81st Anniversary and 5645's return

 Thanks to a huge push from the shop department and all the dedicated volunteers, car 5645 returned to service and debuted on September 4th for CTM's 81st Anniversary. 

On that day all of the running cars in the fleet came out for some public love including Line Car 1, S193, and 303. 

For about 2 years now, 5645's controller has been blocked into the series notches due to a shorting issue within the controller. Now with the car's former extended stay in the shop, John is confident he found the issue with the controller and plans to make the required fix.

303 has been moved out of Northern Barn and currently waits on the shop lead so the car's motors can dry out once again after the wet summer season we've had. It is planned for the interurban to make a few special trips for the Winterfest Season.

If you'd like to see photos of CTM's 81st, check out the museum Facebook page for some of the amazing photos!

Hello, 1326!

1 was released from the shop after Galen completed repairs to the east end tow point. This will allow us to safely tow the car with the diesel if needed. The car returns to Kelly Barn where it remains out of service until further improvements can be made.

We had a week of air system issues with both 16 and 65 being placed out of service. Jeremy came in and assessed 16, tracing its problems to a hole in one of the pipes. Unfortunately, the pipe was inaccessible in Kelly Barn so repairs had to wait a few days until the car could move up to the shop. Galen and Kelly replaced the rotted pipe and returned the car to limited service. 65 has been diagnosed with a rotted out gasket in the main brake cylinder. We've begun soaking bolts in PB Blaster and hope to complete repairs in the next few weeks.

16's old air pipe clearly shows the source of the leak

New air pipe in 16

Mike has added logos to S193 and completed painting the hand rails. Compared to where this car was last year, it has made a complete transformation, all for the better.

1326 was moved back into the shop so we can being repairs to the motors next week. We expect repairs to take about eight weeks if all goes well. 15 was moved in front of the shop to give the Operations Team better access to power so they can continue exterior cosmetic work. 5645 has been moved to storage while it waits its turn for repair.

1326 waits for repairs

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)

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

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.

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)