Now that I'm back in town, it's time to get back to work, whatever the weather. Luckily, I'm not alone and there are many other hardworking members who keep their projects going all year.
Our O'Mahoney diner was missing half of a booth when we got it, and restoration of the interior is still on the agenda, so Buzz has started making a new frame for the booth, as seen here.
Next, let's see what Pete Galayda is doing in the 160. The smoker compartment is progressing nicely. Most of the woodwork is stained and varnished, and Pete is doing a very careful job.
It may be the nicest interior this side of the 309!
But since there's nothing to be done on the 309 at this point, I kept working on the 451. I should have taken a "before" picture but didn't. For whatever reason, the wooden flooring at both ends of the car rotted out badly, and it's being replaced. At the #2 end, I had to chisel out some of the rotten wood to make an even surface for the new wood to mate to. After that was done, it looks like this:
Then the complicated metal plates which we've seen before need to be installed.
One of the plates still needs some body and fender work, and I hope Gerry will be able to help me with this. But in any case, they were put into place, and holes were drilled for the screws to hold them down. After painting, it should look fine.
Incidentally, I cannot find the plates for the #1 end. If they're lost, that could be a real problem.
Back in the shop, there were other projects going on. Somebody had the idea of cleaning off the workbench and applying a shiny new surface board. That's nice, but I took a picture, because $10 says you'll never see this sight again!
Lorne and Chuck are hard at work on the second PCC truck for the Cleveland car. There's always a learning curve on any of these projects, and I should think this one will go faster than the first one.
Some progress has been made on the MPB. Several window frames on the north side have been installed, some of which even have glass.
Finally, I thought this was interesting:
So the moral of this story is: if you're not out at IRM, there's no telling what you'll miss!
3 comments:
Would the interurban car department be interested in taking donations for Cincinnati & Lake Erie 640? If so, I might be interesting in making a donation later this year.
-Matt Maloy
What has caused the delay in finishing the dinner? It it materials, money or priorities?
Kirk: We're trying to lose weight. But seriously, I think it's basically a matter of priorities. I'm sure Dave would love to get it done, but there are so many other things he has to do that it gets attention on a time-available basis. Buzz is particularly good at multi-tasking, so he's contributing his expertise to the diner restoration.
Matt: The 640 has a restricted fund, and currently it's about $1200. But there are no current plans to work on it. The real issue is finding qualified people who want to work on it, and while everybody agrees it would be great to have it restored, it's a daunting task and there are many other projects that are already in progress. Of course, we're always glad to accept donations, but we can't promise you that anything would happen in the near future.
Actually, these turn out to be basically the same answer. There's always more we want to accomplish than we have resources to provide.
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