Getting Ready

It's been quite a while since we had a weekend where nothing special was happening at IRM.  There was Vintage Transport, then Band Organs, then Thomas, then the Extravaganza -- whew!  But now it's time to get ready for Showcase Weekend, so we need to keep working!   (I try to tell myself...)

The 36 will be making its debut in passenger service next Saturday, and courtesy of Gwyn Stupar, we have professional artwork!  Forward to the past, I say!

It's only a week away, so this seemed like the only opportunity to get the pilot mounted.  Luckily I was able to recruit John Faulhaber to help me.  I hopefully predicted it wouldn't take too long, but it turned out to be harder than expected.  Nonetheless, John is a hard and productive worker and we managed to get it attached.  Thanks, John!  Al had put primer on the inside surfaces, and after it was in place, I put primer on the outside. 

One of us will be able to paint it black this week. 

From there, it's on to the interior.  I vacuumed the car out, and removed the various piles of tools and parts that had accumulated.  

 

 

 Here's the #1 end motorman's position.

 

And this is the #2 or "solarium" end.  There's no electrical cabinet, so behind the motorman is a window, and everybody in the car can see what you're doing.  Just don't fall asleep.

 For now, though, the 36 will be in the middle of the train because it doesn't have a working compressor.

It still looks rather shabby, I must admit, but when it's repainted it will look just like 1948 again!  Be sure to get a ride next Saturday!  There are some caveats: only the windows on the north side can be latched

open, don't try to lower the window shades, and don't try to reverse the seats.  The seats almost all work, but need to be lubricated.

And I worked on window shades, and fixed the buzzer in the 309, and so on.  Rich Witt showed me what he is planning to do on the third rail beams -- that's a big help.

 

Meanwhile, Tim is hard at work on the 24, of course.  Here he shows off a couple of the various colors he has matched: the basic green on the corner post, and the dark brown on the roof.

And lots of switching was going on, cleaning up from Labor Day and getting ready for Member's Day, and what not.  Most of the Museum's loose steam locomotives were lined up on the car line alongside Barn 9.

And the GG-1 was out in the sun for one of its rare appearances.

Museum Showcase Weekend this year should be another big success!