Another Season on the Trans-Siberian

At least that's what it sometimes may seem like. It was extremely cold today with strong winds. At least there's no wind chill inside the barn. Here we see the 321 and 4001 now stored behind Barn 8 under their tarps. The only reason I went out back at all was because I realized I had left my lettering enamel in the 321 and had to retrieve it.

And I'll add some nice winter scenes to the scenery page.

Here's the result of all the switching that was done last weekend. We now have three open slots in Barn 8. One of them is currently occupied by three pairs of trucks, for the 319, 1100, and 141. And in the center aisle, we see the pilots and steps from the 321, and the Hicks Chair of Mathematics.

I decided one feasible project for a cold day was to finish lettering the 309, actually. The #2 vestibule had never gotten the warning on the train door for some reason. A space heater can easily bring the little vestibule up to a nice warm temperature, so it's a good place to work. As seen to the right, I applied a matrix of masking tape as a guide for lettering the door. Getting the heater and extension cord installed, making the measurements, getting the paint from the 321 and warming everything up took more time than the actual lettering.

So here I am part way through. I'm a little out of practice and decided to start over after the first two words. The second time went better after warming the paint some more. If you flub up, it's easy to just wipe it off with mineral spirits and redo.

And the final result.

The next winter project should be to letter the interior of the 308; in several places it's supposed to say "Please keep your feet off seats." But heating up an entire compartment is harder, so it can't be quite so cold outside.