3001; the big one

Lets begin with something of a history lesson. 3001 was at one point a star runner of this museum, and was running in service here for decades. In 1986, this came to a crashing end, literally. The car was hit by Car 4, its long end swing grabbing the front of 3001 and ripping it off. A new front end was made, but with other projects coming up, and the car needing further work anyways, it was sidelined, and floated between Woods and Northern barn. By the mid 2010,s 3001 came back into focus, and was pulled into the shop to finally begin its restoration work.

Plans, though, quickly changed. If we're already taking a lot of the car apart, why not redo the floor, why not redo the roof, why not do a whole lot of steel work? And while we're at it, why not rebuild the car back to it's as built? For those unfamiliar, 3001 was built as a 2 door car, but was rebuilt in the later 20's for service in New Haven, where two treadle doors were installed. Cutting in the whole, framing it, and adding all the extra equipment changed the corners of the car quite a lot.

There are arguments to be made about scope creep, and just how much of this work was really necessary, but this isn't an article meant to go into that, nor is it meant to be a condemnation of those who made the decisions. All of this background is to give some sense of where this current generation of work on the car started. The car was a shell, no trucks, no floor, no roof, very little plumbing, and absolutely no wiring. It was truly just a skeleton.

A complicating factor on top of all of this is a running down clock. When work began, a grant was received from the state for much of the work, with a due date and a nebulous requirement of "completion". The project, unsurprisingly, took far, far longer than intended, pushing us up to and past our deadline.

This has been and continues to be, an incredibly difficult project. We have minimal documentation, and no one who took apart the car is still around to help put it back together. Pieces have been lost, documentation has gone missing, and a lot of questions have had to be figured out on the fly.

So, with the lead sufficiently buried, what makes this post "The big one"?

It ran.

January 17th, 2026, the first time in 40 years, 3001 ran on its own power. There are asterisks to that statement, which we will get to later, but first, what did it take to get to that point?

The current shop crew took over the project in late 2023, and we were informed that completion of the car was highest priority.

A view of the car as it was late 2023.

We started with the Floor, need something to stand on, and something to run the air piping on. First, blocking had to be installed within the steel frame in order to nail down the boarding. The floor also had to bend following the ramped contours up from the vestibules of the car.

As the floor was finished, the car was jacked up, and the shop trucks were removed. For a few months the car sat on steel stands, while the main barrel of the roof was completed. At the same time, underneath the car, the beginnings of plumbing left previously were all connected. The Air Governor and K1 valve were mounted to the new floor.

Freshly installed K1

Already by this point, not even a year after taking over the project, we got to give the car a little bit of life. Shop air was supplied, and the brake was tested. No rigging was connected, so we had to watch the brake cylinder.

Needing to get the car back onto wheels again, the car was lowered onto trucks borrowed from 5645. Major work was needed to adapt them, as the center bowls were different, as were the height of the wear plates. Why did we not use the original trucks? Well, one was, and still is, in pieces in the back of the shop, and the other is sitting outside sans motors. The motors themselves are also not assembled.

Adapter plate to fit a ConnCo centerbowl to

a Boston type 5 truck.

3001 on stands with the borrowed trucks lined up

for adaption and install.

Back down on wheels, it was time to finish that 2 door back conversion. Plugs were made up and installed, following as closely as possible the original construction, though there are some differences. Mainly, the structural re-enforcement installed when the new doors were added was retained, and used as an anchor point for the plug. Custom formed steel was ordered from a local fabrication shop, and installed to replace the original pieces long removed.

First fitup of the #1 end door plug

Plug complete and installed.

Bondo and Primer to hide the seams.

Work now turned to components. Resistor Grids were tested, and one was found to be failing. As such, it was stripped down and rebuilt. A cracked plate was eliminated from it, slightly changing the resistance, but only by a fractional percent. The line switch and Overload relay was also completely rebuilt and bench tested.

Around this time, the west end vestibule roof was installed.

The car at this point moved outside for the first time in years. The move was simple, moved from track 1 to track 2. This was so the car could go over the inspection pit, allowing for all the heavy undercar components to be installed.

Under tow, being moved from Track2 to Track1.

The first controller was rebuilt, and not long after the second was begun, though this had to be more of a new controller made of pieces. This would later become something of an issue, but we'll get there.

Controller being rebuilt.

The west end controller was installed just before the door plug was installed, the east end a few months later. With all the major electrical components mounted, it was time to start wiring.

A new part was made, a knife switch not original to the car, but present as a safety feature, as it allows for the car to be powered, with all auxiliaries on, but the motor circuit cut out.

Box being assembled.

Brake rigging also had to be made, as the originals were missing and the borrowed trucks used a different manner of actuation. New rods were fabricated from old track switch hardware.

With all the components mounted, it was time to begin wiring. This was a slow, tedious process. We in fact ran out of wire, and had to order more, a shockingly slow process. In a way, this was fortunate, as we discovered an issue. As one of the controllers was a different revision of the K6, both controllers didn't match. There was also a discrepancy between the west end controller, and the wiring diagram we had. As such, the west end controller had to be removed, and extensively modified.

Mounted controller and brake stand.

Wiring began to wrap up by the time that our Winterfest event kicked off, which did slow down the progress. Just over the line into the new year, we did some low voltage tests with a bell box, just to test that all the wiring had been connected together correctly.

The scene outside on the day of the big test.

The day finally came. A thick, heavy snow was gently falling, painting a bucolic winter's scene. The select few who knew the test was that day had told their select few, and soon the shop was bustling with activity. As the roof is yet incomplete and the car has no poles, the stinger cable had been freed of one of its hooks, and the lug bolted directly into the knife switch, with the other side hung from the shop's overhead contact rail. Shop power was turned on, 600 volts was going into the car for the first time. It was silent as the auxiliaries had been left off, but that silence also meant that nothing was arcing to ground. Tentatively, the rotary switch was turned for the compressor, and alive it came.

It sounded awful. It clattered and clanged, and was making the distinct sound of pistons scraping past decade old ring ridges. Pressure built, but only to around 30 PSI. With the motors cut out though, it was enough to test the line switch operated, as well as re confirm that the brakes were still functioning. The compressor was clearly going to be a problem, but it was not a show ender. We still had the shop air, and could plumb it into the car with an air hose. Fittings were attached, and the car was fed external air. This did improve the situation, but we still failed to get past 50 PSI as the volume passed through the hose is quite small. This was still satisfactory to test the rest of the car though, so the motors were lined in.

For a first test, we decided to hold the brakes on, and just see if the motors would take power and try to pull against the brakes. The controller was pulled into the first notch, and nothing happened. It was tried again, and still nothing. We then attempted the other controller, nothing. Just as a thought, how about releasing the brakes? That made a difference. For a moment the car sat still, then it hopped forwards. As it turned out, the car, having sat for some months, was simply not making good electrical contact through the brushes, and once it was able to move just a slight hair, it cleared itself out. We kept moving it forwards, inches feeling like miles, the stinger cable a constant worry hanging off the side of the car. Once as forward as far as felt possible, the reverser went the other way, and the car promptly responded in that direction. Forward and backwards once, then twice, then four, six, and onwards. The car never travelled more than 6 or so feet, but considering the situation we'd been in not even 3 years earlier, it may as well have been the moon.

First movements of 3001

And what has happened since? It's been many months since this happened. Other shop blogs should give some indication of other projects going on, and 3001, despite a renewed deadline, has had to sit for some extended periods of time. Work has continued though, as has its endeavours. The compressor was an obvious issue, so it was taken back off the car and opened up. The rebuild that was claimed to have been given years ago proved to be little more than revarnishing the motor, as well as taking out the pistons and rods only to do nothing to them and install them upside down starving the wrist pins of oil. There were indeed ring ridges in the bores, as well as generally bad pitting and corrosion allowing pressure to blow past the rings and into the crankcase. Judicious use of a cylinder hone and an improvised blanking plate to test compression allowed us to get it better, though not perfect. The compressor is back under the car, but it may yet be replaced when a better rebuilt one becomes available.

Home made testing plate for checking compression.

The number 1 end controller as it turns out was not only suffering from issues with dirty wheels and commutators, but it was also not firing the line switch. This was traced down to a single bent contact finger on the interlock in the controller, a 30 seconds and a screwdriver fix.

A couple months later the car was fired up again, this time for our Operations Manager Roger's birthday. The car once again made its short back and forths in the shop. An idea though began around this time. Everything that moves was coming up, and well technichally.....

June 21st of 2026 3001 eclipsed its moves earlier in the year by many orders of magnitude. There was no way the car was going to make it out into the parade, with the truck swap the curve of north road 2 is a disaster waiting to happen. So instead we took the car to a safe spot alongside of Kelly barn. Out the car rolled, no windows, no doors, not even all of a roof, but it made it. Some issues were found. The car's brakes bound up going through the curves out of the shop, and for some reason the #1 end controller's reverser is backwards.

3001 alongside Kelly Barn

3001 and 1326 together.

3001 traversing the crossing towards the shop.The

stinger being used to supply power can be seen in the back.

Shop Manager/ Article author operating on return to shop.

So what now, is yet to be done. Clarification on the grant came very recently. They, themselves, were unsure of what the exact verbiage meant, so all progress considered, though much slower than hoped, they were greatly pleased with the progress. As such, a clarification was made, to be considered complete, the car needs to be cosmetically complete and on display for the opening of the 2027 operating season.

The reason for this shift to a more cosmetic, for now, approach, is mostly on the trucks. They are rough, and while they are something we could rebuild in house, that is a task that takes a significant amount of time and effort, and will consume an already crowded and busy shop. At this point it's been decided the best move is to work on fundraising and get the trucks sent out to be done by a contractor. This is going to take time, and while borrowing 5645's trucks worked to get the car to come alive, it's not enough to run the car long term. Obviously, 5645 is going to need its trucks back, but the differences between the trucks have resulted in 3001 being too tall, and too wobbly. A car sitting on display doesn't have these issues. It can rest on lower shop trucks, and be much more stable. As of writing work is under way, though slowed due to other projects, to finish up the steelwork of the car, with plans coming together to complete the roof. The roof is one of our most major hurdles going forwards, followed closely by constructing the wooden framing for the windows in the door plugs, as well as glazing all the car's windows, which combined total 70 some odd pieces. Construction and finishing of the interior is planned for this winter, with the car moving into the visitors center so we can work in a warm environment, and so it will be on display for next season.

3001 has been something between a marathon and a sprint. There have been months where all energy has been committed, and others where the car has simply gathered dust. Though 3001 has been the "Primary" concern of the shop, and the highest priority, many other projects have, and continue, to come up all the time. 16 has also received major truck work, 836 received a freshly rebuilt motor, 2600 became its own saga multiple times. The Diesel had its water pump worked on, 18 has been brought back to life, line car 1 was given major work and a repaint. 303 is also currently in the shop having its roof redone. This is a far from complete list of other projects that have gone on.

The car has long been a fixture in the shop, and a project considered by many to be a "Forever" project. Unfinishable, in too deep, too in over our heads, and best simply shoved into some corner of some dusty storage barn and forgotten. Through the hard work of all involved in the project, this seeming inevitable glum fate has turned around. We're not out of the woods with it yet, and the work is still immense, but there is hope.

The long first half of 2026

It’s an interesting experience to be reminded you need to update the blog while visiting a friend at a live steam club.

At the tail end of the last blog we were focused on getting the fleet through winterfest, and looking forward to getting 16 into the nice warm VC for the winter. Nothing has since gone to plan. While much has happened in the past few months, one long, winding saga has been dominating work.

2600, a car seemingly cursed, decided to fail on us one winterfest night. A large group had come in, and we intended to run 2600 as a second section behind 4, a bit of Montreal action in the cold. The car powered up, built air, but as soon as the brakes were released, problems began.  

For those unfamiliar with Safety Cars, they use multiple brake lines, and critically for us there is an “emergency” pipe that needs to be “charged” to above a certain pressure to allow the brakes to release. If this pressure is dropped, say by the motorman releasing the deadman handle, the brakes will automatically apply to full emergency. Part of the system is something called the “Pilot Cut Off Valve”, which we will shorten to PCV. This valve acts as a relay, taking in input from both the position of the brake handle (pressure in brake cylinder), and the deadmans, and either opening or closing a vent to atmosphere on the Emergency pipe, which we’re also going to shorten to EM pipe. This valve is not operating via pistons and slide valves, rather it’s using rubber diaphragms, including to seal the EM pipe. 

A rather photo copier burned print of 2600’s brake system.

The symptomology presented as such. The car would build into an application, behaving normally, but as soon as you attempted to charge up (apply pressure to EM pipe, and release brakes) issues began. The EM pipe would climb to full pressure, but instantly a hissing would be heard from the #2 end of the car, with the EM pipe pressure dropping rapidly, and at best holding at 10 PSI, nowhere near enough to allow the brakes to release. Moving the brake handle back to apply would slow it down, but releasing the deadman’s would entirely silence the hissing. So, clearly the EM pipe isn’t sealing. The sound also gave an indication of where, just behind the motorman's seat. Sure enough, there is a valve hiding back there.

#1 end valve, hidden just behind the seat.

 At the time, the purpose of the valve was a bit of a mystery, but thanks to help from both Gord Mquot at Halton county, and Jeff Hackner at Branford, we were able to figure it out. This valve is a hybrid of a PCV, and a door interlock. 2600 has pneumatic doors, including treadle doors that open when someone stands on the treadle. These valves (there’s another one on the #1 end as well) make it so the car cannot release brakes when someone is standing on the treadle. 2600 is of course not a standard safety car, it’s somewhat more complex, and in fact has 3 whole separate PCV’s in it. Two are hooked to the treadle doors, and one seems to be operating as a standard PCV and is located under one of the bench seats. While it may have simply been possible to cut out these door valves as the treadles aren’t in operation, we weren’t really comfortable doing that, just in case we were wrong with what the valves were really doing.

Cracked Diapragm, complete with a date code from the 

Early 1950’s

The sealing diaphragm meant to seal the EM pipe. The surface

Leaves much to be desired.

One of the valves stripped down on the bench.

A drawing of the construction of one of the valves.Some of 

The labelling would later turn out to be inaccurate.

As stated before, these valves are diaphragm based. Upon opening them, the diaphragms were showing major signs of age. Some had become rather hard, some were cracked and distorted, and the actual sealing face of the lowest diaphragm was pitted and scored. Amazingly, Wabtec (successor of Westinghouse air brake) still makes those diaphragms, but in limited quantity. Because of this, there is an immense lead time on getting them made, and shipped (we’re still waiting). Because of this we decided to try something. Advancements in 3d printing has given us the ability to print flexible rubbers, something we’ve already experimented with for some gaskets. The diaphrams in these valves are mostly just round, with some raised features for sealing, and as such were easy to model and print. I’m happy to report that as of writing the printed diaphragms are holding up perfectly.

While working on the PCV’s, we decided to go through some of the other valves, cleaning everything out, renewing seals, and lapping in some of the sealing surfaces. After months of work, 2600 was able to finally go back out into service, at least for a couple weeks. 

A few weeks later, the curse strikes again. Some issues with the North Road Switch not playing nice with 2600’s taller flanges resulted on the car derailing and dropping the west end truck on the ground. The good news, the car climbed itself back onto the rails fairly easily, the bad news, the car tried to take a new shape. 

Oops

The bend in the Side Sill.

Anyone who has worked on any vehicle in the broadly north half of the continent is well familiar with the unimaginable power of rust. Between rust jacking bending and tearing steel like paper, nuts and bolts becoming effectively welded together, or corrosion simply making masses of steel simply vanish. Most lightweight cars are prone to rust, almost always in the same spots, right above the bolsters. The steel framing there often becomes more enclosed, trapping dirt, water, and sometimes even road salt. There is also quite a lot of wood in  the frames of these cars, making up most of the floor, which also holds moisture against the steel framing. 2600 is very much a victim of “lightweight disease”. Hidden behind the skin of the car, the steel framing had mostly rusted away, and no longer was connected to the side sill.

The side cut open, and rotted structural steel removed. Sitting below the car is the skin, with some of the rotted structural steel still attatched.

When the car came to a stop, it rocked hard to the side. The rocking pushed up on the bolster, bending it and the side sill upwards. With no framing above it, it was free to bend. While this didn’t stop the car from running, it isn’t safe to leave. Also, not exactly a good look. 

So the car was taken to the shop, and work began. First, cut away the outer skin of the car and assess the rust, see what we need. Layers of horse hair insulation had to be removed, as did mountains of rust and scale. Bending back the side sill was going to be a challenge. The amount of wood in the car meant using heat should be avoided as much as possible. Going at it with sledge hammers wasn’t having any effect, and trying to put a jack between the sill and the still intact upper framing only served to try and twist the framing out further. The solution as it turns out is a hilariously Rube-Goldberg mess. A chain through the sill, a 6x6 wooden block, an upside down rail, and a 40 ton hydraulic jack. 

Side sill being bent back into shape.

A good example of the corrosion, this piece should be at least 2 inches longer.

With the sill pulled straight, new steel had to be welded in to restore the structure. Much of the original skin of the car was able to be welded back in. Because everything had to be welded, and getting the skin off required grinding the rivets away, false rivets had to be made. The fake rivets were made with a form tool on the late, and then plug welded into the original rivet holes. A thin strip of new steel did have to be welded in to patch where the skin had bucked and rusted through. 

New steel.

Car’s skin starting to go back on.

False rivets to be welded on.

Bondo and Primer

Awaiting application of the stripe

The welds were ground down, buried under bondo, sanded, bondoed again, primed, bondoed again, re primed, ok still needs more bondo, try priming one last time, eh that’ll be fine, and the given a new coat of Montreal Tramways cream. The red stripe was re applied, and the repair was invisible. 

Sadly, this bend in the sill was not the only damage to the car. The westmost gearcase was torn open when it hit a track bolt. This, fortunately, is not actually that hard to repair. The car was nosed over the pit, the cover removed, cleaned, and patched. Whereas the sill repair took 2 weeks, the gearcase took 2 days. 

Torn open gear case.

Patched gearcase.

Back together.

2600 finally went out to be test run post repair, for a bearing to overheat. This bearing was found to have a lot of water intrusion, so it was cleaned out and the waste replaced. The car was placed back in service, and overheated another bearing. This also had water intrusion and had to be repacked. As of writing, the car is back in service, but the summer is young, and I’m sure there will be plenty more of the ongoing curse of 2600 in the next update. 

Winding back the clock, to just after the close of winterfest, we had planned to bring 16 into the VC, and give it some needed attention in a heated building. Scheduling moves took longer than anticipated, on top of also having other work take priority (more on this in a future post). By the time we were ready to move, the snow came. Instead of moving 16, we found ourselves buried under 2 feet of snow. We currently don’t have a functioning plow, and even if we did that wouldn’t get everything cleared out enough to get 16 into the VC. 

That lack of plow, though, it got us to thinking. Last year Capital Transit sweeper 010 went into the VC to be put on display, and while it hasn’t in many years, it is ostensibly capable of running. So, why not take the season to look over the car, see what it’ll need. 

010 sitting on display before the 2025 season.

This is the sagged west end.

So, first question, can the car sweep? No. The brush motor is no longer in the car, in fact it’s under open car 355 as a traction motor. Assuming we’ll be able to find it a motor in the future, what else is left of the brushes? The car was stacked full of parts, the brooms, carriers, drive chain and sprockets, but something else is missing. The actual axles for the brushes to ride on. Asking where it was, or what had happened to it, gifted us the greatest two word horror story;

“It shattered”

It’s a 10 foot long 2 3/8th inch thick solid steel shaft.

More things came to light as the car was cleaned out, we only have enough parts for one of the ends to have its brushes put together, as it turns out that’s how the car came to us, with one end missing its brushes. Obviously at this point, getting the car back into service quickly is not in the cards, but that’s ok, we can still do cosmetic work, assemble the one set of brushes, clean it out, get it lit and looking good for the public,

Interior of the Car before cleaning.

 

Brooms laid out on the floor.

Something else quickly became apparent with the car, it’s got some wood issues. The west half of the car has some problems. The most obvious is that it sags severely, and shows many signs of rot and termite damage. Compounding this damage is the issue that most of the steel braces have been mostly, if not entirely, disconnected and have simply been hanging. The brush holders have been hanging from the wooden frame, but with no bracing. Some of the bracing couldn’t be reattached, with their mounting hardware being cut off or damaged. There are solutions, but nothing we could affect in the VC. What could be reattached however was, and instantly that end of the car felt much more solid. 

Another problem was also discovered. The floor on the west end of the car had begun to feel less like floor and more like trampoline. Turns out, the large castings that hold the brushes are quite heavy, and they had all been stacked on top of a crossmember that was already full of knots and damage from the brush drive chain wearing into it, cracking it in half. The next crossmember was also cracked, partially from the weight, but also from the rod for the brush height adjustment going through it, and removing most of its mass in the middle. 

Once all the parts were out, the repair seemed quite easy. Get under there with a jack, some timbering, jack it straight, and through bolt some steel plates over it to gusset it solid. 

This went… pretty smoothly. Shocking I know, but we gusseted the first of the two crossmembers, patted ourselves on the back, and went home with plans to do the next one, the more complex one with the height adjust going through it the next morning. 

So the next morning, we climb under the car, and discover the formerly straight and level cross member was once again at an angle. The gusset hadn’t failed, instead the piece cracked elsewhere, further along where the brush drive chain had been damaging it. Our repair hadn’t fixed the problem, it simply moved it. 

The first attempt at repairing the crossmemeber.

One trip to the hardware store later we once again jacked up the broken cross member, undid the gusset we did the day before, and bolted onto it a brand new 2x6. Steel brackets also were added to help give more support, as the original tenon joints holding in the crossmember were also starting to show signs of cracking (yay). The next crossmember down was also now sistered to a brand new piece of timber, that was also bracketed to the side sills.  

Sistered in new lumber. Not going to crack now.

Finally, that particular issue was solved. The rest of the winter inside was spent continuing to clean the car, as well as wire in a second string of lights next to the cars original, so it can be illuminated off of domestic 120vac power. The east end of the car, the end in better shape, had its brushes reinstalled, though only for display purposes. How did we solve the issue of the missing axle? Well as it turns out steel fence post is often manufactured in 2 3/8ths diameter, and in 6 foot segments. Take two pieces, cut a foot off each end, and they’ll slide right in meeting in the middle of the center bearing. Now, this won’t be able to spin, as it’s not a single piece, and not exactly the strongest, but for display purposes, it’s just fine. 

Brushes installed for display. One of the cut off fence post ends can be seen under the brush.

Completing the deal, display stands were made up, one to hold a spare broom, complete with bristles, and another to hold up one of the conduit plows, showing off how the car could run on both pole and underground conduit. 

010 and shaker heights 1201 both lit up inside the VC.

010 nearing wrapup of this years work.

While working in the VC, and right next to it, Volunteer Jayden decided to take on relettering the Poneman Mills Locomotive. 

Lettering going on.

Completed lettering.

Now that the weather has warmed up, we have returned to the shop. Some light steel work has been done on 3001, as well as other things (again, future post), but most recently we’ve been back to working on CA&E 303. Work resuming was delayed by 2600, so work has only begun in the past few weeks. The poles have been taken off and the bases rehabbed. One of them was very worn, and has been receiving some new machine work to be brought back to something resembling good condition. Pulling up the running boards has been a challenge, as the oak used to build the standoffs has seized and rusted the screws that were holding them down. We ended up having to cut the running boards, and slip a metal cutting blade on an oscillating saw underneath the standoffs, cutting the screws and freeing them from the roof. As of writing, the running boards and very last of the canvas has been removed and we are finally down to just bare wood.

Before and After of the inner sleeve of the central bearing of the pole base.

The cut off (via torch nothing else would get in there deep enough) and the 

New sleeve next to it.

One of the spring retaining pins and it’s replacement. 

(don’t worry about the brace it’s fine)

Slowly removing the running boards

New and Original ribbon fuse box

A fully stripped down 303 roof.

This very long post has honestly been just a sampling of what’s been going on. There is still much for the rest of this year. We have grants we need to complete to get 303 and 836 painted, and need to get 3001 cosmetically complete and in the VC before opening season of 2027. As I’ve mentioned a few times there will be a separate update on 3001 in the near future, as a lot of things have happened with that project in the past few months.