I started by painting the vents, drip rails, and so on with a first finish coat of black. The paint was still wet when I took these pictures, so eventually the metal parts will not be so noticeable.
And the remaining baffle was caulked and screwed in place.
I worked on one of the trolley bases a little. It needs some lubrication, but I wasn't sure what type of oil the department is using these days. So it was left here just to be in the way.
I also did some inspection work on the 36, which will probably be used in the train on the 30th.
And then, I had some visitors. Our old friend Dave Conrad is in town to work on the Ingersoll-Rand engine some more, and he also has a helper, a new member named Ed. They brought over a window from the 3001 for advice on fixing it up, since the frame had loose joints.
This window frame is different from anything car builders would make. The mortise-and-tenon joints were never glued, just held together with a couple of small wood screws. And there are no rabbets to hold the glass, just nailed-in moldings on both sides. But it is what it is.
Since there was nobody else in the shop, I allowed Ed to use one of the work benches.
He carefully disassembled the frame.
One of the mullions is damaged and needs to be replaced, but that's pretty simple. Ed took the pieces back to the Diesel shop for stripping the paint on the outside.
So there was some inter-departmental cooperation to provide variety.
3 comments:
I may just be on another planet and not paying attention to the calendar, but it seems you're finishing this roof much faster than the last canvas roof you did, and maybe because your stretching equipment was more effective. It looks great!
-T. Rich
Well, thank you. Every roof project is different, so comparisons may not be valid. The previous roof project was the 451, which had new canvas and paint from many years ago, so all I did was install the saddles, trolley boards, drip rails and so on. That took about six months as I recall. Before that I redid the roof of the 319 in 2014, and that took about a year and a half, although some of that was down time during the coldest months. The 453 got moved into the roof booth in the middle of last August, and I hope to complete its roof within a year from that date.
And if I can retain control of the roof booth, I might try to keep going on a one-year schedule. We have plenty of cars that need new roofs.
So IRM stands for Illinois Roof Museum?
-Jim Stafa
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