Cooking up a doughnut

I was out at IRM on Sunday and spent a few hours working on a "doughnut," although I wouldn't recommend eating this one. The MU sockets at the ends of the 205 originally were the dash-mounted variety, bolted straight through the end of the car, unlike those on CA&E or North Shore cars mounted to the floor or under the coupler. These were not attached directly to the dash but rather were set out from the dash by a wooden ring about 1-1/4" thick. A few weeks ago I had glued together a couple of thinner planks to make a large 1-1/4" thick piece of wood and on Sunday I cut it to approximate size with the band saw, sanded the outside edge into a circle, drilled holes for some of the variations in the MU socket casting that would have to fit through the center of the "doughnut," and drilled out the center. Fortunately, for this last task Rod Turner provided a 4-3/4" diameter hole saw and quickly made the cut. After a bit of fitting, and drilling holes for the bolts that will actually bolt the MU socket through the wooden ring and into the dash, I primed both the "doughnut" and the MU socket itself. The various stages are shown below.

At left, after drilling holes to accommodate the casting; center, after drilling and fitting, with the socket itself in the background; at right, the ring and socket body in primer.

The shop was a beehive of activity: all three of the Michigan guys were working on the 28, George was working on the 810, the Windmeiers were building step boxes, Frank and Dan were working on blue-tinted upper sash windows for the Kansas City PCC, and a team including Greg, Joel and Doodlebug Dan were reattaching the unusual air valve assembly pictured last week to the 277. Following reassembly the car's brakes were tested and no trace of the former problems found - it appears that the problem may have been fixed!

As a final note, congratulations to Joe and Gwyn Stupar on moving into their first house! They made the move on Saturday with the help of a large crew of IRM volunteers including Joel A., Greg C., Scott G., Greg K., Dan M., Rod T., and Ray W. They wanted to extend their thanks to everyone who helped make everything go so smoothly.