Slow But Steady

 Today we have more progress photos from the Car Shop, slow but steady as always.

I bought some 4/4 ash from the hardwood supplier in my area to start making the transverse slats for the roof mats on 714.  Ripping them didn't take too long.

Meanwhile, John was patiently painting all of the molding strips for the arched windows on the 306 that he has made and bent into shape.

I had noticed that all of the slats on these lobster traps have every arris rounded off about 1/8".  That must be because trainmen need to be able to grab onto them while climbing onto the roof, and trainmen generally aren't wearing gloves.  So an unrounded arris could be painful.  I set up the router table to do this, which is a great help for mass production.  It still took a while, but it's important to get right.  The fingers you save could be your own!

The slats will need to be bent, and I got good advice from John and Tim on how to do this.  Some trial and error will probably be involved.

Then I went back to installing the saddles.

By the end of the day, all of the saddles on the #2 end had been caulked and fastened into place.

And at the #1 end, most of the saddles were fitted into place, the carlines located, and screws installed for eventually fastening them down.  I need to make two more pieces for this end, but on my last trip to the hardwood store they didn't have a convenient piece of 8/4 ash.  This will be resolved soon one way or another.  

Finally, back at the #2 end, with some unbent slats balanced on the saddles, you can almost imagine what it will look like when properly assembled.  

Meanwhile, among other things, John continued carefully painting his molding strips, and had a lot to show for his efforts.

Tim continued to work on assembling the west end of the 2872, as seen here.

I'm sure there were other people working around the property.  The B&G department never sleeps, at least not while the sun shines.  Here the boss himself is cleaning off the roof of the O'Mahoney diner.