We Must Tighten Our Belts

If you weren't out at IRM today, you missed a lot of productive activity. There were many activities in progress, much of which I missed. Sorry!

I finished making roof saddles for the 319. These will support the running boards on the roof. I finished cutting them out, sanding them down, and drilling the holes. Buzz and Tim helped by putting a new blade in the big bandsaw, which cuts much better. Thanks!

Chris Buck wandered by, so I knocked him down, sat on his chest, and choked him until.... well, no, he actually volunteered to help, so he spent much of the day painting the saddles with primer.

They look good, if we may say so ourselves. Thanks, Chris!

That gave me some time to put the round over on the bottom edges of the tack molding corners I mentioned earlier. I could have done this at home, but I'd have to buy a router bit I might never need again. Thanks, Bob!

And I spent a couple of hours with more paint removal in the vestibule of the 319. The paint on the inside of the doors is generally in good shape, so I'll just sand them down and repaint.

I also wanted to recheck the measurements for the end car cards for the 308 and 319, as seen here, before I have them laminated.

And after writing this up, I realized that in 1950 they probably wouldn't be running wood cars like the 308 in express service to Elgin. But I think that's a minor detail. Hey, nobody's perfect!

In other news, Dave Diamond, helped by Buzz and others, was working on the interior of the O'Mahony diner. Sorry, this picture just doesn't do Dave justice, now, does it?

In times like these, we need to tighten our belts. That's what Tim is doing here -- tightening a drive belt on the Fay sticker, which he was using to make tack moldings for 4000s. It would be nice if the machine had a screw adjust, but no, he has to take 1/2" pieces out of the belt until it works OK.