The Railspeeders Forum

6/26 - 6/27/09: DONE!

I installed the new canvas doors and stuck Velcro strips inside the doorways (similar to the original setup). The grille was cut from plywood and dowels, sanded with an angle grinder, painted by spray cans and assembled with sheet metal screws. The last 2 T-handles were installed (as per factory specs) to hold the grille in place. I cleaned up the tools, assembled a small kit of tools for the trip and headed to bed for a few hours.

Early on Saturday morning, Ally and I loaded the TMC-2 onto the trailer and set out for Riverdale. We arrived to cheers and smiles as friends and readers of this forum. We happily drove to our set on spot and completed our final inspection.

6/27 & 6/28/09: The NARCOA trip on the NYS&W Southern Division

The first few hours of the Saturday westbound run were a mix of pleasure and worry. Every little sound and smell was cause for concern but the only problem encountered was the inability to keep speed going upgrade on a curve. The speed problem seemed to fix itself and with little more than a brake adjustment the car ran great. Though the day was mostly clear, I was able to make use of the doors and the wipers as we passed through a heavy rainstorm that left the guys in the open cars feeling a little damp. After returning to Riverdale, many of us enjoyed Craig & Shirley's annual "Hobo Party" with good food and conversation.

Sunday was the eastbound trip and several cars had minor mechanical issues with one large Fairmont open car towing a smaller one much of the day. The lack of radio communication with a few cars caused some frustration and delay but we still ran ahead of schedule. Our excursion posed at Maywood Station for their open house, toured the Lodi Industrial track (expected to be ripped out soon), again ran the old Edgewater Industrial and walked in to see the mile long tunnel and spun the cars on the Little Ferry turntable. On our way back we met a southbound CSX train and stopped at Hawthorne Station for a break.

My only mechanical trouble happened as we bounced across the diamond to re-enter the Pompton Industrial to get to Riverdale. The alternator belt must have jumped off from the vibration of the diamond and made a loud noise as it hit the fiberglass body. A quick repair later and it was back on, but the pully set screw had just fallen out and the belt jumped as the pully shifted off center. I'm not complaining; that was over 170 miles of mainline and industrial running in 2 days. An awesome feat considering it was the first real run AND the car was only just finished being assembled that week.

This is far from the end of the restoration of the 6759-RD. I plan to continue working on the car and plans are already being made to finish the paint job, complete with reflective blue stripes and new numbers above the windshield. Two more TMC-2's are expected to arrive in NJ over the next few months. Sister car 6762-RD from Gary Greenwood's collection and an older "solid door" TMC-2 from Texas will be calling New Jersey their home. Their new owners were so impressed by the 6759-RD that they had to have their own.

Wow!! I haven't looked in to check your car out for awhile, fantastic job. You've done an incredible job considering the hulk you started with. You have a right to be proud. Are you going to run it up on the Susie Northern Div this Sept? I hope to see it there.
Great job!!

CatzKill Mike (utica, ny)