Saturday, November 29, 2014

Now We're Cooking With Gas!

 I hope everybody had a pleasant and rewarding Thanksgiving holiday, as we did.  That's why there was no post this week, which has actually led to some complaints.  Yowza!  So now it's back to work.

 The end bulkhead on the smoker now has a first finish coat from top to bottom.  Pretty spiffy, eh?  The pocket door and its frame are painted in "36 Lower", the sides are "36 Middle", and the ceiling, of course, is "36 Upper".   (I didn't repaint the back of the car card holder, since it will be covered.) 
As usual, these pictures are hampered by the lighting conditions, but I hope you get the idea.  It's not clear to me how they came up with these paint schemes.  The exteriors were very uniform, as a rule, but the interiors were often one of a kind, it would appear.  I suppose it made an otherwise boring job more interesting.


And I worked on stripping and repainting various window shade tracks.  Larry has helped on these, and the first four were installed and painted with first finish.  A couple of them are seen here.

Dan Buck stopped by to visit, and Max fixed a problem with the control circuit so we can now turn the overhead lights in Barn 8 off and on as needed.   Thanks, Max!


This is probably the worst possible picture, but a new gas heating system is being installed in the Barn 4 inspection pit, and the 604 is a good platform for installing the piping.  Here Dave Diamond and Jerry Lynn are on the platform, and they're being helped by Max Tyms and Al Choutka on the ground.  This will enable work in the pit to continue through the winter.  You don't have to be a physics teacher to wonder what might keep the hot air from rising out of the pit, so tarps will be provided to reduce the heat loss.  This should make several important projects possible during the winter months, so as my father would say, "Now you're cooking with gas!"

Meanwhile, back in the already climate-controlled shop, Tim is making his usual amazing progress on the 1024.  Here are all the various new window frames in the drying rack, as the varnish hardens. 

And here are the ceiling panels for the 1024, with enough for the next L car, whenever that might happen.  I got the impression I shouldn't reveal what the plans might be.  Only good little boys and girls get to know, ho ho ho!

Of course there was lots else going on, such as switching.

And finally, as the sun sinks quickly in the west, at about 4:30, we have this nice sunset.  What a beautiful day!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Great work on the 36! On adding gas heat to the pit track, how effective will that be when the building is not insulated??

Randall Hicks said...

As I take it, if you can construct a tent over the pit, using the car as a base, and blow enough hot air into it, the temperature will be warm enough that people can work there. An ambient temperature in the 40s should be enough for highly motivated people like us to keep working, right? The building itself does not need to be insulated, just keep the winter gales from blowing over the pit.

Anonymous said...

Randy,

Excellent closing scene of the North Shore Line sign and sunset.

Thanks,

John C.

Anonymous said...

You won't create a problem for yourselves with CO accumulating in the low areas of the pit will you? My concern would be greater if the area is enclosed with tarps. I assume that the risk of fire has also been considered and dealt with?