319 Report

Progress on the roof of the 319 today was very satisfying.  At one point, I needed some rope, and two different people I asked about it immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was thinking of hanging myself.  Not yet!

After a couple hours of work, I was able to remove the remaining canvas, saddles, running boards, and other hardware from the roof, and tie up the roof cables so they're out of the way. I can vaguely remember the 309 looking like this in the Morton barn back about 1976, before it was recanvassed.

After some wood repair and a thorough sweeping, it was ready for paint.  I used a roller with a long handle so it could all be done standing up.  I must be getting old.  Anyway, the roof is now completely painted except for one end, which I'll do next time.  This is not absolutely necessary, but protects the wood from any moisture that may wick through the canvas.  And soon, we should be able to wet the canvas and roll it out on the roof.

The coach department guys are now working on one of the Boonton cars, #556.  I was asked to take several pictures inside the restroom for future reference; here's one of them.  We want to get every last little detail right when the car is repainted.

Meanwhile, Tim and Frank K. were hard at work on the 24.  And:

News from the South

I was too lazy to take pictures, but it can now be revealed that:

1) Yard 15 for now will be one track, and it's complete and is storing rolling stock.

2) The contractors are rapidly completing the remaining two tracks in Yard 13.

3) Ground is being prepared for an extension to the storage facility. 

Pretty exciting, isn't it?