Spring Fever

The 319's compressor was feeling ill on Thursday, and today seemed to be even worse. Commutator to ground appeared to be nearly a dead short. This may be partly due to the weather, and of course old age is a factor. So your cards and expressions of sympathy would be appreciated at this difficult time. But don't worry, the two blue cars should be ready for revenue service by Memorial Day weekend. If anybody can help with inspection, that would be great!

After that, I did more paint stripping around the windows on the 36, as seen here. I also picked out a controller cover from storage for use on the 319; the one at the #2 end is still waiting to be repainted.

About 25 years ago I had to rewire this control jumper. It still works fine, but the rubber tubing has shrunk over the years. (L) Ten or more years ago, I pieced in another short section, but the tubing has continued to shrink. I was thinking about starting all over, but then decided to just put in a longer patch piece, (R) tape it up better, and keep an eye on it. By the way, I would suggest that anyone using GE control cables, at least, should pick them up by the sockets, and not just the cable itself, since the sockets are so heavy. Thanks!

There was lots more going on. The Central Diner is open again, so a few of us had lunch together. I noticed that work is progressing on the front of the Schroeder Store.

There was a good crowd of visitors. We had two mainline trains, and the streetcar was making its rounds again; here we see it passing the annex.

And Bob Heinlein was testing the 1268 and 4290 out behind the barn. It will be nice to see these in operation this year.

I had to leave early, but this Tuesday we'll be in North Freedom picking up a new set of CA&E seats. I'm looking forward to that! And thanks again to everyone who contributed.