This is really "Indian Summer" as we used to call it, with nice weather and an opportunity for everybody to get out and do what he wants to do. And hard work paves the road to progress, or something like that.
So let's start with the paving project. It's too bad we don't have an actual steamroller, but this roller from Bakely does the job just fine. The B&G guys were working all day to prepare the surface for asphalt, which will be poured on Monday.
Dave was running the grader:
And then the roller:
And fine adjustments are being made by (L to R) Gerry, Andy, and Jerry.
By the end of the day, it looks perfect. But Dave is using a string, a tape measure, and a spray can with an extension handle to measure any deviation from perfect flatness to within half an inch, and paint it on the surface.
By the way, I should point out that this is only the Museum's second installation of girder rail. But the first girder rail, as seen here, hasn't actually been used for at least thirty years. This time we won't have to wait as long. I hope.
How about Cleveland?
Eric Lorenz continues work on the Cleveland PCC, which will be almost a new car when he and Lorne get through. Here we see various parts of the ducting that have been fabricated and installed.
And the rebuilt windows are being installed. Eric is doing many parts of this project at home.
The third rail beams for the 24 have been installed, and the various parts will be attached soon.
Bill is working on the window shades. A lot of the hardware needs to be restored.
As mentioned recently, the Wednesday Special Project guys have repainted the M-37. It looks great!
I spent most of the day on the 36. All of the piping for the brake and scraper controls was stripped, primed, and then painted blue. I use rattle cans for this part of the project because it's almost impossible to do with a brush.
And then essentially the rest of the vestibule got a coat of primer.
And I also finished painting the prepared parts of the underbody, mostly the stepwells.
Mike Alterio and Bob Olson are installing a switch machine for the south wye switch, which will be a great convenience. It can now be controlled from the tower or via radio. As my favorite Greek philosopher would say, "Isn't automation a blast?"
Nearby, Max is high above it all, replacing one pole with another. It's very complicated.
The Steam Dept. guys were doing some switching. The 637 was outside, giving me an opportunity for some more pictures.
These three were waiting for the Army to show up, but I didn't have a chance to write down their names.
Among other things in the Car Shop, the 415 was getting its annual inspection, by Nick E. and Joel.
This seat back was wobbly, because the screws had snapped. Nick was busy fixing it.
And of course there were many other projects in progress, but I can't be everywhere at once.
8 comments:
Hello Randall where exactly is that original piece of girder rail? I'm putting my guess on barn 2 from before it was the diesel shop.
Close. Barn 4, east end of track 43. The track outside leads to storage reefers that never move.
At one point in the new street there are two girder rail tracks. The Northernmost track ends short of the trolleybus loop while the Southern track proceeds East toward an eventual crossing of the existing North-South trolley track. What is going to be the purpose of the street trackage that appears to end?
C Kronenwetter
I should have known/remembered I walked back there a couple of months ago showing one of my friends the museum.
As I mentioned about a month ago, I believe the exact layout for the north track has not yet been decided, so for the immediate future we can pretend it represents an abandoned line.
And as for "tickests", nobody's prefect.
I was under the impression that the specialwork in front of Barn 4 was largely girder rail, even if it was salvaged from a temporary crossover. There were more parts of that crossover in the material yard at one time.
Hello Randall I don't know if you have an answer, but I have a question for you. Why exactly is it that out of every barn in the museum barn 4 is the only one with front and back access? Is this just something that happened on accident or was this done on purpose to allow the electric equipment to leave from the front and the back?
The track in front of Barn 4 is not actually girder rail, except for the two switches, but it is T rail with special trough-like guard rails around the curves, bolted to the web of the rail.
As for why it has both front and back access, I'd say it just sort of happened that way, but that's before my time. You'd have to ask Howard Odinius.
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