The 205 is drawing near to the point where we can begin painting. Sunday I concentrated on finishing up application of body filler to a few more areas of the car and priming those spots. Included in these were the two wide window posts at the east end of the car body, shown below in "before" (below left, in January) and "after" (below right, yesterday) condition. There was extensive loss of metal in these areas and they had to be patched.
I also finished sanding and primed the northeast corner post, and did progressed on using body filler to smooth out the letterboard at the west end of the car. And I spoke with Dan Fenlaciki, a project worker on Indiana Railroad 65, who gave me some information on the exact shade of orange we're going to want to use for the 205. Once I can procure a sample we'll get it matched and then we can start on turning the car orange!
The department was busy. Norm, Jeff and Walt were working on roof carlines and front end wiring on Michigan 28, George was plugging along on LSE 810, inspection work on CA&E 409 was wrapping up, and several people were working on prepping cars for the July 4th Trolley Pageant. At the end of the day North Shore 714 was brought over to the pit lead for oiling; all other inspection work on the car had been completed last November. It just came out of the Barn 2 paint shop and boy does it look terrific, especially trained with the 749!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Closer and closer...
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9 comments:
714 looks great again! Is there a plan to restore its "lobster trap" roof mats? Will the 160 be restored to this paint scheme or get a boiler?
Seeing 714 with 749 just kinda takes your breath away doesn't it?
Hopefully Joe or Joel can chime in with more info, but yes, there are plans to restore the "lobster traps" to the 714 as time and resources permit. And I believe the intention is to keep the 160 as a "Greenliner" and eventually replace its water heater, though I don't know whether it would be functional or just for show.
Well, we'll eventually get the lobster traps up there, we still have to decide what type, and see if we need to replace the canvas before that or not.
As for 160, the heater would be just for show, as we don't really want another hole in the roof.
Randall, I noticed that the North Shore and CA&E cars operate without headlamps. Why is that?
Regards, Cliff McKay
The cars would carry headlights only when it was dark, or about to get dark. We usually operate only in the daytime, so they're not necessary. And we have to change ends often, so they would be a real nuisance.
That's interesting. Does the Museum have a special exception due to the historic nature of the equipment, or could any railroad theoretically operate without headlights during daylight hours?
Cliff McKay
Its kind of complicated, but there was a law passed, I believe sometime in 1957, that mandated headlights during daytime hours. The CA&E had already quit by then, so you don't see many daytime photos of the CA&E with headlights. But it did apply to the last few years of the North Shore, so you see a lot of photos of those cars with headlights.
The museum is not a common carrier, and the electrics are historic equipment, so we are not required to carry headlights. We also operate at reduced speed over our grade crossings because we don't have modern compliant headlights and ditch lights. What Randy mentioned about the hassle of changing ends frequently is also true.
On the 160, the museum has done work over the years to backdate it so that it could wear the greenliner scheme. This included replacing all the seats with the green plush fabric. The museum also acquired a hot water stove for the car from another car which was scrapped. However, I was told they practically had to torch the end of the car apart to get the stove out. There was some question about whether we could get it into the 160 intact. Also, the electric heat is much more useful than the hot water heat. I suspect if we ever are able to install the stove it would be just for show.
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