Many Projects

It was amazing to see the many projects that were occurring on Saturday.

In the Track Department, Larry Lunden assisted me in preparing ties for installation on the mainline.  Our ties are relay ties that still have the old plates and spikes on them.

After we were finished, I went to the Fire Museum building to collect the battery that I had on a trickle-charge for the Tie Handler.  The once-dead battery once again held a charge so I brought it over to the Tie Handler TH-2, and installed it.  I also drained the fuel from the fuel tank and cleaned the rust and other debris out of it.  Then, I filled it back up with new fuel.  The machine started right up and ran great for a while.  With Xian Clere, I took the machine out on the mainline and loaded ties on the Tie Handler's flat car.  Unfortunately, there must still be something in the tank because after around a half hour of running, the machine started to sputter and I had difficulty keeping it running.  Once I got in the clear in the siding, we got it running well again.  However, I did not want to chance it starving for fuel again on the mainline in front of passenger service again, so we left it in the siding and planned to continue working after operations ended.  However, we never had the chance to do so because of so many other things going on.

Xian Clere, Aaron Mangan, and John Gasper worked on the Tie Inserter.  They re-installed the newly repaired fuel tank.  In addition, they installed a new fuel bowl and inline fuel filter on the machine.  Unfortunately, they could not get it started.  An hour or so later after everyone else had given up, I heard the familiar putt-putt of the motor after John finally got the machine started.

In the shop, John Pelletier and Scott (Unfortunately I do not know his last name) were hard at work on various projects with Rio de Janiero car 1850.  The car is in the shop for routine maintenance.  With the help of Pat McCann, a workbench was brought into the shop and brought into the woodworking area.

In the back corner of the shop, Galen Semprebon was working on the newly impregnated field coils for the Boston Elevated Type-5 5645.  He was peeling back some of the taping around the fields and replacing it.  In doing so, it appears that the vacuum impregnation of the field coils was successful.  We now have the ability to vacuum impregnate in our shop!

In front of the shop, Camilo Santiago completed the work on one end of sanding the Reading Caboose, and began to work on the other end of the interior.  The exterior of the caboose was completed by an Eagle Scout a few years ago.

Inside Kelly Barn, our current Eagle Scout project is underway.  Kevin Mitchell and his crew did some more preparatory work to get ready for the painting of the Illinois Terminal PCC Car 451.

The doors of the barn got some attention too.  One of our community service volunteers spent the day painting the interior of the doors to the barn.  Hopefully in a few weekends, he will have this project completed.

In the section house, George Contrada, Dillon Worth, and another volunteer were working on the speeder.  They flushed the radiator and did preventative maintenance.

The one project that I had hoped to work on, I ran out of time.  I had hoped to work on the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose beginning to prime the new tongue and groove side panels.

In the Fire Museum, members were hard at work on preparing a Motor Coach for a head gasket replacement.

Finally, the big event for the day was the filming inside and outside of our Chicago North Shore cars, 162 and 710 respectively.  A student from New York University brought an entire film crew to the museum from the city to do filming for a senior film project.

Caboose Work

Work has been progressing quite nicely all around the museum.  Camilo Santiago is back and is working on the Reading Caboose in front of the shop.  It will be great once the interior of that caboose is completed.  Just inside the shop, John Pelletier is leading the shop in getting the Boston Elevated Railway Type 5, 5645 put back together.  We now have the ability to vacuum impregnate our own field coils in the shop.  The floor in the type 5 is also coming along quite well.

Coming up this Saturday, we will be having a Track Work Session commencing at 0800 to work in the vicinity just east of Woods Turnout.

Wine & Beer Tasting

The Wine & Beer Tasting was a huge success.  Thank you for all who volunteered for it and those who attended.  Thank you to the New England Ukulele Group and Jeannie Murphy for volunteering their time for entertainment.  Thank you to Geisslers, Stir the Pot, and Jimmy Chen's for running the food concessions.  Also, thank you to our friends at New England Bank for volunteering their time after work in running the admissions and raffle tables AND handing out bottle openers that they had made up.  Thank you to Carol Zenczak for all of her hard work in setting up the tasting and thank you to all those who donated to the Vandalism Fund, businesses and individuals alike.  Finally, a BIG thank you to Leslie Hickey and Joe's Fine Wines and Spirits and all of the distributors and breweries that donated their time and product to help make this event a huge success!

Annual Meeting

Saturday was the Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Electric Railway Association.  During the Annual Meeting, Mike Caputo's term on the Board of Directors has expired and he has chose not to seek re-election.  Neil Newman was elected and will fill Mike's seat on the Board.  In addition, Ted Coppola, Justin Chasse, and John Arel were all re-elected to the Board of Directors.  Also the following officers were elected: President - Galen Semprebon, Vice President & Corporate Secretary - Tim Lesniak, Treasurer - Steve Taylor, Chairman - Fred Stroiney, Vice-Chairman - Jim Miller.

Wine & Beer Tasting

The Wine & Beer Tasting is only 10 days away!  Be sure to order your tickets NOW!  For more information, visit http://ct-trolley.org/events/tasting.php!