Progress

It is amazing to see the progress that has been continuing at a fantastic rate.  Work has been accomplished in a number of places by a range of volunteers.

In Kelly Barn, Illinois Terminal car 451 received its first coat of paint.  This project has been a long time coming.  On Saturday, the primer coat was finished.  First thing Sunday morning, those helping Kevin Mitchell on his Eagle Scout Project began to apply the green base coat.  By the end of the day, I was told that the whole car should have the green finished.

Up on the hill, almost half of the roof was replaced on The New York New Haven & Hartford coach (also known as the "Dining Car") by John Pelletier.  This has allowed us to remove some of the tarps from the car, thus making it look much more aesthetically pleasing.  Once the roof on the car is completed, we should be able to re-purpose those tarps to replace the failed tarps on Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee car 162.


Under the Train Shed, The Bangor & Aroostook Caboose wood is getting primed.  Most of the wood has already been completed thanks to the hard work of a group of volunteers in the evening.  In addition, a couple of our "Community Service volunteers" have been working on priming the wood as well.  It shouldn't be long before we can start to pull the wood off of the roof.

Inside the Lusa Car Shop, one truck set has been fully tested for the Boston Elevated Railway car 5645.  We have had our resident machinists hard at work manufacturing some of the missing parts for the car (clips, covers, etc).  Next weekend that truck should be pushed under the car and the car lowered back down on it.  Then we can slide the car down the track and do the same with the other end.

For the past couple of weeks, Fair Haven & Westville Railroad car 355 has been sitting over the Maintenance Pit.  Work was completed over the weekend on the brake rigging of car 355.  Bits of the underside of the car had to be "re-engineered" because of a problem where the brake rigging was chafing one of the motor leads.

Thursday Night Work Session

As you may have read, I have started hosting a Thursday night work session.  There just aren't enough hours in the short weekends that we have and there have been people in the past who have expressed interest in working at the museum on an evening during the week.  Because of that, on Thursday evenings after 5pm, I will be at the museum to host work parties.  This past week, we accomplished quite a bit of priming on the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose.  Hopefully in the coming weeks, the priming of the wood will be completed and we will be able to start the removal of the roof and siding.

Xian Clere also removed the carburetor from the Tie Inserter.  John Gasper is planning to rebuild it.  A few weeks ago, he brought a new exhaust to the museum for the Tie Inserter as well.

Galen Semprebon spent some time working on setting up a test machine to test motors before they are put back under the trolley cars.  This will help immensely so that we will be able to be sure that the motors work properly and not have to jack the cars up a second time once we realize that there is a problem with them.  Currently, the only way that we have to test them is to put them under the car and run the car.

Rainy Day

The downside of this weekend was that it was a complete washout.  The upside, a lot of work was accomplished in the shop.

First, Vacuum Impregnation.  We knew it worked, but did not know how well it actually worked.  We were splicing ends of wires on the Field Coils for the Boston Elevated 5645 and had to cut a sizable length of wire off.  When we cut about 4 inches of wire, we noticed that the varnish had worked its way up the wire between each individual strand.  Now we know why it took a half gallon of varnish for one set of Field Coils.

Second, Floor Replacement.  Also in the Type 5, Scott has been hard at work replacing the floor in the car.  One side is completely finished.  The seats have been put back in place but not completely bolted down.  He has begun to remove the seats from the other side of the car.

Third, Milling.  While this was for the Fire Museum, it was still work that was accomplished this weekend.  Pat McCann had a piece of metal stock in the lathe and was working on milling a new piece for one of the fire trucks.  What the piece was, I am not sure.  The only thing that I am certain of is that it was broken.  It is amazing what we now have in the shop for abilities.

Fourth, Engine Repair.  Now we have migrated over to the Bus Museum.  One of the Buses had developed a leak which we thought was due to a blown head gasket.  While John Gasper was tearing down the engine, he found out that the cause was only a missing bolt, which happened to be laying in the engine compartment waiting to be installed.  Luckily he did not pull the heads yet and was able to replace the bolt, put the engine back together and get he bus running.

It was quite a busy day at the museum for the shop staff.  In addition, many small things were accomplished.  Two seats for New Orleans car 836 were repaired in the shop by John Pelletier.  George Contrada assisted me in removing the rest of the metal straps from the side of Brooklyn Rapid Transit car 169.  I was able to get a coat of primer on more wood for the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose.  Xian Clere installed new seats in the rear of the newly acquired 1975 American-LaFrance from Ellington.

I wouldn't be telling the whole story if I did not talk about the work that occurred during the week as well.  Work on the Dining Car...No, I cannot call it the dining car.  I hate that term for it since it never was a dining car in service, even though everyone knows it as such.  Work on New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad combine 2765 is progressing.  The new sill has been installed on the east side of the car which will stop the rain from entering the car from under the windows.  The car still needs to have the sill on the west side replaced and the roof repaired.  At that point it should once again be watertight.  Then, we will need to replace some of the siding on the car to make it look aesthetically pleasing.

I will close while telling you about something new.  Starting this week, I plan to start hosting Thursday evening work sessions.  The work session will begin around 5pm and we will work until we decide to call it quits.  Quite a few railroad museums do this, because we cannot get enough done on the weekend.  Our primary project will be working on the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose.  However, if we get enough people, there is plenty else to work on.  Any questions, or if you wish to help out, please let me know...tlesniak@ceraweb.org.

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.

A Year in Review

This year has been quite a busy year with many accomplishments, least important for this blog is my own accomplishments in my personal life. Those are what have been keeping me from having time to post on here. As a new year approaches, I plan to be posting much more often and will try to post at minimum once a week. If I am not posting that often, feel free to let me know; remind me to post.

January: Work began on Springfield Street Railway car 575 (Montreal Tramways car 2056). Paint was scraped from the sides of the car in hopes to repaint it in Springfield, MA colors. Work was also accomplished on Connecticut Company car 65.

February: The northeast was hammered with snow which really slowed down work at the museum. It was difficult to even access the property.

March: The Main Hall was set up for opening day. The fourth motor was repaired and reinstalled in Montreal Tramways car 2600.

April: The front lawn was cleaned up of miscellaneous materials. Track 1 under the Visitor Center Train Shed was built and ties were replaced in Kelly Yard.

May: The museum received approximately 700 relay ties to be used in the Train Shed and on the main line. Work began on the floor and roof of the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose.

June: Work progressed on the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose. Work also began on the interior of the Reading Caboose. Work began on New Orleans car 836 to turn down the wheel set with a thin flange.

July: Work continued on the Reading Caboose and car 836. In addition, Illinois Terminal car 451 had work continued on it as an Eagle Scout Project.

August: Work on many projects slowed due to planning our special events - Rails to the Darkside, Pumpkin Patch, and Winterfest. New Orleans car 836 still had members working on the wheel sets. At the end of the month, Hurricane Irene hit the museum resulting in the museum being closed for a week.

September: The finishing touches were in the process of being completed on car 836. Repairs were made to the infrastructure after Hurricane Irene. Work was accomplished on the cosmetic restoration of Boston Elevated car 3100. Cars were tarped to protect them from the elements.

October: New Orleans car 836 was returned to service, however, Connecticut Company car 1326 was removed from service due to motor issues. Winter Storm Alfred hit the museum at the end of the month resulting in the museum being closed for its typically two best days of Pumpkin Patch and Rails to the Darkside.

November: Repairs were made to the infrastructure once again. The museum was set up for Winterfest.

December: Work was progressing on the Boston Elevated Railway car 5645 with interior woodwork and motor work. Tarps are going on the Dining Car to protect it from the winter snow. Next year, money will be spent to repair the car.

Tarping Cars

Over the weekend, Marilyn Rodriguez helped me tarp some of our fleet that sits outside. Normally it is like pulling teeth to get help doing such a mundane task. However, Saturday afternoon, we were able to get tarps over Connecticut Company express motor 2023, Chicago Elevated Railway car 4284, and the end of the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose. The previous weekend, I was able to tarp Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee car 162, and Chris Perry tarped Boston Elevated Railway car 3100.

Speaking of car 3100, Chris Perry has made quite a bit of progress on the car. Most of the car is sitting in a coat of bright orange paint, its original color. This is just a base coat to get some paint on the car to slow down the rusting and by no means the final coat. Nonetheless, the car is progressing along.

And, the caboose is progressing as well. George Contrada took the final measurements and is ordering the wood for the roof and the sides of the car. We were able to find the right style and width wood at just over a dollar a linear foot.

Galen Semprebon has been leading the setup for Rails to the Darkside. The cars within the Visitor Center have been moved into place and decorating has begun. We have also come up with a new layout for Winterfest. I will keep that under wraps so you will have to come to that event in December to find out.

The shop is still busy as ever with John Pelletier working on both New Orleans Public Service car 836 repairing the seats and doing general maintenance on the car and working on cleaning up and putting final touches on Fair Haven & Westville car 355. Pat McCann continues to turn the wheels for car 836.

Hurricane

With Hurricane Irene slamming Connecticut today, the museum has been closed. Yesterday we took the time to tie down anything that may fly away. The biggest concern is trees that may fall down on buildings or equipment.

Chris Chestnut spent the day turning the wheels on the lathe for New Orleans car 836. They are coming along quite well and we hope to have the car returned to service by the end of September.

In the back of the shop, I began my day pulling the floor up in Brooklyn Rapid Transit car 169. The floor was in such poor shape, most of it pulled up with just my hands. Under one of the seats, I found an interesting switch. It turned out it was actually the heater switch as it said "Consolidated Car Heating Company" on the side of it. Phil Godeck was working on the outside of the car removing paint.

John Pelletier was able to get the air compressor running in Fair Haven & Westville car 355 and the car should be back in service over the next couple of weeks.

During the heavy rain, Galen & Brian Semprebon spent time in the library organizing magazines and removing duplicates. Peg Hoffman now has over 500 books cataloged. The library is coming together.

Later in the day, I got to work some more on the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose. I have just about finished stripping the tar-paper off of the roof. George Contrada is working on getting the wood for the side and roof of the caboose.

Catching Up

Its hard to imagine how long it has been since I have last posted. Unfortunately, long hours at work have gotten in the way of my ability to post. But enough about me, I know you are all looking for what has happened at the museum over the past two months!

Train Shed

Tracks 1 and 1A have been completed under the Train Shed of the Visitor Center. Galen Semprebon led the effort with the help of a number of other people to get the track built, temporary trackage from the siding to the storage tracks built, and the cars moved under the Train Shed. Connecticut Company car 1739 and Connecticut Company Work Car 0206 have both been moved under cover on those tracks.

New Orleans Public Service car 836

Work has been steadily progressing on car 836. Pat McCann, our resident machinist, has set up the wheel lathe with a tracing tool, and with the help of Chris Chestnut, has been preparing to make the first cut on the wheels. Yesterday, work has started on the turning of the first wheelset for 836.

Connecticut Company car 1326

While the car was in the shop for its yearly inspection and maintenance, the window sills on the car were sanded down and painted by John Pelletier, our shop foreman.

Springfield Terminal Railway car 16

John Pelletier has milled the wood to replace the floor in the operators area of the car. The floor does have a couple of weak spots that are being monitored. As time allows, the car will be moved to the shop to have the floor in that area replaced, before it becomes an issue. Phil Godeck took the time to remove the trolley hook and replace the support board underneath it. The board was detereorating and needed to be replaced. It was interesting to note, that since the car had returned to service, that hook was installed with the open part facing the wrong direction. This problem was corrected when the support board was replaced.

Illinois Terminal PCC 451

Kevin Mitchell has started to work on car 451 as his Eagle Scout Project. So far, him and his father have begun to sand down one side of the car.

Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Caboose

Work has been ongoing on the caboose. George Contrada and Xian Clere have removed the carpet and particle board that was covering the floor. While this was going on, I spent time on the roof, removing the roofing paper. Unfortunately, the roof was in worse shape than we had suspected and the roof boards will need to be replaced as well.

Track

Last weekend, I led a work crew to replace ties east of Winkler Road. In total, nine ties were replaced. We were able to use car 16 to transport people and tools, and the Tie Handler with a push car to move ties. Throughout the summer, we hope to be able to replace more ties as the time allows.

Library

Peg Hoffman has begun to work in the library cateloging the many books that we have. Meanwhile, a community service volunteer has been organizing the magazines that we have. We were surprised to find that we have quite a few complete sets of different railroad magazines.

Interior Decorating

Or should I say Interior Demolition? Xian Clere has started aggressively working on the Bangor and Aroostook Caboose. While the interior for the most part is staying as is, the floor will be replaced. After we moved the caboose, we noticed that the floor was buckling. Initially, we thought that this was because of the move. Once we started pulling up the carpet, we found out that it was, in fact, because under the carpet was particle board. Water had made its way down under the carpet and the particle board had warped. George Contrada started working on the carpet on Saturday. Tuesday, Xian and I got together and finished pulling up the carpet and started pulling up the particle board. Under the particle board was 1" dense foam board which is the reason why the floor is so thick. We will most likely need to replace some of the foam board under the floor because some of that was wet as well. At least now the caboose is under the Visitor Center Train Shed so that it can dry out and work can begin.

Rail Bonds

Throughout the day Saturday, Ben Wallace and I had to look for the tools to replace rail bonds. Once we were able to find what we needed (some tools being in the car shop), we proceeded out on the line and replaced two rail bonds. The rail bonds are necessary to allow for the signal system to function properly.

Up in the car shop, John Pelletier and Galen Semprebon were working with a crew of people to set up a gantry over the wheel lathe. This will be used to hoist the wheel set (wheels and axle) up onto the lathe for turning the wheels down. The wheel sets on New Orleans Car 836 are set to be turned down to eliminate the thin flanges that are on the wheels. Also, work was progressing on Illinois Terminal PCC 451. The "rain gutters" on the side of the car were sanded down and primed and work was ongoing on fixing a rot hole on the side of the car.

In Kelly Yard, Xian Clere has worked with Rob Levesque and Brandon Clark to replace the broken rail. The old rail was removed and the new rail was installed over the week. After borrowing a drill from the fire museum, holes for the guard rail bolts were drilled in the new rail and the guard rail was installed. There is still more work to be accomplished in Kelly Yard, but it is much better than it was at the end of last season.

Work is also progressing on the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Caboose. George Contrada stripped the carpet from the interior of the caboose. Soon, the siding will be stripped and replaced.

Be sure to stop down for the Flea Market at the museum on this coming Saturday, May 21st! There will be over 100 vendors!

More Car Shifting

Most of the progress during the day on Saturday included shifting of various cars in preparation for the Annual Meeting.

First thing in the morning, Bill Wall and Bill Pollman stopped by the museum with tires and rims for the trolley bus that is scheduled to be shipped down to Baltimore. They have a similar trolley bus, but they need one of ours (we have three) for parts. The one big hurdle in getting the bus shipped is that it had no tires on it.

George Contrada, Galen Semprebon, Ted Coppola, John Cummins, Dave Coppola and I worked to move the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Caboose under the Train Shed. In order to do this, we needed to pull the caboose down to the Powerhouse Crossing on the Visitor Center lead tracks so that the access track could be shifted over 2 bays. Then the caboose was pulled back up and pushed under the Train Shed.

Xian Clere and Camilo Santiago worked with Northern Tree Service of Palmer, MA to move around 700 relay ties that have been donated to the museum. The ties are now sitting on the back road to the loop.

Up in the shop, John Pelletier was working with another volunteer to service additional cars. They were able to finish working on Fair Haven & Westville Railroad Car 355 and Illinois Terminal PCC 451. Later in the day, Springfield Terminal Car 16 was brought up to the shop and minor repairs were continued on the car.

After operations was finished for the day, Camilo Santiago, Xian Clere, George Contrada, and John Cummins completed a switching operation which included moving the Reading Caboose to the North Road Lay-Up Track and clearing the Northern Barn Lead so that Aurora Elgin & Chicago Interurban 303 can be moved out for the Annual Meeting next weekend.

Morgan von Eisengrein spent the day working diligently in the office with the planning of our new fund raising event for this year, BBQ on the Line. More information on the event will be forthcoming.

In Like a Lion

March has come in like a lion this year, and I am not talking about the weather. After a few weekends where not much has been happening, everyone seemed to be in full swing this weekend to get all of the Winterfest materials OUT of the Visitor Center. It started off in the morning with Galen & Brian Semprebon helping me load out the boxes of Winterfest into the trailer. Larry Lunden arrived soon after and helped shuttle the boxes to the door where we moved them to the trailer. When Roger Pierson arrived, he went up to Kelly Car Barn and removed the decorations from cars 4 and 1326. After lunch, Ted Coppola and I repaired the roof of the Winterfest Layout Trailer using flashing and pop-rivets. The large modular layout was then moved into the trailer by George Contrada, Dave Coppola, and Brian Semprebon.

Once all of the layouts are moved into the trailers, we will be able to shift cars around to set up the Visitor Center. The plan is to bring the Bobber Caboose into the Visitor Center paired with the Ponemah to have an enhanced exhibit on Trolley Freight Service.

Up in the shop, John Pelletier was busy cleaning, again. Pretty soon, everything will be in its place and we will be able to find the tool we need when we need it. Pat McCann was kept busy working on 2600's motor and motor support bearing. Within the next few weeks, the car will be jacked and the motor will be reinstalled in the car.

Unfortunately, it was quite busy so I was unable to get very many pictures of the day.

This year should be a very exciting year, and we could definitely use your help! We have many projects this year, some of them as follows: repairs to the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Caboose, repairs and repainting of Engine 18, repairs to the open passenger car, and the repairs to the wheel-sets of New Orleans car 836.

Protecting Cars

Today while I had some free time, I was able to get a tarp over most of the Mansfield Depot (Bangor & Aroostook) Caboose. Of course, as soon as I got on the roof of the caboose with the tarp, the wind started to blow which made my job ten times more difficult. However, after an hour or so of fighting the wind, I was able to get the tarp over the roof and tied down. The caboose will need another short tarp to finish the other end, but the end that was damaged by the fire in Mansfield is protected. I placed a construction cone over the smokestack so that it wouldn't rip the tarp.

Tornado hits Museum's Trailers

Actually, it wasn't exactly a tornado, but it sure looks like one has hit. On Saturday, Todd and Paul Chicoine spent the day getting another trailer ready to be removed from the property. One of the main goals this year has been to clean up the property. We have accomplished quite a lot by getting rid of the trailers in the parking lot, the scrap metal pile inside the loop, the junk stored underneath the train shed, and moving the three Connecticut Company cars out of the Hartman's Siding Lay Up track. In addition, we cleaned up the gardens in front of the Visitor Center and installed a fence between the parking lot and front lawn. Paul and Todd emptied out the trailer of the materials stored in it. Everything inside the trailer was moved to the storage room off of the gift shop. Then, with the help of the front end loader, the trailer was crushed. The trailer should be removed from the property by next weekend.

Xian Clere used the afternoon to continue to clean out the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose. He brought a vacuum out to the caboose to clean the floor and cushions. We are still looking for donations to help offset the cost of moving the caboose and the work that the caboose needs.

Rails to the Darkside has progressed much over the weekend. The set up of the main hall is almost completed with all of the curtains in place and the lighting set up. The Graveyard posts have been set up with the gravestones, lighting, and fencing. We gained a couple of new cast members at the Rails to the Darkside Casting Call, however, we are still looking for more cast. A rehearsal is scheduled for Thursday night. If you are interested in helping out for Rails to the Darkside, contact office@ceraweb.org.

Up in the shop, John Pelletier and Pat McCann began setting up the storage pod. The storage pod will be used to store paints, oils, and other flammable materials so they are not stored in the car shop. Boston Elevated 5645 has been released from the shop. While in the shop, whistles were installed on the car, door motors were repaired, and missing windows were replaced. Springfield Terminal 16 was moved up to the shop to have windows repaired and the motor support bearings repacked.

Caboose Arrives at the CTM

After months of phone calls, planning, and fundraising, the Bangor and Aroostook Caboose from Mansfield Depot is finally at the museum. The move began early Tuesday morning. Xian Clere and I arrived in Mansfield Depot at 9 am. As soon as the rigging crew and trucker showed up, we began the process of putting the caboose on the trailer.




















Once we got the caboose over the trailer we realized that we would have to take more off than we initially expected. The air tank, air cylinder, and brake rigging would have to be removed to get the caboose below 14 feet 8 inches, which is the height that the permit was for. Unfortunately, while doing this, the torch caught one of the trailer's air lines. This would have to be repaired before we could move. After the caboose was loaded, the truck driver noticed that the tractor had a flat tire. At that point, we decided that we would wait until Wednesday to make the move. We loaded the trucks on a second trailer and called it a day.

Wednesday morning, Xian and I arrived at Mansfield Depot at 8am. As I was arriving, I found out that the trucker decided to get an early start to the day and move the trucks to the museum. Unfortunately, when he got to the museum, the gate was locked, so he parked the trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot and returned to Mansfield Depot. Before we left, I got on the roof and laid two 2x4s from the roof of the caboose to the cupola. This was done so that low wires would not snag on the cupola.

Finally, we were on the road by 10am. The state sent us east on US-44 to CT-32 north. At CT-195, we were sent north to I-84. We followed I-84 one exit to CT-31 north. When we got to Rockville, we turned left on to CT-74 west. Going through Rockville, we had to deal with construction. Cones had to be moved and a town cop had to move his car so that the caboose could get through. We followed CT-74 to the end where we went south on CT-194 then west on CT-30. When we reached US-5, we followed it north. We jogged over to I-91 at exit 44 then off at CT-140. This was so we did not have to make the right turn off of 5 onto 140. We arrived at the museum at about noon.


Once we got to the museum, we had to figure out what the best way to unload the caboose. We backed the body of the caboose across the front lawn to the Visitor Center access tracks where it was unloaded. The caboose was unloaded by 2pm. This is nowhere near the end of the project. Now, we need to raise the funds to pay for the transportation and restoration of the caboose. Next year, we hope to begin using the caboose for Birthday Parties and other events.

On Wednesday, clean up work was ongoing at the museum. Todd Chicoine was dis-assembling a trailer with an excavator that was no longer of use. The trailer was no longer safe to use due to rot. This will not only make the property look cleaner, but it will open up more spaces in the parking lot.

Mansfield Depot Caboose Project

I have received word that we will be loading the caboose on to the trailer tomorrow morning. This has been a long time coming with a lot of phone calls and preparation. The steps were removed from the caboose last week. We are still far from our goal of donations to move the caboose. If you can, please donate to the BAR Mansfield Depot Caboose Fund. Donations can be made by credit card over the phone, 860.627.6540, or mailed to Connecticut Trolley Museum, PO Box 360, East Windsor, CT 06088.

Rails to the Darkside Preparation

By the time I arrived at the museum on Saturday, the trolleys in the main hall were already moved into position for the Rails to the Darkside Setup. Many people were hard at work throughout the day. I began the day running electrical to the trolleys for power. Brian Semprebon, Erica Babbitt, and another younger volunteer were hard at work hanging the blackout "curtains" inside 1201, 2056, and 65.

Bill Babbitt and I spent some time cleaning up the interior of car 65. Because restoration of the car started but was never completed, many components of the car were simply being stored on the floor of the car. There were also piles of seats in the car that don't even belong to the car. Everything in the car was stacked along the walls of the car so that there is a clear walkway through the car.

Other volunteers, including Larry Bryan, Galen Semprebon, Matty Doane, George Contrada, and Larry Lunden, were all hard at work on other Rails to the Darkside projects. Unfortunately, I cannot give away too much because it will ruin the show.




By the end of the day, the Main Hall was cleaned up and the exhibit boards were put in place. They will be used to create a wall to separate the Rails to the Darkside area from the Pumpkin Patch area.



Matty is already getting into the Rails to the Darkside spirit as seen here by his companion in his van. Anyone who is interested in coming down to help out with the setup for Rails to the Darkside is encouraged. We can use all the help that we can get. Also, September 25th is the Rails to the Darkside Casting Call from 3 to 5 pm. Anyone who is interested in scaring for Rails to the Darkside who has not done it in the past is encouraged to come to the casting call.

Elsewhere on the property, work was being done as well. Xian Clere was able to get the Tie Handler running under its own power. He moved it closer to the Sweeper and swung the boom sideways to make room for the Bangor & Aroostook Caboose when it arrives this week. Larry Lunden also spent some time outside cleaning up the west end gardens of the Visitor Center. They have been overgrown with pricker bushes for the longest time and he was able to remove the bushes.

Up in the shop, John Pelletier found the issue plaguing the Type 5's motors. One of the motor support bearings was worn and it was causing the motor to jump when power was initially applied. This resulted in the bull gear and pinion not making contact. John will be looking for a spare set of motor support bearings next weekend to replace the worn ones. For the time being, the car will be out of service.

After 61 Years Outside...

In 1949, ConnCo 0309 (Fair Haven and Westville curve side 154) was moved by the Connecticut Electric Railway out of the James Street Car House in New Haven, CT to the museum. This was the last time the car was stored inside. For the next sixty-one years, the car sat at the museum outside. It was unloaded at the Winkler Road crossing on a 50 foot section of track in the middle of the woods. It stayed there until the track was extended to Winkler Road. Then it was moved to the main property where it sat at the end of Hartman Siding. Today, the car was moved under cover again by Galen Semprebon, Matty Doane, George Contrada, and Ted Coppola. And it looks pretty good for sitting outside for the past sixty-one years.




Once the car was moved under the train shed, the tarps were removed. Under the tarps were wood sheathing and tar paper that covered the car. That was removed, and we looked around inside the car. Inside the car, we found many overhead parts including insulators, and parts such as seats to other cars.




I did not see it happen, but I am told that the broken gate at Winkler Road was replaced.

Because of so much going on at the front of the property, I did not get a chance to get to the shop to see what was going on up there. Tomorrow will be another busy day starting in the morning when we go out to Mansfield to pick up some of the tables and chairs from the BAR Caboose.

A Time Capsule Back to 2003

Tonight, we actually entered the Mansfield Depot Caboose for the first time. The end doors of the caboose were covered with plywood so we had to take the plywood off. When I tried to open the door, it appeared to be locked from the inside. I had to climb through the side window to unlock the door from the inside. After I got inside, I realized how eerie it was to be in the caboose. The last people to be inside the caboose were people eating at the restaurant in July 2003. The tables were set for the next day. It was like we took a step back in time to 2003. For the most part, the interior is in excellent condition. The only problems noted was that the floor near the end with the fire damage is warped up, probably a result of the fire. The closet doors on that end will not open.

Outside the caboose, Xian Clere worked with Bernie Thompson, who owns the General Store across the street. Bernie brought his tractor over to generate power to run the sawzall. They were able to cut off the battery box and air handling unit.

Meanwhile on the back side of the caboose, I was able to remove the lean-too around the electrical boxes. We were able to use the length of triplex to pull down the weatherhead.

On Sunday, we need to disassemble the air handling duct work under the caboose, finish removing the electrical boxes, and start moving some of the stuff to the museum. We owe a great deal of thanks to Bernie Thompson, his wife, and two boys for their help and support with this project.

Preparing the Caboose for Moving

A few years ago, the Collection's Committee of the Connecticut Trolley Museum voted to look into acquiring the ex-Bangor & Aroostook Caboose out of Mansfield Depot, CT. The caboose was moved down to Mansfield Depot to be used as part of the Depot Restaurant. The entire interior of the caboose was gutted and refurbished as a restaurant room. Unfortunately, the restaurant suffered a devastating fire in July of 2003. The depot burned to the ground, but the caboose was saved. It has sat vacant since then. The idea behind acquiring this caboose was to use it for birthday parties and other functions.

Xian Clere took on the project of finding the owners of the caboose and leading the acquisition. Early this year, he found out that the caboose and property was owned by Canadian National Railroad. In February, we went to visit the caboose and took measurements and checked it out.

At the end of July, we received word from CN that the caboose was ours for a small sum and that we had to have the caboose removed by the end of August. This put the caboose project on the fast track.

Xian and I were able to get over there to begin cleaning up the area around the caboose to get it moved. We have removed a few small trees that were in the way, weed-whacked, and cleaned up a lot of broken glass and other trash. This week we will be getting a truck to move some of the materials inside the caboose and underneath it. We need to empty the caboose of the tables & chairs, and remove the air conditioning unit, battery box, & step wells. We will also need to disassemble the electrical shack that is attached to the side of the caboose. Luckily, the power has been disconnected so everything is dead.

Once the caboose arrives on the property, it will need the wooden siding replaced and windows replaced. The end that was attached to the depot will need a little more work because it suffered some minor fire damage. It is also missing the end platform, step wells, and ladders.

We still need money to accomplish this. Please consider making a donation to the BAR Mansfield Depot Fund. Donations may be mailed to Connecticut Trolley Museum, PO Box 360, East Windsor, CT, 06088.