Canvas on 451

Today we placed new canvas on top of the 451 and stretched it out. When I arrived, it had already been unrolled as seen here. Frank Sirinek, our resident canvas expert, supervised the project, helped by Dan Fenlaciki, Charlie Strong, and myself.

We have a set of clamps made up for just this purpose. Here's a couple of them.

Dan is attaching a clamp to the bottom edge of the canvas. The rope is then tied to any handy part of the underbody equipment, and tightened by twisting a bolt around the rope.

The canvas was wet when installed, and as it dries, it should shrink and become tighter. Then we will tension it again.

Here is what it looks like, sort of, after the ropes have been tightened. Frank is pleased with the progress so far.

Charlie won't be able to start painting the 451 until the roof work is farther along, so the 319 might get done first. He spent much of the day doing finish sanding on the sides; he has a DA sander and knows just what sort of surface he needs for painting.

I fixed one seat back that was coming out of its tracks by cutting out and inserting shims, just as the CA&E did.

And Max and Roger were working on installing a new compressor for the Barn 2 shop. Lots of other people were out, working on various projects.

I cleaned up and painted the two trolley bases with primer, as seen here. I'm not sure painting the springs does much good, but it can't hurt.

I also worked on some cosmetic details, which I need to resolve if the 319 is to be painted soon. There are a few missing dowel plugs in the drip rail, for instance.

All in all, it's very exciting. We're making progress on many fronts.