Thomas Sunday

Frank writes...

I didn't make it out to IRM until Sunday afternoon, but the Thomas event was in full swing and it seemed like we had a good crowd. The weather was spectacular, with a nice breeze, picturesque clouds, and not too hot.

I spent my time on some miscellaneous projects around the car shop. When I arrived, Richard, Joel and Greg were working on the annual inspection for the 714. I helped a little bit with diagnosing a problem with one of the lighting circuits. It was traced to some aged insulation but that was easily fixed. Then I headed over to the 205 to finish up one of the few remaining items on the to-do list.

Unfortunately I didn't take a "before" photo, but when I started this window was mostly painted white. Trust me. This was the one end window we weren't able to remove, due to some obstinate piping inside the car that was getting in the way, so it had never gotten the Portland paint stripped off. I didn't do a perfect job but I was pleased with the results overall.

And then when I got back to the shop the 714 was off the pit and the 972 was on! The aforementioned crew plus Doodlebug Dan was able to install all of the rebuilt slack adjusters on the car. There are a few things remaining to be done, including installing the rollers on the brake rods and tightening some bolts, but the car is very close to being ready for operational testing. This car hasn't run in some 15 years and hasn't seen revenue service in probably close to 40 years so we're hopeful that it will be out on the road and carrying passengers in the not-too-distant future.

And our favorite E.D. was out and about in his Model T roadster. Hey buddy, get a horse!

Randy adds:  He already tried that.