Yule Like This

Phil Stepek helped me unload the items I had picked up last Saturday, and stored them so the Steam Dept. can pick them up this Saturday, when I won't be out. Thanks, Phil!

After that, most of the day was spent stripping paint from car 36. This picture gives a view of most of what was accomplished. It just takes a while.

The kingpin at the #2 end has never seated properly, and was sticking up as seen here. This is a serious accident hazard, since the lights are usually not on in the car. The car has been moved several times, and I kept hoping it would drop in, as they usually do, but no. So I got a large hammer and finally got it loose and removed it. The bottom end is slightly bent, somehow, so I'm hoping my buddies in the Steam Dept. will be able to straighten it out. That shouldn't be very hard. The kingpin is 2" in diameter, almost 3' long, and weighs a lot.

It was too damp to paint in the 319, but I cleaned off another cord hanger and did some more surface prep on the ceiling.

I also discussed some of the electrical wiring on the Charles City locomotive with John Nelligan and Rod. There appears to be no provision for access to the contactors and reverser under the hood, other than by squeezing yourself into a very tight space, where there's no room to move your arms. What an awful design. Simple things like sequencing the contactors and replacing tips are next to impossible. So we're trying to decide on a solution.

But today was also the holiday party for the Wednesday crew! This year's was bigger and better than ever. And a large number of people showed up to eat.

Here we make good use of the big bandsaw as a picnic table.

Everybody went away happy, I think, and probably heavier than before. It's that time of year!