Today was another typical Wednesday, with lots of various projects being attacked. And as usual, I have an unplanned, haphazard, and totally random presentation of what was happening. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
First of all, somebody asked to see the 309's Kevin sign:
Lorne continues fabricating new parts for the Cleveland PCC, mostly the ventilation system. It looks as good as new, if not better.
Out behind the shop, the North Shore trucks we got from Michigan as a parts source are being disassembled as seen here, prior to being placed in the material yard.
Norm and Jeff continue working on the Michigan Electric car. Jeff is happy to point out where the new steel parts are going.
These new angle bars will support the floor:
The Steam Dept. guys have helped out with some difficult riveting, which you can't actually see in this picture. But the inter-departmental cooperation is greatly appreciated.
And at the front, the last couple of bad body posts are ready for replacement.
As always, Tim is making progress on producing a complete set of new doors and windows for the 1754. Here he is cutting out tenons on the little band saw.
Behind the bench with the parts currently being assembled, you can see the ones already made in the rack, in the process of being stained or painted.
And the metal parts for the doors are being primed.
As usual, I spent most of the day painting the #2 vestibule in the 319.
The pull switch for the buzzer had bad paint, so it was easiest to removed it and take it to the shop for wire wheeling.
Once the paint is cleaned off, we can easily read the lettering:
The mechanism itself is in good shape. Each buzzer circuit takes about 0.1 amp, so for an eight-car train the switch would need to handle a little less than 1 amp at 600V. We don't have eight cars, of course, so it's a maximum of 0.4 amp.
It would have been nice to take the big hand brake lever to the shop also, but I couldn't get the set screw out. So it was cleaned in place with a combination of a putty knife and wire wheel.
And then painted with white primer.
And then, while the finish red in the 319 was drying, I put a first coat of primer on the floor of the #2 vestibule in the 36. The #1 vestibule is completely done, and only the floor and a few details at the #2 end need to be completed.
Unhappily, I won't be going to the Soiree this year, as we had made other plans. But if anyone wants to volunteer as a reporter on IRM's famous social nightlife, the envy of the railway museum world, just send me a line and we'll be glad to publish your reportage. Thanks!
3 comments:
Were these North Shore trucks from the group in Mount Clemens? Did they scrap a car in the early days? If so, were there other parts to be had? This is an interesting find, and good for maintenance of the fleet, or restoration of some other car body.
No, these trucks are from the 154, which was stored at ORM but badly deteriorated. The group in Grass Lake, Michigan purchased it for parts for Michigan Electric 29, which they plan to restore as a static display. They didn't need the trucks and motors, so we bought them.
So much activity in the middle of February. A far way from the old days when the volunteers used to go to the local high school to make use of their wood working shop and to stay warm!
The concrete that they dug out of the Michigan 28 must have done a number on the steel frame of the Michigan 28; so much new steel framing needs to be replaced.
Ted Miles
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