My July 4th Trolley Pageant post is going to be rather photo-bare. I left my camera locked up safely in LSE 150 for the day! Therefore, I'm using other people's material to highlight the day. (Thanks to Gwyn Stupar for photographing me as the "serious trolley conductor!").
I had to do the St. Louis to IRM and back trip in one day. I had to attend a wedding on the 3rd and had to be at work on the 5th. Thankfully, I had a bunch of frequent flyer miles accumulated from my business trips with American Airlines. My day began with a 6:35 am flight out of St. Louis-Lambert International Airport on an American Airlines 757. After arrival at O'Hare, Frank picked me up from Terminal 3. We had originally planned to eat lunch at Allen's Corner, but they were closed for the holiday, so we ate at the McDonald's at the Hampshire exit on the Tollway.
Here's a video of the 2 car South Shore train during the parade:
After our job briefing with Rod Turner and Joe Stupar, we went to prepare the 19 for service. The car is starting to really transform into a beautiful car. Frank S. and Mike S. have done a great job refinishing most of the seats. The parade lineup looked impressive. After we passed the Depot in review, Frank and I immediately went into service on the car line. The open car proved popular, as we were full for most circuits of the property.
Here is a video of the IC MU Cars. I was the conductor on these during the 2009 parade:
IRM Member Gwyn Stupar is turning out to be quite the excellent photographer. Here's the link to her photo stream on Flikr:
After our last trip, we put the car back up, changed and headed back to O'Hare. I managed to get an earlier flight on standby, thanks to my status with AA. By 8:10 I was in a seat on an ex-TWA MD-80 headed to St. Louis.
Here is a video of the IT freight train:
The IRM and back in one day from St. Louis is something I do not recommend for the faint hearted. It was a busy day, but a fun one.
Finally, as always, it was great to see all of the IRM members and chat, even for just a short bit.