Yuletide at Union

So I asked myself, where better to spend the last weekend day before Christmas than in the freezing cold and snow out in Union? With the answer obvious, I headed out to IRM on Sunday to get a few final hours of work in before the end of the year. The first thing I found when I arrived was that Santa, in the form of Car Department head Rod Turner, had left me some gifts: three small, oddly-shaped steel plates which will be used to patch holes in the extra-wide window posts at the ends of the 205's car body.They're seen sitting atop the cardboard templates that I had given Rod a couple of weeks ago. In the background is my first project for the day, the #2 end C-6 controller cover for the 319, which I needle-chipped and wire-wheeled so that it can be spray painted red. Following completion of this work I took the steel patches over to the 205 and confirmed that they will indeed fit. The wide window posts near the ends of the 205 saw severe rust damage at the belt rail so these patches will be installed to cover those holes. Below left, the C-6 cover after prepping; below right, one of the patch pieces being test fit. Bondo work will still be needed when the weather warms up but this is a big step forward in readying the 205 for paint.









I was able to install one of the patches with the help of Joel Ahrendt; the other two will have to wait until next time. The shop was fairly active with the full Michigan Electric crew at work and several people working on the new Toledo Edison locomotive as well. The Santa Train was operating and in the evening several of us adjourned to the diner annex for some Yuletide hot chocolate and central heating. We even got a visit from St. Nick himself!