scrapped several years ago. Galen and Kelly disassembled one unit and cleaned the internals. The unit is now mostly reassembled and is awaiting its field coils and an armature from another unit to bake. Assembly will be completed once the electrical components are ready.

Compressor set removed from 2022

Inside a DH-16 compressor

DH-16 piston after cleaning, ready to go back in the compressor

Thanks to Lou, Line Car 1 is sporting a freshly refurbished arc shoot set in its west end. He began the work of repairing the east end set today. Adam prepped and primed a pole hook and helped Kelly with cleaning up components for a catcher that will be used for the car. Catcher reassembly is complete and it is ready to go on the car.

Parts for 1 dry on the outside workbench

Refurbished arc shoot set in place in 1's west end

Galen began applying some much needed polyurethane to 4's seats. The coating will also have the benefit of protecting the seats when they are disinfected once the museum opens. Car 4 will be one of the first cars to return to operation.

4's seats are starting to look better, they have many coats of polyurethane to go

John has completed the majority of the part work for 3001's trucks. He also straightened the first truck's frame. He plans to begin sandblasting work on the car next week.

Brake shoe holder on the mill

Parts ready to go for 3001, notice how the ones at the front have nice round holes while the older pieces at the rear have been worn out to an egg shape