Tuesday was another busy day at the Museum. Many of the usual weekday crew were there, working on their projects.
John has started painting the exterior of the 306, starting at the letterboards down, and it looks great. Of course the lighting inside the barn is not the best for judging fine shades of color, so I can hardly wait to see it outside.
One interesting question that came up was how exactly the roof wiring was originally arranged on the Fox River, where the choke coil and lightning arrestor were placed, and so on. This appears to have been changed at least once by Shaker Heights. The available pictures don't help much, it seems.
Here Tim is sanding down new wood patched into the body posts at the end of the 1808.
And Mike Hudoc continued working on the seat frames, with lots of sandblasting and wire-wheeling and so on. Frank Kehoe was also working on the 1808, and painted the truss rods among other things, but I somehow missed him.
Buzz continues work on parts for the Milwaukee Road caboose.
I was working all morning on the roof of the 460, resetting clamps and trying to stretch the canvas some more, plus filling, sanding, and so on. I also went over to Barn 8 to look at the 308 again.
Meanwhile, the B&G guys were hard at work out in the sun, making repairs to part of the old wood shop. The south half of this structure is the oldest non-historic building on the property, I think, and it's showing its age. When I started back in 1974 it was the only heated space in the winter, and served as a general meeting place for the entire Museum. It will eventually be removed, but for now some maintenance is necessary.
And one of the employees was going around pressure-washing the building and various other things. In the foreground you can see new panels laid out on the pavement, for installation on the other side.
And I spent most of the afternoon picking up and bringing in a large collection of books, movies, toy trains, and other items from the estate of the late Ron Doerr, who was active at IRM back in the seventies and eighties. We are very appreciative of this donation, and especially we would like to thank his daughter who boxed it all up and contacted us. Bequests like this are an important and valuable source of support for the Museum's historic mission.
Hello my name is Michael Hudoc…I just want to say thank-you for recognizing my efforts and the photo shot you made of me:))) It made me feel even more appreciated on the work I’m doing. Tim is AWESOME to work with and I’m learning new talents everyday I’m volunteering with Tim’s guidance. Tim is the Chief….me…I’m just an Indian following his orders. It’s so nice to work on a project with one chief and decisions don’t need to be rung up the flag pole. We get the job done:))
ReplyDeletePaul Hough would like to echo Mike Hudocs comment on working under Tim Peter’s direction! I have had the opportunity to work with John Sheldon on small parts of the 306! As John has often said , every little effort counts for reaching the goal of restoring a historical trolley car! Thank you John!
ReplyDelete