36 Report

The blue cars were supposed to be running today, but it rained off and on for part of the time, so they never left the barn. It's probably just as well. Anyhow, the various Car Dept. projects proceeded as usual.

I was able to paint the upper end of the 36 with a first finish coat of both blue and red. The blue is fine, but the red doesn't cover very well and at least a second coat will be needed before the finish painting is done. Nonetheless, I think it looks fine. (Sorry, the scaffold filter on my camera seems to have stopped working.) All of the doors and windows were painted red at Brookins. It's not quite the right shade of red, but at least they're not green. I plan to remove both the doors and the end windows for refinishing in the shop eventually.

Speaking of Brookins, I met a visitor from Cleveland who had been a volunteer at North Olmsted. His name is Chris Emery and he had worked on the cars, so I showed him through the 36 and 319, and then into our woodshop and Barn 4. He was on his way to Mt. Pleasant, where I'm sure he'll have a good time.

I went over to the shop and put a second coat of primer on the windows I did last time; I also applied filler as needed and attached the molding strip our friend Rich Witt had made. Pictures of repainted windows get rather repetitious, however, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Tim Peters has been making remarkable progress on the 1797. The interior looks fantastic!

That reminds me of a story. On our recent trip, I happened to be talking to somebody about IRM, and he asked me, "Do your volunteers do good work?"


I was so surprised by this question, I'm not even sure what I said. After all, I'm one of the volunteers. It's too bad I didn't have some of these pictures in my pocket to show him. They speak for themselves.

Finally, since there was wet paint on the east end of the car, I decided to put the D-16 to work as a platform, and started removing paint from the metal plate on the west end of the 36. At some point in the next few weeks, we plan to switch out track 82 for various reasons, and the 36 will be wyed so I can start stripping the other side.

You, sitting there at the computer. You need to get out more. You should take an excursion. Get out and meet people and have a good time. And help a good cause while you're at it. Luckily for you, I have the solution: the Nebraska Zephyr Excursion from Chicago to Quincy and back! Don't delay, seats are limited!