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!

836 Back in Service & A New Project

Car 836 received scheduled service during this week. A few small corrections were made to the car and 836 is back in full service for the fall season. 

John has been working to complete the second controller for Line Car 1 with the help of members from other museums.

Car 303 is currently undergoing a full mechanical and operational maintenance plan that is beginning this week. All repairs to the electrical, roof, and resistors will be completed over the next few weeks. After some searching, all the documentation on the car has been found allowing the shop to have a more comprehensive maintenance plan.

All of the members of the shop have been working hard to get the operating fleet back up and running, with the help from members of our fellow museums. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time to help get our fleet back into operation!

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

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

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

Ready to Open

A variety of last minute items came into place on the last work day before the museum opens on the 20th. Galen started the day by servicing 5645 which was then handed over to Tad who completed painting the seats.

Tad paints the last flip seat to be recoated in 5645

Scott completed the final coat of polyurethane on 4's seats while Galen and Kelly serviced the car. Aiden was in during the week and did a complete paint job on the floors, which are looking great.

4's new floor paint (Aiden Nies photos)

Varnish prep work continues on 836 with thanks to Tad, Scott, Wil, and Jayden. Lou continued work on the controllers, finding the west end to be in worse condition than the east.

The crew at work sanding

West end controller refurbishment in progress

Kelly took advantage of a furlough day from work yesterday to disassemble one of 1's controllers and document the segments for reverse engineering work. Today, she performed maintenance on both controllers, fixing several minor issues on the west end one. A few more tweaks are required with that unit to get it fully back into shape. From the condition, it appears it was no longer in use when the car left service at Trolleyville. Galen completed the cars roof wiring and hooked up the motor leads. In the late afternoon, they were able to connect a bug to one of the pole bases and see the car's lights go on! They also took the opportunity to back the car up about a foot, just to see if it would move. Keep your eyes open for a new little orange car on the line soon as we're closing in on being able to take a test trip.

One of the issues with 1's west end controller, reverser fingers not making contact

Galen works on the roof wiring

The lights are on!

Mike added some black paint to S193. Little car is looking sharp!

S193 progress (Mike Luzzi photos)

Progress Despite the Weather

The work crew faced a miserably humid day yesterday, but still managed to move projects along. We welcomed Scott Whittlesey to his first day in the shop (Scott is a member of the Development Committee). He worked on adding another coat of polyurethane to 4's seats.

Scott pauses in his work on 4 to wave to the camera

Tad and Rob worked on preparing 836's woodwork for fresh varnish. Tad got the first coat on all the window sills. There is much more to do for this car, so if you're interested in helping, please reach out to us. Lou spent the day refurbishing the east end controller by adding fresh insulating varnish.

836's arc shoot set disassembled and receiving fresh varnish

Galen and Kelly continued working on 1. Galen replaced the main circuit breaker and good thing as the old one crumbled to pieces as he was trying to remove it. He also made up new wiring to run from the roof to the breaker and the breaker to the interior lighting. Kelly oiled the journal boxes and motors, reinstalled the motor brushes, and began working on reconnecting the motor wiring. They then installed the pole bases they'd lifted onto the car Tuesday night after finishing the roof boards.

Pole bases installed on 1

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

Painting Starts on S193

First, the car shop will be closed for at least the next two weeks to comply with the State of Connecticut's closure of all non-essential businesses. So, don't worry about not hearing from us. We'll be back when it's safe for us to do so. We hope you are all staying healthy.

Now, on to better news. Mike and Jeremy began the repaint of S193 last week and it's looking much better already. Mike has completed the prep work on the areas needing black paint and once we're back to work that'll be done along with another coat of red.

S193 boldly sports its new red paint (Mike Luzzi photos)

Mike paints the west end (Mike Luzzi photo)

Jeremy works on painting the side of the car (Mike Luzzi photo)

Today, Lou put the first coat of insulating varnish on the arc shoot set we're rebuilding for line car 1. Jayden, Wil, and Adam did some measuring of controller segments for K10s and K35Gs and Jayden will work on models and drawings at home. This will help us with our parts inventorying. Galen, Kelly, and Tim did some outside cleanup. A initial candidate compressor for rebuild for 836 has been identified and initial inspections on car 65 were completed with no issues found.

We're saddened to report that car 16 has been placed out of service. While running a special trip last weekend, smoke was reported from the underside. Inspection today revealed charring on the wiring harness, coming from the inside, indicating a short.