Big and Small

First, we have contest results, and we have a winner!  A few weeks ago, we asked what this device might be:

And it turns out it's a clamp for holding spare tools for our big lathe, and it is now in use.  The Steam Dept. guys found the other pieces to the puzzle, and it looks like this.  Bob Sundelin wins the prize of an all expenses paid vacation for two to beautiful Kishwaukee Grove, where you and a guest can watch the crew change ends and prepare to return to East Union.  What could be better than that???

Buzz shows off the patterns for new aluminum window guard holders for the 65.

The big news in the wood shop, I suppose, was the Arrival of the Guests from the steam shop, who had a huge block of wood that needed to be machined for use as a replacement end beam for the Shay.  This is bigger than a standard railroad tie, and had to be run through the jointer numerous times to get one straight edge, and so on until it was ready for use.  Buzz says this took about three hours, but the results were better than expected.  Handling such a big piece of wood is very difficult and takes lots of hands.

I always like to take pictures of other railfans taking pictures of the action.  In this case it's Dan and Victor who are recording the progress.

You'll notice our CFO is keeping a close eye on things to make sure nothing is wasted.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the shop, all by himself, Mike Stauber continues to rebuild doors for the Kansas City PCC.

And Bill Wulfert is rebuilding third rail beams for the L cars.

And Tim says that these are window frames numbers 85 and 86 out of 88 required for the 1754.

You'll never guess what I was doing.

It's going well: we now have at least a first finish coat of the correct red on the ceiling, the two sides, and the inner wall, and all that needs to be finished is the outer wall, with the windows, the various control parts, and so on, but it's nice to feel some accomplishment.  Finally.

We have a conundrum here: the brass latches on the drop sash are bare brass, which doesn't look quite right.  Basically everything else in the compartment was painted in the final red scheme.  This appears to be a Clevelandism to me, but I'm not really sure.  The corresponding parts in the 409 and the 460 are also unpainted.  On the other hand, these parts in the 431 are painted, and I think Jeff was always careful to do things correctly.  On the other hand, there's no guarantee that every car was done the same way.  I think I will put off repainting the drop sash until I come up with a more definite answer.

And finally, while the paint was drying, I went to the parts car and, after testing several candidates, was able to find a cutout cock for the 309 (#1 end, control pipe) which is much better than the one currently in place.

It was cold and windy today, so it seems to be a good time to go to Florida.  I might even come back eventually.  If I do, I'll let you know.