Sunday update

Frank writes...

I made it out to IRM on Sunday and the atmosphere was quite different from my previous visit a few weeks ago, when the temperature was around zero. This time it was in the 40s and as the day progressed it got extremely foggy. Visibility was very low and my ride home down an unlit Huntley Blacktop was unusually exciting. But fortunately the weather was much more amenable to getting things done than it was when it was cold.

My focus for the day was Shaker Heights 18, and specifically the continuing effort to (very slowly) reassemble parts of the car's interior that had been taken apart prior to acquisition by IRM. I spent more time searching through bins of hardware for the correct size screws than I did actually working on the car, I think, but still managed to accomplish a little bit. The cabinet/wall shown above, just to your right as you enter the right side door, is now permanently installed. The two seats forward of it are temporarily fitted in place but I still need to buy some screws of the right length. However this section of the car is nearly ready for prime time. Thanks to Richard for helping with the fastener search and to Greg for checking up on the car and making sure the light bulbs left in the motors were still doing okay.

There were plenty of other things happening at the museum. Unfortunately Tim took a bad fall and hurt his knee, so we're hoping he gets well soon. But others were out there and hard at work including John and Ed, the latter shown above, working in the end car of the "Electroliner." To the right is a panel from the motorman's compartment with fresh paint on its inside face. Ed said that while 2017 was taken up with disassembling walls and other components in the car, 2018 should see reassembly of these components as progress marches along.

Nick and Thomas were both hard at work on CTA 4410 (corrected from 4412 - thanks Bill!), Thomas on stripping paint from the car's ceiling and Nick on rebuilding magnet valves for the car's switch group. This car had some leaks in the group four or five years ago (I think?) so all of its magnet valves were removed and since that time have been stored awaiting attention. Nick is going through and getting them back into good shape. Of course I managed not to get photos of either of them at work but I did get a shot of the newly-organized tool bench, which Joel proudly pointed out has been totally reorganized (and relabeled).

Our resident machinist, Doodlebug Bob, was cutting a collet for a grinding machine on the lathe with help from Richard. 

Joel, Richard, and Greg were working on a few different projects over the course of the day. By early evening they were working on restoring this computer, which will be used for various Car Department purposes like retrieving scanned mechanical drawings and wiring diagrams and entering maintenance records into a database.

IT Department Supervisor and Mouser Emeritus Mr. Sox was looking on. This cat is 18 years old, which is pretty good for a shop cat at IRM, but he's definitely showing his age.