Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Paint and More Paint

It was hot and humid again today, but there was a good crowd of visitors for a weekday.

Let's start with other Car Dept. projects.  Pete Galayda is repainting windows for the IT Class B locomotive.  Now that the Charles City Western engine is complete, Pete has started fixing up the IT engine.



This big beam is destined for the 1754.  By the end of the day, it had been cut down to its rough shape and test-fit onto the car.


The front end of the 1754 is making good progress.


And here Tim is working on other parts of the car.


The new door for the MD cars has been repainted.



I spent most of the day repainting the vestibule floors in the 36.   The #1 vestibule was still in white primer.  By the way, my camera seems to be having trouble in poor lighting conditions, when it's not quite dark enough for the flash.


The #2 vestibule got a second coat.  



And then the 319's stepwell was painted black, plus silver on the handrail.



I also got a chance to talk to a new volunteer, a young man who wanted to start working with the Car Dept.  We looked at a few of the active projects, found him a waver to sign, and he's planning to come back on Sunday.  New volunteers are just what we need, so I'm hoping things will work out well with him.  And that goes for you too!!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Randall,
You have been away for a week; I hope we are going to get a travel report!

This is my first chance to thank you for that excellent article in the new Rail & Wire. Interurban freight is a little known part of electric history. I hope the C, & LE #640 can be cosmetically restored some day.

Ted Miles

Anonymous said...

Actually I think that Frank wrote that article, not bad for someone so far away in Salt Lake City

Randall Hicks said...

Thanks for the compliments, but you're both wrong. Frank wrote the article, however David Wilkins is the one who's in Salt Lake City. Anyway, we appreciate the comments.

Randall Hicks said...

Oh, and as for travel, we were visiting my wife's relatives, so there's really nothing to report of general interest.

Anonymous said...

Hey Randy- It was probably a good thing you didn't stick around last night. The E33 came after 9:00 and we tied down at 10:00. It's on the Mainline webcam if folks want to have a look.

R. W. Schauer

Unknown said...

What is the game plan for the E33?

Randall Hicks said...

Thanks, Rich. Any pictures of our latest acquisition would be appreciated.

As for a game plan, obviously it needs to be sandblasted and repainted. And of course there will be the inevitable begging. Beyond that, I couldn't say. I hope the ignitrons are still inside the locomotive. Mercury-arc technology is interesting from a physics standpoint, and we could come up with a nice little display. But that's just my opinion.

Unknown said...

Everyone could go ahead and blast me for this comment but I seriously hope, when and if, it gets its cosmetic treatment it stays in Conrail blue. I realize it only spent 5 years of its 24 years in service with Conrail, but I feel like there's not enough Conrail "Bright Future" blue preserved.

Also Randy thanks for mentioning the ignitrons. Really an interesting technology. Almost seems they would have been difficult to keep from getting damaged in a railroad environment but evidently they were quite capable.