Turning Blue

I spent all day painting one side of the 309 blue. On the left, we see the letterboard and upper siding partly done, and on the left, the lower siding. It looks good, if I say so myself.

The letterboard will need to be relettered. However, I found that one coat of blue does not cover the previous yellow lettering completely. I'm hoping this is an advantage. I'll need to check with the head of the Hicks Car Works Art Dept. when he gets back from a business trip, but I believe we were planning to use the same lettering stencils and positioning, so this will save us the step of getting the stencils in place and tracing them. We decided the lettering should be outlined in black with 1/4" outlines. When we lettered the car the first time, we thought black outlines on the dark blue were not used, but later decided this was a mistake.

Also today in Barn 8, Henry Vincent did some work on Illinois Terminal 101. The edge of the floor in one of the motorman's cabs was partly rotted away, so he started by applying some hardener. He says this is a secret recipe he mixes at home. Here he is applying it to the wood. The General also said he'd be going to Gettysburg over the July 4th weekend - that will be the 145th anniversary. Here's hoping he survives the battle and returns home victorious!

And finally, welcome to the IRM Steam Team blog, the newest member of the "East Union Alliance"! (See the links at the bottom of the page.) Give them your support!