Bucket Truck Repaired

Thanks to John Gasper and Aaron Mangan, the museum's bucket truck is now operational.  Sunday, I helped them lift the hydraulic cylinders in place and pin them in.  It was more work than we initially thought because they location of the boom required the cylinders to be extended out.  We had to get the cylinders just right and even still it was a pain because the bushings needed to be cleaned up as well.  Finally just after noon, we were able to get the truck together.

In other news, bus 3001 in the Bus Museum is now running after we changed out the batteries.  It still needs to be cleaned up and other repairs made to it, however, we know that it runs!

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.

Winter Work Space

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we are into Winterfest full swing. Since the line and the hall are done, we were able to get back to some other things at the museum. Galen Semprebon began to set up a workshop in the upstairs storage rooms that were originally built as a projection room. This workshop will become an area for the shop staff to work during the cold months on small parts like brake stands, door motors, and windows. From mid December to mid March, it is much too cold to work in the shop because there is no heat.

Out back, Paul and Todd Chicoine continued to work on grading the parking area behind the Fire Museum. This serves two purposes. It will allow us to move trucks and other construction equipment out back, and it will allow the Bus Museum to get their UConn bus out which has been sitting amongst the trees for a long time. The trolley poles that were sitting in the parking lot have been moved as well.

Over 700 Visitors for Rails to the Darkside

Rails to the Darkside was packed Saturday night! We had over 700 visitors. The first run is scheduled to go out at 7:00pm, but by 6:45pm the parking lot was full. Thankfully we had Andy Cotton and his crew in the parking lot. I don't know how they were able to go it by they found parking spaces for just about everyone. They utilized all of the main lot, the volunteer lot, and in the area behind the Fire Museum.

The first car was sent out 15 minutes early. That still left us working until well after 11:30 at night. All of the volunteers at both ends were amazing. George Barreto and Xian Clere both received a crash course in Conducting in the Main Hall. Even most of the kids that are volunteering made it through to the end. Luckily, when the volunteers at the end of the line were done, they helped at in the Main Hall.

The closer we get to Halloween, the better it gets so it should be a very good year.

During the day, John Pelletier took a look at the Type 5. Unfortunately, it appears that a nut came loose on one of the field coil bolts. This allowed the bolt to drop down onto the armature and dig into the armature. This will require the motor to be pulled from the car and an armature will have to be found to replace the damaged one.

Pat McCann spent the day working on car 355's air compressor. A couple of months ago, 355 was pulled from service because the air compressor armature was unraveling. Once the compressor is taken apart, we will able to figure out what the extent of the damage was and repair it.

With the problems that we have begun to have with some of the operating equipment, we really need to get car 836 back in service. In order to do this, we still need to raise the funds to repair or replace the wheels that have thin flanges on them. Please consider making a donation to the New Orleans Public Service Car 836 Fund!

In the Fire Museum, members spent the day rearranging their Main Hall. This was done to get one of the trucks in the rear out and put in the shop. While this was happening, I was able to get a quick look at the Connecticut bus that was just repainted.



Pumpkin Patch did well this weekend too! All day Saturday, the parking lot was filled with cars. This year should be a good year for our Halloween events.

Rubber Tired Transportation

Just behind the Visitor Center in the Fire Museum, Bert Johanson, Alan Walker, and Tom Holcombe were finishing up work on one of the Connecticut Buses. Over the past few months, they have been working on the interior and body of the bus. Once the body work was done, they masked the bus and this morning, they gave it a fresh coat of paint. Next year it will be displayed in the main hall of the Fire and Bus Museum.

Yesterday, the Fire Museum participated in the Four Town Fair Parade and won a trophy for "Best Appearing Antique".