Parts Is Parts

Last fall, several of the Car Dept. regulars had helped me extract four third rail beams that we received from Trolleyville out of their storage location.  The wooden beams varied from partly rotten to mostly non-existent, but it's the big metal parts that are important.  Last year I made four new oak beams for car 36, and two of them were completed.  The other two original beams spent the winter buried under snow behind the car shop, and now that they have emerged, Rod was glad to help get these eyesores out of the way.

The process of removing the rusted bolts went easier than expected.  The impact gun did most of the work, and only three or four needed to be torched off by Rod.  All of the irreplaceable hardware is now stored inside the shop, ready to be installed on the new beams, one of which is visible at the left.  So there's another project to keep me gainfully employed.  Say, did I ever mention that these *&^%$ things are heavy???

 

And then there's the side door, which got its final coat of paint for now.  It will be installed back on the car next time.

Notice the mirror-like finish on the metal plate of the door.  You could use this for shaving, at least until the paint dries.

Then I worked on the 319's roof a little more.  The side canvas was removed and rolled up; next time I plan to wet it thoroughly, then roll it out on the car, stretch it, and start tacking.  That's pretty exciting!  And then I spent some time collecting parts and getting ready to install the first two third rail beams on the 36, when I can get some help.    No CA&E car is complete without them.

While we're in the shop, notice the new roof for one cab of the D-13 under construction.  All new carlines have been cut out using the old ones as a pattern, and soon Gerry and the others should have it assembled.  It's so small, I almost wonder if you could put the entire roof together in the shop, including canvas, and then just bolt it onto the cab?