by John Cole » Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:03 pm
Hi Martyn, If you look at the summer work session schedule you will see that Chris Trunk is leading up teams sessions D&F working on restoring our 2 frameless cars. Perhaps you missed them as they are sitting on wood cribbing just outside the Friends CRF building outside the loop in Antonito. One is a true GRAMPS, and the other is a regular UTLX frameless. It seems that Gramps only leased 30 of the cars, so we have one of each. The work sessions for the last 3 summers in Alder Gulch have been to trade Friends labor to get about a dozen UTLX trucks back to the CATS so we can put our 2 cars back on the rails. This summer when we rent a crane to lift the roof trusses up on poles for the car barn in Antonito, we are also planning while it is there, and use it to put the 2 frameless cars back on their trucks. Chris and his team has been working on the frameless cars for 3 years now, so that will be a huge step toward completion.
It will be the first time since the 1960's that a Gramps and a UTLX frameless tank car will be on home rails. Most exciting!
whilst photographing every item of rolling stock I could find the one thing missing was a "Gramps" like tank car. Does the C&T have an example of one of these hidden away somewhere? it would be great to see one on a preserved freight run.
