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.

Back on Four

Montreal Tramways 2600 is running back on four motors thanks to Galen Semprebon, John Pelletier, and others in the shop. The car was returned to service in time for operations training Saturday. First thing Saturday morning, New Orleans Public Service 836 was pulled out of Woods Car Barn and transferred to the shop so that work could start on the wheels of the car. Rio de Janeiro car 1850 was transferred to Woods Car Barn so that there would be room for car 2600 in Kelly Car Barn.

The Operations Department had their training session on Saturday. They were accompanied by Flat Stanley during their training. Flat Stanley is a paper cutout of a person who is mailed around by elementary school students to visit and learn about different places within the state.

In the afternoon, Bill Babbitt helped me with moving Fair Haven & Westville car 154 into the Visitor Center. Bill went back home to pick up his air hammer to knock out the rust in the brake system which was binding the wheels. John Cummins ran home to get his come along because the one that we were using broke. In addition, John Pelletier, Galen Semprebon, Brian Semprebon, David Lesniak, Bill Heim, George Contrada, Camilo Santiago, Matt Januska, and others helped move the car into the Visitor Center.

Cars Moved into the Visitor Center

On Saturday, we were able to get the Main Hall mostly set up. I started off in the morning by moving Montreal Tramways 2056 (Springfield Street Railway 575) to the west end of the main hall. Larry Lunden helped out by sweeping the tracks and vacuuming the flangeways. By the time I was ready to move the Ponemah Mills Locomotive into the Visitor Center, Dave Coppola, Brian Semprebon, and Alex Aberdale had arrived to help move the cars. We moved the Ponemah Mills Locomotive and New York Ontario & Western Caboose into the Visitor Center. Camilo Santiago and Xian Clere came to help move Connecticut Company Car 65 into place and finally Springfield Electric Railway (Vermont) Car 10 into the Visitor Center. The only cars left to move are the Northern Parlor Car to the west end of the main hall and the Fair Haven & Westville Car 154 into the Main Hall!

Meanwhile, George Contrada and Ted Coppola were busy loading the Winterfest Layouts into the storage trailer. Roger Pierson spent his day in Kelly Barn cleaning out the public operating fleet.

Up in the shop, Galen Semprebon and John Pelletier jacked up Montreal Tramways Car 2600 and installed the 4th motor back into the car. Next weekend, the car will be jacked back down on the truck. This car will now be running again on four motors for opening day!

I had the pleasure of giving a new volunteer, Dave, a tour of the property. He plans to be back next Saturday! Remember, we are always looking for new volunteers. Anyone who is interested in volunteering should contact the museum.

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.

Car 154 Emptied

In the early days of the museum, the only interior space was inside the trolleys. So, the cars that were not used for service (because they were unfit to operate, missing components, etc) became storehouses for other smaller materials that we acquired. Unfortunately, some of those materials have considerable weight to them which will stress the cars body. Connecticut Company 0309 (Fair Haven & Westville 154) is one of them that was loaded with overhead parts (insulators, bolts, etc). On Saturday, David Coppola helped me unload the materials stored inside the car onto shelf space inside the Visitor Center Relay Room. The only items left in the car now are parts to the car.

Inside the Visitor Center, Galen Semprebon, Brian Semprebon, and Matty Doane were working on scraping the exterior paint on Montreal Tramways 2056 (Springfield Street Railway 575). The car needs a new coat of paint and the plan is to return the car to Springfield, MA colors. While this will not be a complete restoration at the current time, it is a start in the direction to returning the car to its local history. In order to complete the restoration of the car, it will need an end reduction, because when the car was sold to Montreal Tramways, they extended the ends of the car and reconfigured the operators compartment.

Outside, John Pelletier, with the help of Matty, Galen, and I, was working on the repairs to the operating fleet. The bent pole on Connecticut Company 1326 was straightened and the car was returned to service. The broken retriever on Illinois Terminal 451 was replaced by a rebuilt one found in the Parts Storage Room. The repairs to Montreal Tramways 2600 took a bit longer. There was a squealing noise coming from the number 3 axle. We checked the packing and oiled the Journal Boxes. The temperature of the number 3 axle journals were slightly elevated. When we took it out for a test, the noise was still there. We finally figured out that it was the cause of the armature bearing. The waste in the bearing was failing and not properly wicking the oil. Once we repacked the bearing, the noise subsided. The armature support bearing for the fourth motor has been freed and should be repaired in the next few weeks. Once that is done, the car will be jacked and the motor will be reinstalled in the trucks.

We had another busy night of Winterfest Operation Saturday night with 5 cars out on the main line at one point. With that many cars, there is a slight bottleneck at Hancock Passing Siding. The track with three cars needs to pass through the siding before the track with two cars on it can proceed because the siding is only two cars long.