277 Update

Progress was made on the roof today, in spite of the heat. All of the saddles and roof boards are in place and partially assembled. Half of the saddles are now caulked to the canvas and screwed down; I ran out of caulk. But the more caulk the better. My plan of preliminary assembly of the parts before installing the canvas seems to be working out very well.

Then it was time to move to the interior, where at least I could have some forced air ventilation. Yesterday I got a correct mix for the side walls in the car, and today I was able to put on a finish coat over three double window sections plus the rear wall, as seen to the right. Photographs actually show much better color contrast than you get in person; I'm now sure that Bruneau must have painted the window shade boxes a different color than the window frames and shade tracks, although that's not obvious when you're inside the car.

Meanwhile the 308 and 309 were operating in revenue service, with motorman Jim Nauer and conductors Steve Jirsa and Jim Windmeier. All went well.

And Frank Sirinek is now in the business of marriage counseling. It was basically "We need money, so empty your bank account. If your wife objects, threaten to divorce her." Thanks, Frank! What could possibly go wrong?