Tick, Tick, Tick

The seconds are ticking away on the contest clock as we try to get the 309 ready for its dedication. So today I pulled it outside again for more painting.

I thought it only appropriate that the blue cars should have the biggest blue flag (left) in the Museum.

Actually, as I was putting it in place and taking a picture, I was thinking "This is pretty silly. There won't be anything coming in on track 84 today." But I was wrong! Soon a large hi-railer truck backed in - it's a weed sprayer, and Nick was directing the weed spraying all over the property. I had to pull the 309 back in the barn briefly so he could spray up to the barn. Here he is (right) with the truck on the connector track. Without that blue flag, who knows what disaster might have occurred?

I painted blue on the side sills, also one remaining side door and the metal plate over the end door at the #2 end. The side sill I beam has the word "ILLINOIS" cast in it about every eight feet, presumably for Illinois Steel. This only appears on one side, however; on the other side, the word is on the inside of the beam. On the 308, the word "PHOENIX" similarly appears on one side of the car, but it's upside down! That just goes to show you how careless the employees of other car builders could be, compared to the quality you expect from Hicks Locomotive and Car Works!

I also pulled the car farther out to spray-paint the trolley poles. It isn't easy in a strong wind, but I don't know what else to do. Anyhow, as I was up there, it struck me that most of you don't get a chance to see the world from this perspective. Here's a couple of views of the overhead from on top of the car. To the left, there's a trolley frog directly in front of us, circled in red. The trolley wire extends out in three directions, marked by red lines. The main wire comes in from about 4 o'clock, passes over the frog casting, and goes out at about 11 o'clock. The other wire comes in from 2 o'clock, is clamped off, and the excess points straight up. To the right, we see the pole on the wire. It's off to one side because we're on a curve. This is grooved trolley wire - sort of like the number 8, with grooves on each side. This makes it easier to clamp to. Round trolley wire can also be used, but the clamps have to be a different type.

I also painted grey all remaining parts of the south side clerestory, finished installing car cards in the smoker, and painted the hand rails on the south side of the car with Fleet Grey. Later in the afternoon, Tim came by with a truckload of hardwood for the 1268. I helped him load it into the 1808 for temporary storage, as shown here.