Exciting Thursday

 We have lots of exciting progress to report for Thursday, and it's a lot for one day.

My first project was an issue that popped up last Saturday, but I didn't want to publish it for obvious reasons.  The bracket supporting one of the trap doors on the 319 got out of whack, so it was impossible to close the trap door completely, and therefore to close the people door at all, and therefore to lock up the car.  Luckily this end of Barn 8 is currently not open to the public.  So I started by disassembling the trap door mechanism, replacing some of the wood, getting new screws, etc.  It takes a while to get everything I needed from the shop, make test fits, and so on.  If only I had my own golf cart...

But while we're over at Barn 4, look at this nice new sign -- a dramatic improvement to the campus!

Inside the barn, John, Gerry, and Buzz were hard at work on the 306, mostly doing the lettering today.  As we go along, you'll get to see the fascinating step-by step process.

First, Buzz attaches his professional-quality masks to the sides.

And after the backing is removed, you can see what the lettering will be.

Next door, Tim was hard at work installing canvas on the 1808.

And making rapid progress, as usual.

Anyway, I finally got the bracket installed and mounted firmly.

I also checked the other trap doors to see if the same problem was developing elsewhere, but they all looked OK.  In true CA&E fashion, two of the four traps have a different style bracket holding them up.

But now the trap closes properly, and the car is locked.

I also worked on fixing the whistle valve on the 308.  With the time available, it just isn't feasible to disassemble all the piping and replace the valve, so I patched it up as best I could.  Before, the whistle was making a constant low moan, but at least I put it out of its misery.  There's still a small air leak, but the whistle functions fine, and it should be good for one day of service.

In the shop, John cut the glass for this end window on the 18.  The two sides are not quite parallel, but that's what's needed so it will fit the end of the car.  Frank should be happy.

And out in back, the contractors are making good progress on the barn extension.

Back on the Fox River car, see if you can tell what's underneath....

And once the masking is carefully removed, the lettering appears in all its glory.

This herald would make a good vision test:

And of course, no trip on the Fox River line would be complete without a visit to the asylum.

Regular operation continued with Paul Schneble running the 431:

And I wanted to get a couple of pictures of the recently-completed track in Yard 12.

It's beautiful.  You couldn't possibly regulate ballast more perfectly than this.

And naturally a lot of other exciting things have been happening at IRM, and are planned for the near future.  Stay tuned!