Marching Feet

This weekend is our annual WWII reenactment, so the property was thronged with soldiers of every sort, nurses, Red Cross workers, civilian refugees, trainmen, and visitors.  Everyone who wasn't bleeding or starving to death seemed to be having a good time.

It appears the Axis powers are outnumbered, but I believe they won't surrender easily, so you still have a chance to view the action tomorrow!

 

The armies were fighting valiantly over possession of our material yard.  I wouldn't have thought all this junk was worth the effort, but probably that's why I never made general.

But this year I adopted a more pacific attitude, and spent the whole day working.  I put a second coat of finish red on the #2 end of the 36.  Red is always a very transparent color, so multiple coats are necessary.  It may not be obvious from this photo, but up close it's much improved.  The work was done to the sound of tramping boots and constant gunfire.  It's hard to paint when you have to keep your head down....

And then the last contactor was finally hoisted into place in box #3 and bolted in place.  There's some more wiring to do, but the control side of the system is getting close to completion.  Next item will be the grids.

 All of the wrecking tools in the 36 were stolen while it was in Cleveland.  I happened to have a saw and a wrecking bar of about the appropriate size, but I need to find a sledge hammer.  I must admit it's not obvious exactly how this box was arranged.  They're all different.

 

And then there was a piece of molding which had fallen out, and I carefully nailed it back in place.  There are lots of little details to take care of on a car like this.

Most of what the B&G guys do is not very glamorous, but it's essential to keeping the Museum looking as good as it does.  You have probably visited other railroad museums where the entire property looks like our material yard, but we can be proud to have such a fine environment in the public areas for our visitors.  Anyhow, the word for today is "Recycling".  The B&G team are getting ready to pour another concrete pad behind Barn 8 for a recycling container.  In the past, we've recycled things that have significant monetary value, such as scrap iron, steel, copper, pop cans, and railroad cars.  But we want to do the right thing and recycle plastic and similar materials.  So they were out there in the midst of carnage and confusion, preparing for concrete.

Cleveland car 1218 will be arriving after Memorial Day.  I'll be on vacation then, so we'll have to rely on Frank to get pictures of it when it arrives.  When I first heard about this project a couple of months ago, I think it was Tim who told me, "Nick says we're going to get the 1218!"  The only "1218" I could think of offhand was the Norfolk and Western Class A, so I replied: "What?!?  You're crazy!  How could that possibly happen?"  The Class A will be well off remaining where it is, in Roanoke, but we will surely give the Cleveland streetcar a good home.