Be Prepared

Where do I start?  For one thing, today we had wintry weather, which would be fine in the middle of November, but in the middle of May it's quite disconcerting.  So I went to a professional, and asked Dan Buck: "What are the theological implications if Hell is freezing over in the middle of May???"   He says he thinks it means the End is near.  So if you haven't done so already, please start praying.

The Museum was quite busy today.  We had a large contingent of Boy Scouts, who naturally must "be prepared" for any eventuality.  There were tents all over the parking lot area.

And here they are admiring the Russel snow plow.  I'm afraid it won't be long before the nice black paint is worn off the lower surfaces of the plow.

 And they had a portable rock climbing wall, which has nothing to do with railroading, but keeps them out of trouble, I suppose.

And here they are learning how to build track.  This short section will be used for storing trucks for the Coach Dept., I'm told.  The Track Dept. were very active in teaching about the various aspects of track building and maintenance.  It's always good to learn a useful trade.

I started by switching out the 319 and 308, since we're planning to inspect the 308 this Wednesday.  Fortunately I was able to get the cars back inside before the sleet started.   And that's no joke.

And there was also an NYC historical society visiting, among others, which is probably why the S motor was outside on display.  What a classic -- this would be a good candidate for a cosmetic restoration.  And perhaps a short section of overhead third rail.

After switching, I went to work as promised on removing the tarp fragments from the 321 and getting them out of the barn.  It was pretty exhausting, but everything went well.  The barn looks much better.   The car still has odd bits of rope hanging from various parts, but those will disappear soon.

The tarps were deposited over by the dumpster.  Dave says I should cut them up into smaller pieces and put them into the dumpster gradually, so the job isn't done yet.

But with an extension cord, I can have lights in the 321 for the first time in six or seven years.  

 And then I activated the big box fan to move air through the car for a while.  My father bought this for me at a farm auction back in the seventies, and it still works.  I might have liked to keep it on, but there's always a nonzero chance something would go wrong in the barn, and that would be doubleplusungood.  You can barely see it here, but the lights show up how many cobwebs there are.   Ugh.   And I did some sweeping and sorting.   This will take a while.

 I did inspection on the 319's controllers, as seen here.  

Speaking of inspection, the 1797 was over the pit.  Joel and Gregg were doing the work.

Norm and Jeff continue their efforts on the Michigan car.  I noticed there was a large opening on this side of the car.   They said I could fill it ("We have lots of openings!") but no thanks.   Maybe later.

Bill was working on the 24.  The lighting isn't the best, but he is painting the arc chutes on the controller with Glyptal.  

And revenue service was in full swing.  I didn't get a picture of the newer L cars, but their heat was greatly appreciated.   The 431 was running as a single car; it also has good heat.  

And Jamie smiles for the camera from the cab of the 504.  To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I can tell the difference between Chinese Red (CB&Q) and Pimpernel Scarlet (CA&E), but they're both very flashy.