Project Update - January - March 2006 

The volunteers have been testing their riveting knowledge and practicing with new tools while riveting the new truck support assemblies. They have done about 60 rivets and would have done much more if it wasn't for the head on the rivet former in air gun breaking three times. We are gaining good experience and a team of about 8 have been working for the past three Wednesday night work sessions in this area. To resolve the problem of the rivet head failures we are seeking to obtain new rivet equipment commercially. Until this problem is overcome, the rivet work will be slower than anticipated and no Saturday sessions are planned until we can be confident the work sessions will not be cut short. This remains the priority task of the 696 Streetcar Restoration group at the moment and since the work is using up most of the Restoration shed other smaller jobs will be put off or we will seek new work sites. The 905 Streetcar restoration will be done whenever riveting work is being done due to the noise levels associated with this work inside the main shed. The complete floor and lower sidewall assembly of the original 696 Streetcar has been refabricated with the generous assistance of Ken Glover of Loucon Metal Ltd on Grenfell Crescent. The wooden floor cross members have been already rebuilt with wood supplied by Tim Priddle of the owner of Adams and Kennedy Co, "The Wood source" in Manotick. Once the rivet team is able to work for longer periods the complete lower floor and side walls will be assembled and will be strong enough to take the 696 on the road again with passengers.

Carmen Keys and John Bruce at Malberg Truck Trailer Equipment on Michael St have been assisting with the 696 Streetcar leaf spring restoration. The first springs have been taken apart, cleaned and are ready for reassembly. They have been coordinating this part of the project. The springs can be rebuilt once Peter Stevens of Valley Hardware on Bentley Ave in Nepean is able to obtain the 8 square head bolts needed. This restoration item is moving along well. Again the business sponsors are right in the middle of the restoration project helping.

The volunteer team working on the first 696 Traction motors and truck have completed the disassembly. The first one is the most difficult as the team headed by Georg Rudli found out. A new bolster for the first truck has been completely rebuilt again with the business support of Ken Glover and the Loucon Metal staff. Ken even had the 1/2 inch steel used on the bolster cut using a water cutter. As with almost all our 696 drawing for new metal parts, Sebastian Landry did them up in his spare time and then the CAD drawings were sent to Ken Glover.

The front truck frame was taken apart and on Mar 30th, Eric Hancock of Hanco Sandblasting had is company sandblast the frames and traction motor covers. They were then moved into the paint shop of OC Transpo and painted. This assistance has moved this work ahead by months. Previously we had one volunteer Gerry Robinson @ Freddie the Welder, doing this cleaning of the traction covers and frame by hand with a drill and wire brush. Again this demonstrates how well the local Ottawa business community has pitched in to aid the project. While funds are always limited to get this type of business support, the donation of their skills, materials and time is making this project a success. Doug Dziadyk, from the Electric Motor Company on Preston St in Ottawa, has checked the first traction motor and it appears in good condition with some pitting on the shaft and new babbits needed. We have to seek those with babbit expertise to assist old.

The rebuilding of the 696 Streetcar air compressor has been ongoing for the past year and is almost done. Special thanks go again to the two companies that have teamed up to rebuild this large compressor. Benoit Campagna and Mario Gilbert of the National Research Council, Centre for Surface Transportation Technology, on Lester Road asked if they could help the streetcar project. Together they have taken the complete unit down to the bare bolts and are in the final testing of the motor stage. Benoit when he got to the motor reconstruction called upon Doug Dziadyk, who worked at the Electric Motor Company on Preston St in Ottawa to help. The motor was tested and found like the rest of the compressor to be in good working order considering its age. It appears that the compressor was shopped in 1955 and so had little running time put on it, prior to 696 being retired from service in 1957.  This work is also being done years ahead of schedule, since the 696 volunteers are busy on the main frame work and so the compressor would have laid in the corner for years. Also the expertise shown by the NRC-CSTT work team is invaluable. This compressor will be done this year and returned to the 696 project. At that time we will hopefully have a little fan-fare to show the co-operation between OC Transpo and NCR-CSTT in moving this project ahead.    
     

While not the largest rebuilt item done by the 696 volunteers, this brake stand has a history or story. To give the less skilled volunteers a project to do when not teamed up on the larger ones, we had several volunteers take a turn at taking our rusty brake stand apart. We wanted to clean it up for display purposes. Well several volunteers labored away and even a father and son team helped to take the stand and internal workings apart. When it became time to rebuild the stand, the original dismantling team members had moved on!. So a new group (Names withheld to protect the innocence) volunteered to rebuild the stand and so for about 3 work sessions fought the various springs and fittings trying to put the pieces back into the brake casing. After much discussion, Sebastian Landry walked over and in ten minutes assembled the piece that had been resisting going back in. So the bottom line is never give up and if you can not do it call "Sebastian". With such a group of multi-talented volunteers, many of which have now been rebuilding the 696 Streetcar since it started in December 2000 nothing seems to be impossible. Most of the volunteers are not former streetcar mechanics or streetcar operators, yet they are doing extremely well at reproducing original streetcar parts again in 2006.

The 905 Streetcar has been kept under wraps all winter while the volunteers worked in the heated 696 work shed and now that the warm weather is back some clean up work will be done on this streetcar. The volunteers were successful is obtaining metal roofing from Luke Bourdreau of Ottawa Valley Metal, on Canotak Road in Ottawa after Gerry Robinson approached them. As a result the 905 streetcar was covered with a waterproof metal roof and is preserved from further leaking damage. It is our intentions to clean up the interior of the this car and show it to the public the next time the media wishes to see our progress. This car is also an excellent blue print on how to rebuild the interior of 696 when we get to that stage. The streetcar sits along the roadway to the employee's parking lot into OC Transpo and when cleaned up, it will be put on display so the employees and public can see an actual streetcar up close.

At long last, the streetcar book on the Ottawa Streetcar era is printed and will be for sale in May. OC Transpo is working with the publisher David Henderson to do a book launch May 9th or 5th. Volunteers can get their copy that date at OC Transpo, 1500 St Laurent Blvd or other local outlets. It is to be $59.95 plus taxes but from what I have seen of the previews it is worth it. I will likely have posters with more information on it about this book in the coming weeks.

Last year a number of 696 Streetcar volunteers traveled by private car to visit the HCRM group and exchange restoration information. This year several active volunteers wanted to know if there was any interest in going it again on the Weekend of May 19-21. If interested contact either Barry Thomas or Mike Mueller and if enough active volunteers are interested we will work out travel arrangements and transportation. Last year we stayed in a nearby motel and car pooled. We usually assist the HCRM group with some work tasks while learning how they restore their running equipment. We will check with everyone on April 5th, work session to see if there is sufficient interest.

This fund raising project is close to completion. The pictures, captions and business sponsor additions are almost finished and being proofed. Pro-Printers who did last years printing of the 2006 Calendars have been asked to contribute by printing calendars again this year for cost. Last years calendars were a big hit and were also all sold out by February 2006. We are aiming to have the 2007 version ready in May to go along with the release of the Ottawa Streetcar book. Copies will also be available for the June Open Doors days when the public comes annually to the streetcar shed. If anyone wishes to purchase a 2006 calendar I have a few left and they are only $5.00 now.

In Feb 2006, Herb Lynch, Former OER Streetcar Operator 272 and long time 696 Volunteer passed away. Herb was featured in one of the 696 Streetcar TV features in 2005 and was a great resource for the project on where items should be installed on the 696. We all knew Herb has a special place in his heart for the volunteers restoring the 696, which he actually drove but this point was especially clear when several 696 volunteers attended the wake for Herb and saw the 696 Streetcar Restoration Crest lazer cut into the wooden lid on his urn!

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