Air Apparent

I'm filing my report in somewhat delayed fashion, but I was able to make it out to the museum for the first time in a few months on Saturday and started out by taking a look at air leaks on the CA&E wood cars. The triple valves on all three cars were removed last fall for cleaning and servicing and have not yet been replaced, but by cutting out the brakes I was able to pump up each car's air in succession and go around testing for air leaks. This was done using a spray bottle of water and dishwashing soap.
Seen above is the result of spraying this mixture on a problem spot, in this case the #2 end of the 309. The elbow below the motorman's air gauge is surrounded by bubbles created by the air leaking out. I found about half a dozen minor leaks, of which a couple were pretty easy fixes. Most involve cut-off valves, though, which means they'll likely need to be lapped or replaced. More to come on this in the coming month or two.

Anyway, once I had recorded the locations of these leaks and taken care of some of the "low-hanging fruit," I headed over to Barn 7 and the 205. One of the few areas of the car still awaiting primer was the east end step and platform knee, so I wire-wheeled the platform knee and put primer on it, the step, and the step well just inside the door. Before-and-after photos are below.









And that was about it for me for the day. There was plenty of activity in the shop, with CTA 4391 undergoing its annual inspection on the pit and Michigan 28, Milwaukee 972's truck and Cleveland 4223 among the projects seeing progress. Joel was working on a trolley harp for CA&E 451 and Tim was painting the north side of the 1797. Below is another salvo in the Great 1797 Door Control Debate - Tim has installed a step for the conductor on the end of the car.