See Swift, Stupefying, Successful Saturday Switching

As you probably know, one of our major projects right now is the extension of storage barn 4 eastward, and in order to do this, the storage cars that were on tracks 42 and 43 have to be moved.  Here are the cars on 43 that had been in this location for the last 40 years or so, a familiar sight to anyone who's worked in the Car Department during that time.  But like a clearance sale, "Everything Must Go!"

In the morning, we had a department meeting with curator Joel Ahrendt to discuss what needs to be done, both immediately and in the long term, with lots of important information including the secret handshake you'll need to get into the new barn.

And then we had to get to work.  The main challenge was not only to get these tired old freight cars moving, but around the sharp curve at the west end of the track.  To do this, two locomotives are needed.  Below is the 25 tonner, since there is no wire over the east end of the track.  Jeron was our expert engineer.

Each car had to be brought into the barn, and then jacked up one end at a time to lubricate the center bearings and side bearings to go around the extremely tight curve.  Dan and Jon Fenlaciki did a lot of the work on this, along with Joel.

Then the critter has to get out of the way, and the L4 with its greater power comes in to pull the reefer around the curve.  Nick and Zach were the crew on the electric engine.  We needed plenty of people to watch for problems as it went around the curve, but all was well.

Well, that wasn't so bad:

And this process continued, step by step.  The track the cars had been sitting on had deteriorated badly, and could not be maintained with cars sitting on it, so it's almost comically wretched.

The farther we got, the worse the track became.  But Bob Olson and some other track guys were on hand to help patch it up enough so that the cars could continue to leave.

And in other news:

During breaks in the action, I had a chance to tape up the plastic shields on the 460.

Our paint expert, Pete Galayda, mixed the black canvas paint I needed:

And in the afternoon it had warmed up enough that I could start painting the canvas roof.  As before, of course, more coats will be needed, but this is a good start.

And watch this space for more news on the big switch move!

UPDATE:  As promised, Bill Wulfert sends along more pictures of the action.

The first car:

The second car, which was much the heaviest:

The third car:

The fourth car -- This one is not a storage reefer, but an historic wooden boxcar which is scheduled for restoration and display:

And lastly, the fifth car, which will remain in the barn until the reconstruction is complete:

Well, that was an especially interesting and challenging day at the Museum.  A large number of members of various departments participated to make it a success.  Thanks!!!