Or the orange, or whatever this ugly color was. In any case, we're working hard to make it disappear. Today part of the roof was painted with gloss black, to make it look like it did at the end of service. It's a big improvement, as you can see here.
This paint job is cosmetic only. It does not make the roof any more watertight. We will need to make all new tack molding and replace the canvas, but that will require Department resources, and for the immediate future this will have to be good enough. The 319 will still be a fair-weather car, like the others.
I finished one side, as seen here. I will need to paint most of the center section, but that can be done by standing on the roof boards and using an applicator on a stick, so it will go much faster. I use brushes on the hips of the roof to avoid dripping paint down the sides.
Working in the heated section of Barn 2 makes projects like this possible, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to move in there.
Working in the heated section of Barn 2 makes projects like this possible, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to move in there.
Then it was time to go over to the woodshop and paint some more windows, which have already been stripped of their yellowish-orange paint. At least here I had some company.
Mr. Socks jumped up on the chair so he could watch the paint dry. After a while that lost its fascination somehow and he took a cat nap. But he opened his eyes as soon as I pulled out the camera.I painted seven window frames with the interior "butterscotch" color; three of these are the second coat, and four more were a first coat. All of the windows on one side are either done or in process.
And then I painted some more window shade tracks.
I also talked to Frank Sirinek about our plans for Wednesday. We'll drive over to the Rockford Foundry to get brass parts made, as mentioned last time. He told me about his recent trip to Scranton with Nick and some others; more about that later.
And then, for a change of pace, I made my way through the fog to Rockefeller Chapel for a rehearsal. What a fantastic building!
8 comments:
From the close-up photos, it looks as if the car's roof was painted a peach or flesh-tone color.
Color response under these lighting conditions is very unpredictable. You'll notice that I have two pictures of repainted windows above; those are the same windows, but they look like entirely different colors. In any case, I'm sure nothing like this peach color was ever used; traces of it would have shown up somewhere.
Randall:
Have you determined the proper color for the roof for an earlier paint scheme? I am trying to get a color to repaint 303s roof now that we have the car safely stored at our museum. The orange seems like an odd color. They removed one roof cleat for the pantograph install and there is a different redish color on the roof where the cleat had been installed. It kinda like a weathered tile red at this point. Any idea if this was the color for the green paint scheme?
Chris Chestnut
CT Trolley
Good question, Chris. That seems to depend on the car. If you have Peffers vol. 3, look at the aerial photo from Dec. 1906 on p. 186. Although the line has been in business for only four years, there are obviously two completely different roof colors in use. The problem you're faced with is that when the canvas was replaced, any evidence as to canvas-only color was lost.
There are no color photos from that period, so we're left with hand-colored postcards. There are a couple on p. 139 that show the 300 with a light reddish color for the canvas, and the clerestory deck is the same Pullman Green as the body. You will observe that not all postcards agree, but some of that could be due to laziness on the part of the "artists."
I too would like to have a more definite idea of what the roof color should be for the green paint scheme, in case we decide to go that route. Those postcards are suggestive but probably won't stand up in court, so to speak.
Was the weathered tile red you found painted onto the canvas itself, or was it painted on wood trim? My two guesses would be that either it's "red lead" primer or, if it's definitely finish paint, it might be a remnant of the 1930's coffee-and-cream livery. We know the cars' clerestories were painted dark red during that era but haven't been certain about the canvas color.
The color is directly under a roof cleat on the canvas. I am still not sure if it is the red lead. I was guessing at this point that they may have painted the roof at least one coat of paint before they applied the roof cleats. The big question is whether the car ever received new canvas or is it the original canvas. Since it is a light reddish color as shown in the postcards, could it be correct enough? I have a lithograph of the niles built northern from about the same period. It has a light reddish color as well. Maybe a standard scheme for niles with pullman green bodies. I am planning on doing some digging on the northern in the clearstory area. I may be able to obtain a chip of the correct green from that car as it went out of service long before other cars did.
I am suprised when you say the deck below the clearstory was the same pullman green. I am wondering how the would have blended the colors where the deck meets the main roof.
Let me know what the price on the sign clamp castings are going to be, I may want to get a set for 303.
Thanks
Chris Chestnut
Good points, Chris. I wouldn't think it would be a problem to have a different color for the canvas vs the wood and metal parts, it's usually different paint. And I would think they would have painted the canvas before installing any hardware on top of it.
The 303 doesn't currently have dash lights or folding signs, are you planning to replace them?
We are at some point. I was able to get a pair of dash lights and one sign to use as patterns for the car. I figure that will come at some point in the future. Right now we are finishing up putting the car back together.
I was pleased on further inspection of the roof that it does not appear to be in bad shape at this point. I am finding that there was some rubberized roof coating put on in the past that is easily stripped off in large sheets down to the canvas. We may go ahead and remove it and put a coat of fresh paint over the canvas.
Chris Chestnut
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