Tuesday Tales

Here's some of what was happening today.

One of our ongoing projects is rebuilding (or replacing) windows on the Shaker Heights 18.  It's an unusual design, and many of them were in bad shape when we got the car.  I brought two rebuilt windows from home to get exterior paint.  The inside has an strange mottled finish, and so far we haven't figured out how to reproduce it.  So the lower rail in this picture is just stained, for now.

Both windows got a nice coat of exterior "dark cream".

Three window positions in the car are still temporarily filled with spares from CA&E 318, but we should be able to replace them all soon.  And several of the others are still in primer.  It would be good to get the whole set looking better if the car is going to be used in revenue service.

Meanwhile, Tim continues installing the new ceiling in the 1808.  It's a complicated process, but it will look great once he's done.

And John was working on the 306.  The folding doors have brackets with ball bearings, and after cleaning up one of the old ones he was able to decipher the make and model, Nice #515.

Some guys have all the luck.  It turned out that this exact type of ball bearing is still being produced by the same company, so he was able to order new ones.   Nice!!!

It's Just a Shanty in Old Shanty Town

In contrast, this wasn't quite so nice.  I continued working on the Jewell Road shelter, since the weather was just about right.  I scraped down the rest of the east side, and painted everything with primer that I could reach.   I'm going to need a ladder soon.

Photo by Dave Diamond

The boss came by and provided me with some tools, supplies, and advice.

And after lunch, a start on the front (south) side.

This building may eventually almost look presentable, as long as you stand at least a car length away.

Meanwhile, a couple of Coach Dept. guys were working on the CB&Q baggage car.  They'll probably have much better results.