Heat, Light, and Power

As sometimes happens, we've got exciting news from elsewhere on the property, while what I personally was doing is rather drab. Well, tough!

I spent some time cleaning windows in the 319 and installing more screws as needed in the window shade tracks. The windows had a lot of signs of some sort taped to them over the years., so all the gunk has to be removed. I also worked on a window shade that wouldn't stay in place; it had glued itself together and would not completely unroll, in any case. So I went to our storage and got a replacement; after some time and effort, it was installed and works OK. For some reason the railroad rebuilt the window shade boxes in the 319 so they cannot be removed. The only effective way to replace a window shade is to remove the window and work on it from outside.

I also went to the 321 and fastened the tarp more securely. The wind was really blowing today, and that helps identify any problems with the tarps not being fastened down well enough.

Then I worked on freeing up the ventilators, some of which hadn't been moved in many years. There are ten of these Utility ventilators on each car; six of them have adjustable louvers (L) and the other four don't (R). These have sheet metal plates in them to prevent any ventilation whatsoever, which was useful in the winter, I suppose. I'll remove these plates next spring; they've been removed from the blue cars since we only operate in the summer.

The Schroeder Store has been rotated and placed over its permanent foundation, as seen here. I'm not sure what needs to be done before it can be set down.

This view down Central Avenue gives you a good idea of what it will look like when the street is extended to become Main Street. If you would like to live along Main Street, I'm now a real estate agent for the Museum and will be glad to sell you the deed to a buildable lot with all utilities included, at a bargain price!

But seriously, folks, we're saving the best for last. Today the 1630 was moving under its own power again! The air pump is still not working, so the locomotive was attached to air hoses connected to air compressors (R), sort of like a hospital patient walking down the hall connected to IV. But it moved back and forth 100' or so several times.

And as you can see below, the whistle attracted a good crowd, considering the limited number of visitors we had on this dreary day. I'm sure that steam, when it returns, will be a huge attraction. The Steam Dept. can be very proud of their accomplishments.