Second Coat

Frank writes...

My priority for Sunday was putting a second coat of paint on the roof of the 18. A huge thank you goes out to Pete for mixing up more boiled linseed oil-based roof paint and to Joel for procuring the necessary supplies!

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. This second coat makes a big difference. We have enough paint for a third coat, so I want to put that on, and then we'll bring the car outside and see how it looks. I also did a little more sanding on the sides; small areas on both the left and right sides still need grey paint below the belt rail, but the exterior repaint continues chugging along.

In other news, Zach brought out swatches of custom-made seat fabric that he was able to procure. One was for North Shore "diamond pattern" green plush while the other, shown here at the top, is the type of material used on the CA&E 450-series cars. It looks striped but it's really all the same color, just cut differently row by row - some looped over and some "shaved" off. We agreed that the color and "look" was about perfect (the original sample visible at the bottom of the frame is obviously worn and faded). The spacing is ever-so-slightly wider than original, and there is a bit too much of a "hill and dale" texture to the rows, so we'll ask the manufacturer about that. But watch this space for news on a potential project to reupholster the seats in one or more of the 450s.

In other news, there was a lot going on. Gregg was working on the 1702, and hopefully we'll soon have a more comprehensive update, but here you can see canvas hanging off the roof. So that's exciting! Doodlebug Bob was working on machining another armature for a DB-160 contactor for the 1565, while Norm and Zach were working on chasing down electrical gremlins in the Electroliner.

I also noticed that Frank, Mike, and Steve installed the first set of original-type blinker doors on our Kansas City PCC. I'm not sure whether these doors are permanently installed or whether this is a test installation, but this will certainly make a big difference in the car's appearance. The Philadelphia-area plywood doors, like what's to the left, make for quite a contrast.

The real focus of the day, of course, was Diesel Days. The property was abuzz, quite literally, all day with the thrum of prime movers, and almost everywhere you looked it seemed like there was another train movement happening. It looked like there was a good crowd, too, and I heard nothing but rave reviews of the event from the visitors I spoke with. I know we had visitors from the UK, the Netherlands, and Dubai who flew in for the event. The ED claimed that there were also signatures in the visitor logbook from Japan and Switzerland. This is becoming quite an international destination! And to top it all off, it sounds like things ran smoothly throughout the entire weekend, with virtually no operational hiccups or mechanical problems. Kudos to Jamie and all of the volunteers in the Diesel Department and Operations who pulled it off!