Can't Stand the Suspense

The 308 and 309 were operating today, under the expert control of Bob Heinlein and Rich Block. I started by reattaching the shunt to the rebuilt trolley shoe on the 308, which had come loose last time. After some other minor maintenance, the cars were cleared for service. I then spent some time cleaning up the area where the cars usually sit, and made a better attachment for the banner from the dedication of the 308 in 2006. Unfortunately, the banner from the 309's dedication earlier this year seems to have disappeared!

Here's the line car heading out to Schmidt siding to repair the overhead. The car can no longer operate under its own power, so it's being pulled by a locomotive. Max Tyms is the line foreman, aided in this case by Henry Vincent, Charlie Strong, and Stan W.

Here are Bob Kutella and Vic Humphreys working on their insulated boxcar.

This is the interior of the 309. See the CA&E photo album for more interior photos I took today.

I spent some time working on an engineering drawing of the roof of the 277, since I'll be replacing it this winter. When the line car crew returned, the 277 was moved over to the pit lead. We then started fixing up the switch group. Here Charlie does his usual thorough cleaning job on the car -- the improvement is impressive.

We disassembled the arc chutes, which Stan then painted with Glyptal, supervised by Max. I worked on filing down the fingers, checking the movement, etc. helped by Steve Lewkowycz and Dan Fenlaciki. This is the switch group with the arc chute parts and fingers removed.

I also had some time to clean up the interior a little, as seen here. Unfortunately, we couldn't test the car's operation before I had to leave. Rod was unable to make it out. But we'll let you know as soon as the results are in.

Finally, here is a picture of the CA&E cars waiting for their meet at Johnson siding. What a beautiful day!