Saturday, November 20, 2010

319 Report

The first thing I did on Saturday was to check on the 321 and retrieve my clamp, which had been stored there. This was built back in 1979 in order to glue the veneer on the interior walls of the 309. Several places had come loose, and the only feasible way to clamp them was to run a piece of conduit from one side to the other, with blocks of wood on each end and a line bolt for adjusting and tensioning the system.


This is just the thing for raising the ceiling panel in the 319 where it had come loose, as pictured last time. A step box was needed to provide the correct height.


I installed some screws, but decided to leave the clamp in place for now. The panel has been hanging down for a while and has warped, and it may be difficult to return to its original shape.

One amusing thing is that the wires for the 600V lighting circuits run through the ceiling just where I would like to install screws, so I have to work around them. Or else.



Then it was on to more sanding, filling, and painting, as seen here. I would like to finish the smoker over the winter, then maybe go on to other things. The main compartment can be used for revenue service as is next year, I believe.







Finally, over in Barn 2 the contractor Jim Followell and his helper Danielle were finishing up surface prep on the 451. They were planning to paint the east end of the car by the end of the day, but I had to leave early. Next time I'm out, we should see some nice bright red!

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful work. Question..would a portable steamer help remove some of the warping, or is that too unreliable as to what would happen.


    Sure will be nice to see some red again on 451. Can't wait till next season.

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  2. That might do more harm than good; the ceiling panels have several layers of paint on the only surface that's accessible. There's generally plenty of moisture in the air already; I'm hoping that after a while, clamped in place, the wood will be willing to return to its original shape. And I'll need some longer screws. We'll see.

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