Two Heads Are Better Than One

Frank and I were both able to be at the Museum today, a fairly rare conjunction of the planets nowadays.

The last trolley pole for the 309 had its new casting riveted in place last week by Rod Turner, so it was ready to install. Thanks, Rod! With Frank's help, I got it into place and checked that both poles are securely fastened in place. Frank also took the photo at right showing one of the new shoes in the foreground.

It was suggested that the new roof boards on the 277 should be painted with a finish coat of some sort to protect them. Of course the color doesn't matter because it will be covered by canvas. I found that we have more than a gallon left of the light green used on the interior of the 308, which shouldn't need repainting any time soon, so this was an obvious choice. I painted the roof as shown here.



I then did some work on the interior of the 277. Bob Bruneau had acquired the necessary pieces of plywood to replace the deteriorated sections of the wall panels, and I trimmed the first one to size as a test. (R) Here we see it in a test installation. The new plywood, not yet painted, is indicated by the red arrow. To its left is a part of one of the wall panels; this piece was broken off the "croquet hoop" but serves for a convenient test fit. Note that the plywood is not supposed to be flush with the pieces to either side; it's thinner. Don't ask me why.

(L) I then painted the newly-trimmed piece of plywood with white primer. (R) And here's the upper sash, as shown previously.







(L) I got another light fixture from our friend Phil Stepek and mounted it inside the 277, so I have some better lighting. Thanks, Phil! (R) I then removed the last remaining piece of panelling from the right side of the car (shown last time). It came off more easily than I expected. Behind it on the cross pieces was a 96-year old collection of spare parts, dust, and cobwebs.



Some work was also done on the doors for the 205; the remaining surfaces of the "window sticks" that will hold the window panes in were painted orange and the various pieces of door hardware were rounded up and installed. These include the rollers at the top of the door and the backing plates for the bolts that hold the hinges in place, both pictured at left, as well as grab-irons.