Red Stripes

After a visit to Noblesville, there's no place like home.  Words would fail me, so let's turn to what was happening today.  I wanted to continue repainting the 308, (speaking of ITM) and the remaining task was freshening up the red stripes on the south side of the car.  You can never have too many coats of red.

I think this picture shows the before and after well enough:

And looking down the track, the red on the 319 is still as brilliant as ever:

And when the car has inched its way out of the barn, it looks like this:

And then I spent some time sorting parts in the 321, and so on.

And by the way,  I happened to run into one of our readers who pledged $500 to the 309 fund for the bearing project.  That's a tremendous help, and I can't tell you how grateful I am.  I forgot to ask him if he wanted his name revealed, so I won't, but you too can help put more miles back into the 309, the jewel of our collection, if you ask me.  Thanks!!!!

In revenue operation, we had the CA&E steel cars again.  The trains are always a good backdrop for family portraits.

And our newest and most garish Diesel was running the coach train, with mostly Rock Island cars in the consist.  

The guys are working on the DC lighting for the 50th Avenue platform again.  L to R, we see Max, Nick, Richard, Thomas, and Jeron.

Meanwhile, Rich Block and Bill Wulfert were cleaning up a couple of spare compressors, one of which is the one just brought back from Indiana.

And of course several other Car Dept. projects were being worked on, as well as in other departments.  B&G were working on the former baggage car site.  It's being spread with new gravel.

And here my old buddy Al Choutka is running the little roller to tamp it all down.  I'm told that for the time being the area will be left with rolled gravel like this for "staging".  But exactly what we will be staging here, nobody seemed to know.

Shakespeare, I hope:

Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!

Comets, importing change of times and states,

Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky....

I can hardly wait!