There Goes the Neighborhood

I found this rather disreputable-looking freight car sitting amongst our nice shiny CA&E fleet yesterday. Are there no zoning laws?

Actually, the M-37 is quite historic and is getting a new roof, which is very good. It's the only surviving example of the earliest form of intermodal transportation. The doors on each end swing open, and two containers could be rolled inside. We have one of these containers also. So preserving this car is important.

The roof is being covered with a rubber membrane. This should do a good job of protecting the car while it sits outside. It will of course need to be stretched, but once it's in place, it should last well. I don't think we have much experience with this type of covering, so I'll try to learn what I can and perhaps add it to the roof FAQ page.

This is, of course, just a temporary fix. The only permanent solution is to build a new barn. So any contributions towards indoor storage space for our equipment will be most welcome!

The whole day was spent painting the interior walls, as seen here. I started putting the first finish coat on the end bulkhead, door, and toilet compartment. It looks good, if I may say so myself. When the paint is fresh, you can see reflections in it.

I also removed two buzzer cord hangers and took them to the shop to be wire-wheeled down to bare brass.

They were then put back in place and painted with white primer.