The Christmas season is always busy for most people, with things like choir rehearsals cutting into one's usual time for IRM projects like sanding and painting. What can you do?
In half a day, I managed to sand down the rest of the last section of the ceiling. This one had more problem areas than the others, so will require more patching, but it's all got at least a first coat of primer and a first layer of putty.
As Tim has suggested, the stripped bulkhead area with the nice DNA pattern will be covered with a coat or two of varnish before painting, to preserve the pattern as much as possible. This is what we did with much of the 309 and a few parts of the 308. Now whether anybody in the vast indefinite future will ever try to strip off all the paint is open to question; I personally think you would have to be insane, but that's just me. In any case, that's our contribution to the spirit of preservation. I hope.
Speaking of Tim, he's been polishing up the brass air gauges for the 24. This seems like a safety issue: they shine so brightly, the motorman might be blinded. In olden days, Tim would have been made an admiral in the Queen's Naveee....
And here's one of the new motor hatches:
And work is progressing steadily on the Cleveland PCC. You still have to watch where you step, but they say that will be fixed soon. L to R: Lorne, Erik, and Ed.
And finally, here's the arm for the other gate at the entrance, nearly ready for installation:
5 comments:
Not to nit pick, but I will. That was Bill Wulfert working on the air gauges. Tim did however cut the new glass. Tim's project of the day was the trap doors, where he was creating new handles.
Thanks for the correction. I always want to give credit where it's due.
For the section you've uncovered under the paint, ever considered to leave unpainted (and varnished) as a time warp to show what it would have been originally? It could serve as a comparison with rest of the areas which are painted. We did something like this upon in Montreal at Exporail with an old wood combine and visitors do like to see the stages of history.
Len
Len,
That reminds me that Seashore Trolley Museum left a section of wall in their C,A&E #434 in varnish when they re painted in a few years back.
Good idea!
Ted Miles
IRM Member
Well, that is an interesting question, and I have certainly thought about it. (It sounds like your typical RyPN thread that goes around and around without actually arriving at any useful conclusion....)
Ted, an even closer example is car 20 at Fox River. If you scroll down on this link you'll see a "window to 1902" which they have preserved.
http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2015/07/visit-to-car-20.html
Now I don't know if IRM has an official policy on this, but I think we generally prefer to have the entire car restored to a specific period. And it may not be obvious from pictures, but the panel in question on the 36 has paint in the grain and faults in the overlay pattern that would make any restoration imperfect. So I'm still planning to complete the 1946 paint job, until somebody talks me out of it. But I always appreciate constructive suggestions like these.
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