Dear Pioneer,
Happy to provide more words for U-505’s reserve! Though I should really credit Venus since she’s the one with the vocabulary on my train. Vesta knows a lot of words as well, but some of her favorites are not fit for print. We don’t have to remind her not to use them in front of visitors, but I think it’s better to avoid teaching them in the first place. Of course, sometimes it can’t be helped. I bet U-505 could probably share just as many of those sorts of German words picked up from his crew.
It is nice for the engines at the IRM to be able to share their work history, those that have ones worth remarking on, but most of us here are like 2903. We’re not as famous as you or 999 or U-505, but our visitors know that already. Instead of coming to listen to our stories, they bring their own. Many of our regulars and volunteers are retired railroad workers themselves so they lend their knowledge to the operations and teach others about rail history. Every engine here, static or operational, helps by being a visual aid for learning or a reminder of the old days. It’s a different kind of entertainment, but our visitors seem to like it.
Of course, I’d be happy to share more about the VistaDome train! I only didn’t in the first place because I figured there wouldn’t be much to tell that you wouldn’t already know. I forget that your experience pulling trains is so different from mine. We pulled the VistaDome train a month after their debut in December of 1947, but the story of the dome cars actually starts a little earlier than that.
In 1945, the Q wanted to take advantage of the beautiful scenery their lines ran through, so they took a regular chair car named Silver Alchemy and sent her to Aurora where they added the glass observation dome on top and renamed her Silver Dome. At the time, they told me there was no other car like her anywhere and, boy, did she know it! I’d certainly never seen a car like that and most of our passengers hadn’t either. The dome car was so popular that they decided to build eight more to fill out the third Twin Cities Zephyr train, which is where I come in! They were a fun bunch on that train, very well-behaved for new stock. All of them were named for things the passengers might see as they looked out the dome windows, Silver Bluff, Silver Glade, Silver River, and so on.
It worked out well. The passengers enjoyed the views and it passed the time nicely on that route which – to answer your question – was indeed very scenic! It was so scenic in fact that they eventually started printing out brochures describing what could be seen from the domes. They made quite a few more of the VistaDome cars until the mid-50’s when passenger traffic started falling off, but I’m told they still run them on the California Zephyr and they’re as popular now as they ever were.
I don’t like to ask about other engines’ misfortunes since I don’t have that experience to share, but your mention of being partially rebuilt did remind me of something! They did actually rebuild Silver Inn after the Naperville wreck for the Kansas City Zephyr. Or I should say they rebuilt a Silver Inn. I don’t think it was the same car. What I mean is, they built a new car and gave him the name of the old car, but the new Silver Inn didn’t remember the wreck or anything before it. But your front end isn’t original, if I’m understanding right? And Silver Alchemy was the same after she became Silver Dome. That is, she remembered being Silver Alchemy before they rebuilt her. I don’t claim to know anything about rebuilding but I wonder how all that works, especially considering the new Silver Inn. I’m sure there were a few cases of mistaken identity there.
Speaking of which, it has been brought to my attention that my train decided not to tell me there were two Æolus because they thought it would be funny. They were leading me along for a while after my last letter, telling me how Æolus had been in service years before they pulled the Goddesses’ train and yet was newly built at the same time. Or that they were a modified S-4 Hudson and somehow also a completely custom component build. Venus finally gave up the gag when she thought the joke was played out (the rest thought they could have dragged it on for a good while longer.) Back in their service days, it was an open secret that there were two Æolus. Venus says an open secret is when everyone knows a thing, but they pretend that they’re not supposed to. It sounds like that just makes things complicated for no reason, but it’s supposed to be for fun. Although, actually, it was fun once I knew there were two too.
No. 4000 was an S-4 Hudson from the regular service pool who got picked to be made into Æolus because he was due for an overhaul at the right time. He’d been built in 1930 and was an experienced engine by the time he pulled their train in ‘37, although the Goddesses say he was stuffy about regulation and would get on to them for chattering in the station. To get him back, they’d call him “Alice” like the crewmen did. Juno says the railroad workers thought Æolus was too hard to pronounce. It took me a few tries to get it right, but the Goddesses have unusual names too so they think it is important to say them correctly (unless you are sassing your engine).
No. 4001 was built fresh from components later that summer and though she and 4000 mostly looked the same once they had their shrouds, they were quite different to each other. Since 4001 was new and had improvements to 4000, she could sometimes be impatient and not listen to his advice. The Goddesses got along better with her than 4000 though (I’m sure you suspect why too). They didn’t see the Æolus that often, only when Pegasus was due in the shops. Otherwise, the two of them pulled the Black Hawk like you said.
Vesta was particularly excited to tell me that sometimes, if the Æolus’ shroud panels weren’t secured properly after being opened for maintenance, they might fly up and flap about when the train got up to speed. The crewmen would call this “lifting their skirts”. It looked very silly and was also very loud, which Minerva remembers as being a lot less funny than Vesta does. She says the noise startled the passengers and the train would have to stop for the crew to close the shroud panels properly. If she was embarrassed by the delay, I can’t imagine how the Æolus themselves must have felt!
Once the Zephyr trains had us E5’s to cover them, they took the shrouds off the Æolus, so they went back to being normal steam engines. Not being streamlined anymore must feel strange, but I think it’s nice that steam engines can take it on and off. It’s like a coat for them! Minerva says their crews were happy not to have to fuss with their shrouds anymore.
A few of our steam engines got new coats of their own last month. Coats of paint, that is. Work hasn’t slowed down at all in the steam shop; I can hear how busy they are all the way out here! Since we’ll be closing up for the cold season, Shay says the painting is just a matter of convenience. They all need to have their tenders emptied and their cabs cleaned out, and they might as well get their paintwork done while they’re there. The volunteers say that Frisco 1630 won’t be finished before Christmas, but that’s okay because they got so far along with her work that they’ll be ready to hit the ground running after the New Year. Venus and I have passed along our well-wishes with Tuskegee to send to her (long workshop stays can be dreadfully boring), but both Shay and Tuskegee say Frisco’s in high-spirits and looking forward to spending the winter in a warm barn. Can’t say I blame her!
The trolley department’s been just as lively as the steam workshop. 9553 and 9631 tell me the volunteers who maintain the overhead wires had a word with the company in charge of removing the bus lines in Chicago after trolley services shut down in March and they’ve come into all kinds of hardware straight from the old CTA lines. Our guys even helped them take down the wires in exchange for the parts! I don’t know if that’s philanthropy or not. Vesta called it ‘salvage’. Either way, the trolley bus garage has been slowly filling up as the new parts trickle in. 9553 joked that they’ll have to park 9631 outside if they run out of room indoors, which I don’t think he appreciated very much.
Thanksgiving is next week, which means the end of our operating season and saying goodbye to all the engines we see regularly for a few months. It’s not lonely with the Goddesses and there will still be volunteers who come in to do occasional work, but it’s definitely about to get a lot more quiet around here. Last year when the museum closed, I was still dealing with the broken valve spring and feeling very sorry for myself. This year I feel almost excited! Seeing all the hard work being done to improve the museum and meeting all our new stock, it’s hard not to feel like the future here is bright. Since it is almost Thanksgiving, I also wanted to thank you and your guides for the letters yet again! I think they’ve contributed to the future seeming as bright as it does.
Wishing you and everyone at the MSI happy holidays!
Your friend,
Pilot