Autumn Switching

Frank writes...

Sunday afternoon I spent most of my time switching, along with Nick, Greg, Mikey, and Nathan, plus help from Richard and new volunteers Bill and Jimmy. The weather was unseasonably warm, in the 70s, which among other things led to a very successful Pumpkin Train first weekend.

The goal was to rearrange several of the cars on tracks 73 and 74 in Barn 7. The primary aim was to put both of the cars that will be used for Happy Holiday Railway, the 3142 and 4391, on the same track, so that if we get snow or ice we don't have to throw as many switches or clear as many doors. The secondary aim was to put the 18 at the door on the other track so that we have easier access to move it outside. Above, you can see the 18 and 4391 both outside of the barn in the late afternoon.

And here we go, the 18 is where it needs to be. On track 73, from east to west, the first three cars are now the 3142, 4391, and 19, while on track 74 it's the 18, 1374, and 101. After dinner, this repositioning of the 18 also made it easier for me to put some more Bondo on the left side of the car (now facing the public aisle, where there's far better light). I also traced the remaining four numbers on the car - two on the left side and one on each end - but I couldn't take advantage of the warm weather because I left my lettering paint and brush at home. Rats.

In other news, the motor that we'd like to have rebuilt for the 308 went to the motor shop on Monday - thank you, Mike! - where they will provide us with a price estimate. And that same truck brought back this item, one of the three MG sets from the Electroliner, which was sent out for rebuilding last fall. It's now ready to put back under the train.

And someone had asked for a view of Yard 4 East, so here it is. Joel was working on cleaning up more stuff - I believe they got the rest of the parts from alongside Bruneau Drive on Saturday, so Joel has turned his attention to track 42 inside the east half of Barn 4, where the track will also be rebuilt. The grading contractor is supposed to level out the yard at this point sometime during the week. Meanwhile, the track contractor is making good progress on main line rail replacement and will then turn his attention to the Yard 16 lead before he tackles Yard 4. There's a lot of progress being made!