This morning, after the usual weekly breakfast club meeting between Frank, Esther, and me, I brought out the triple valves for the operating cars 308, 309, and 319, and installed them. Frank plans to be out on Saturday so we'll test them then and make sure the cars can at least run themselves over to 4 for inspection.
Al Reinschmidt came out to help again, so it was back to working on the 36. After more paint stripping and sanding, there were several more sectors ready for paint. Here we see Al applying white primer to the new areas. Having his help is really making things go along faster.
For the upper two-thirds, we have a first coat of primer on more than half of the car, so we're making good progress. The bottom siding can be done from the ground anytime.
As usual, these pictures are handicapped by the limited angles and spotty lighting. Sooner or later, I'll be able to pull the car outside.A while back, I was talking to Jim Followell, the painting contractor who spray-painted most of the CA&E cars we got from Trolleyville. We looked at the blue cars, and he asked how we had painted them. Well, we did it all by hand, using a 1 1/2" sash brush. "I can't even imagine doing that!" he commented. But this method has certain advantages for us non-professionals. The cost of supplies is much less, of course, and we don't need any special training or skills. And I'm sure we use less paint, since it all winds up on the car instead of blowing away in the wind. There's little or no masking to be done, which saves a lot of time, and we don't have to wear special respirators and masks and the other annoying protective gear they have to use. Sure, it takes longer, but we do a little each day and matching one day's work to another's seems to be no problem. If it was good enough for the 1920's, it's good enough for me!
6 comments:
Randall,
It sounds like all the Columbia Park and Southwestern lettering is off the letter-boards.
We sure do thank you!
Ted Miles
This is only on one side, Ted. The other side is towards the visitor aisle where I can't work on it. Once this side and perhaps the two ends are done, the car can be repositioned. But there are lots of pictures of the car in CP&SW green, so it will never be forgotten.
Randall, how many gallons of primer and paint (respectively) does it take to paint the exterior of one car?
Now that's a good question. I don't have an exact answer, partly because we're using two types of primer and three finish colors, so I'll have to estimate. But I'd say it's a total of about two gallons per coat (for the exterior only). And maybe some more for the windows, which are typically done separately. Frank might have a better idea. But it goes slowly enough that you run the risk of having the paint harden up in the bottom of the can.
Of course, this car is shorter, so it'll be less!
To my experience with the type of paint being used here, they advertise coverage of 400 sq ft per gallon. In practice that is never realized. Maybe 300 sq ft if you are lucky. Depending on the condition of the siding and wood, it may be prudent to do two coats of priming with sanding in between, and I am thinking two coats of the finished color enamel. That leads to a rough estimate of two gallons per coat of the material for the entire car exterior. So, eight gallons total if you had one color of each. With multiple primers and finish colors, surely there will be more purchased and leftovers of some. Your mileage may vary. Tax and license not included.
Bob Kutella
Ahh, so you would actually need more of this type of paint than using the really good spray paint that mostly blows away in the "windy" barns?
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