Steps to Success

It's time for another progress report, as promised.  I started by making several adjustments to the saddles so the bottom two slats could be more securely fastened, and then installed two of the nifty new brackets that Zach made for this purpose.  I noticed, by the way, that the 160 has three of these at one end and one at the other, which makes no sense, but I'm told there should be two at each end, on the left side since that's the side that has the steps on the door frame.  When finished, it looks like this.

There were also several screws that needed to be removed so the holes could be redrilled.  Not much to see there.

And everything seemed to be nice and tight, so the real test is to actually climb onto the car using the grab irons and lobster trap.  Here I'm putting all my weight (no jokes, please!) on the second slat, the one with the brackets.  It's nice and solid.  Success!

Too bad it was too cold to start painting.  I did, however, change the bends in the drip rail slightly (with Tim's help) so it will fit this car properly.

And I removed some of the slats that were still in the bending frames to check their fit to the #1 end.  It should be fine.

The drip rail was wire-wheeled, but most of the paint stayed in place...

so I just put primer over it.

And started bending more slats for the #1 end.

Meanwhile, the Track Dept. guys spent much of the day unloading a new shipment of rails and hardware.  This will be used to replace about a mile of mainline with much better rails, and the old ones will then be used for Yards 12, 16, and elsewhere.

And back in the car shop, the other guys were at work.   Tim, of course, continues to refinish doors and windows.  But don't even think of touching them!

And John spent all day working on windows for the 306.  As he says, it's a job that sometimes never seems to end.  But he's making good progress.

That's it for today, but stay tuned for news of our latest acquisition, most recently reported to be at Dolton.