... or something like that. Larry Stone came out today to help on the 36, so a lot got done. There were several loose parts removed from the smoker that I could have him work on in the wood shop, and so Buzz and some of the others could provide help and advice when needed.
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Here he is wire-wheeling the metal frame from the smoker. I always like to show people, including myself, using the appropriate safety gear.
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So we have the car card frame, the window over the wrecking tool box, some window shade tracks, and panic cord parts to work on. Every little bit helps.
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And later, he gets to paint the newly-cleaned parts with white primer.
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Meanwhile, I continued to work inside the car, sanding down window posts and other parts of the wall, which were later primed.
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And by the end of the day, the other side of the lower ceiling had a first finish coat.
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In order to pay for the new ventilators for the 36, I needed to help Andy Sunderland remove usable parts from the Shafer car which is being scrapped. As you can see here, it's beyond hope.
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It's unfortunate, but we have two other THI&E carbodies in better shape being preserved, as we saw earlier. They're now shrink-wrapped.
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Andy has the tools and the truck needed for this work.
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The Signal Dept. guys were working on the crossing gates which will be installed at the pedestrian crossing near the entrance. This will help when we're using 50th Avenue, for instance.
And finally, we have exclusive videos of the CTA control group tester in operation, courtesy of Rich Schauer and Eric Lorenz, the gurus of this technology. Of course, it's even more fun to watch it in person. They're hoping to be able to put it in one of the barns, with appropriate protection, for visitors to use. As Rich says, the possibilities are endless.
It's fun and educational too!
5 comments:
Randall,
that interurban does not look much worse than a certain C&AE Interurban that you started working on!
I do not think an oil stove tryed to burn it dowm.
So many cars; so little time and money!
Ted Miles
IRM Member
I would have kept the derelict and scrapped car and placed a large sign on it that said, "This is what can happen and will happen without your support."
Ted: It's true that after the fire the 309's interior was badly damaged, but the car's structure was still sound, the exterior was not affected, and it still had its trucks, motors, control system, brakes, etc. So there were many challenges I didn't have to face. And at the time it was the only wooden interurban car we owned, other than the 321. And that project took more than 20 years. As for the remaining bodies in the collection, only time will tell whether they can actually be restored; they will probably be static displays for the foreseeable future.
Randall,
Will the 36's luggage racks require removal and sandblasting before repainting?
Ken MacLeod
That's an excellent question, Ken. I'm hoping the answer is no.
These are a much different design from the baggage racks in most of our other cars. Among other things, they're all one piece. In the main compartment, therefore, they're about 25' long. So that will be hard to handle. Most of the support comes from a network of brass stranded wires, which I guess were painted, but the paint hardly shows. In a few places the wires are broken, but not enough to worry about. Furthermore, I'm afraid that if I remove the screws holding the racks in place, when they're put back together they just won't be as strong.
So my plan now is to scrape as much loose paint off the front rod and the castings as I can, then repaint everything. It should look fine. If not, I'm sure I can find somebody else to blame. That's the IRM way.
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