I was out at IRM on Sunday for the first time since October, as my job has had me traveling most weekends during the winter. Fortunately I was able to celebrate Washington's birthday in an unusually appropriate way: by turning parts of the 36 that lovely CA&E color known as Washington Blue!
Above is the drop sash for one of the car's side doors, previously stripped and primed by my father and by Larry Stone as noted earlier. Below is the frame for the door, hanging in the "lean-three."
I also spent a while with a needle-chipper, followed by a wire wheel, cleaning up the two metal panels for the aforementioned door. Both panels are ready for primer but I ran out of time before I could get around to putting a first coat on them.
The shop wasn't too busy but Norm and Jeff were there working on roof parts for the Michigan interurban car. I helped them get two rather long (about 36') roof boards out of the wood shop and hoisted up to the scaffolding alongside the 28. Later, Norm was working on a smoke jack for the car that was recently fabricated by Rod.
7 comments:
Hello, Frank and Randy.
1. Great progress on the windows and doors! How is the compressor coming along? Will the 36 be able to safely run solo by the start of the 2014 season?
2. Your link to the CA&E 36 gallery on the IRM Web Site ties to 309 by mistake. You might want to fix that...
Thanks.
Brian J. Patterson.
Brian: The compressor job is waiting for more favorable conditions, so we can put the car over the pit to heat up the frozen bolts. We would hope this will be a one-day job.
And the link has been fixed. Thanks.
Randall,
Will you give a heads up to the readers when you plan to do the compressor change out?
Not necessarily, I'm afraid. Several things have to line up just right, so there may be little or no advance warning. Rod is the major player here: we're counting on him to carefully heat up the bolts directly under the 110-year old wooden floor so they can be removed, and then to operate the big fork lift for actually changing out the compressor. And in any case, I'm not going to allow people to just stand around and watch if I can possibly find something for them to do, so be warned! :)
He also has to fight with me on Pit time, as I have to get cars in to inspect them to run in service. It's a large ballet we have going on, though this year, it fits with the Winter Olympics as it's very icy at the museum.
Hello, all.
1. So, that's a "firm maybe" on the 36. At least we know where it stands. And as Joel hinted at, the 36 won't be the first job on the pit when the weather firms up. That will likely be ITR 415, with one or two "backups" behind it, to get us up to May 3rd.
2. Firey torches, wooden cars, and rubberneckers do NOT normally mix. However, there is ALWAYS something to do at Hicks Car Works. Or, if that doesn't put enough "iron" into your railfan volunteering diet, you can always help out on CRI&P 2612.
Thanks.
Brian J. Patterson.
Actually, according to the new plan, 415 is already ready for the year (except for some lubrications we do in the spring). The CA&E steels were supposed to have been done before winter, but winter sprung up on us and hasn't let go yet. So that's why 431 has to be done in the Spring, or late winter, depending on when I can finally clear the way to the pit. I have to find the track first under all that snow....
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