East Troy Electric Railroad Museum

Photo by Doris Herber

Here, the siding has been removed, and the serious business of restoration begins.

Once the true condition of the structure is revealed, the woodworkers can begin fabrication of the new parts needed.

December, 1998

Photo by Doris Herber

The first in a series of open houses planned to show the progress on the car took place on December 27th, 1998.  Over one hundred people attended, helping raise local interest in the fundraising campaign behind the project.

Visible are the new carbody posts already installed to support the car's roof, meticulously duplicating the originals' joinery techniques.

Photo by Doris Herber

This is a longer view of the carside as displayed at the March, 1999 Open House.

Your site administrator confesses that this view gives him one of the worst cases of Controller Itch ever recorded.

Here's a nice shot of the way Glenn layered the sidewall for the March Open House event, showing the various structural members and the way they are joined together.

This type of display exemplifies the educational value of a project like this restoration.  The textual and photographic recording of the process will be available at the Museum when the car is in operation only a few feet away.

An interior shot showing the post construction detail, also taken for the March Open House.  This car is a composite of traditional wood construction and early steel use; the dark band under the righthand window sill is a 3/8" steel anti-racking brace.

This gentleman is viewing the display of removed parts.  Each is labeled and is accompanied by background information about the woodworking process.

Here's a look at one end with the exterior finished.
Photo by Wally Neumeister, July, 1999

On Glenn Guerra's last trip to East Troy to pick up parts, he snapped this shot of one of the Brill 27-E's to be overhauled before being put under 26.

The motors, in particular, are in need of rebuilding, a major expense.  Anyone having an interest in helping out on this, whether with a specific donation of either funds or in-kind work, remember that it will be tax-deductible to contribute this critical assistance.

3-27-00

In this series of photos by Friends President John Tews, the progress of the project is on display at the April 8th, 2000 Open House in Plymouth. The first coats of paint have been applied.

A good crowd of over a hundred visitors came out to see how far along 26 is.

Here's a photo of the "26" decal revealed under the paint in the coach section, vestibule wall, over the door.

East Troy Industrial Park Spur, Young Street, East Troy.  November 30th, 2000
26 returns to East Troy via truck

Here's the setup as United Erectors, Inc, of Kiel, Wisconsin, assisted by museum volunteers, has raised the body with two specially-equipped forklifts so that the lowboy trailer can pull out from under.   Once this is done, the newly-made truck bearing plates will be bolted up.   Then, the folklifts advance to place the bearings over the truck pins.  This proceedure was little more difficult than describing it.

Behind the camera is TMER&L locomotive L-8 sporting a custom-fabricated drawbar for towing the car up to the mainline, and then, with Line Car D-23 covering the other end on the "hospital" move, 26 is pushed into the East Troy Shop barn for the beginning of the next phase of its rebirth.

Here's a shot of the #2 end right-side door showing a few of the many meticulously rendered details of the restoration.

Time for piping and controls!