More Paint

Today was mostly the 277 again; I started by tacking down the new canvas with a double row of tacks completely around the periphery. I then put on a second coat of paint. The first coat needed a gallon to cover about 70 square feet, the second coat needed less than half a gallon. Next step: start reinstalling the saddles and running boards!

I then took some time to investigate a couple of minor issues that had been reported with the blue cars. It's nothing serious, and we will be able to continue operating as scheduled if we have enough crew members sign up. So check the list.

Then it was back to the interior of the 277. After some more sorting, I cut out and installed the last piece of plywood on the right side of the main compartment. Then a first coat of primer on the smoker bulkhead. The bulkhead had been stripped by Bob Bruneau, as seen in a picture before painting (L). After painting it looks like this (R). Of course, another coat of primer and two finish coats will be required.

Note on the roof: The 277 really needs a complete roof job. The original canvas is in bad shape and has many rips, holes, and missing sections; it's been patched with tar paper and canvas, and there are patches on patches. Some of the wood is rotted out and needs to be replaced, etc. This job would require a set of scaffolds which we can't set up in Barn 8 and more time and manpower than will be available in the foreseeable future. So I decided to fix up this one area of the roof, because it's where the trolley base is located and was something I could do without scaffolding. And it's something that one person could accomplish in a reasonable time, about a year. The car will still not be watertight, since I haven't yet addressed any of the problems with other areas of the roof. Perhaps over the next year or so more patching can be done so we won't have to worry so much about getting the car even slightly wet. Hope this helps.