Paving the Road to Progress

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.