Sunday, January 14, 2024

The Frozen North

Frank writes...


It wasn't a terribly exciting day at the museum thanks to the weather. It was sunny all day, but the high was somewhere right around zero (that's -18C if your preferences run metric) and it was windy, so time outdoors - or, for that matter, in the barns - was pretty unpleasant.
I did snap a couple of photos taken at the west end of Barn 4 showing the results of the recent snowfalls. We all owe a big thank you to Dave and his B&G crew for clearing the roads on the property!
I spent a few minutes over in the Hoffman Garage helping Richard take length/width/height measurements of a bus to help flesh out the official roster, then it was back to the heated car shop. Gregg and Jane stopped by, and they helped Richard, David F and me flip the fender for the 28 over, which needed to be done so that painting work can continue.
Other than that, I worked on some website-related stuff and then spent a while helping to clean and straighten the shop. Notably, I put the Houdaille rotary shock absorber for the 460 (or is it for the 451?) into its own yellow bucket and marked it for the 460. The next time I'm out and the weather is a little more decent, I'll try and put it in the car's toilet compartment for storage. This thing has been sitting on the bench for several years, since we were unsuccessful in getting it apart to repair it (the first one was done but the second one didn't want to cooperate). Anyone know of a company that rebuilds these?

In other news, Tim was cleaning up brass castings that will anchor the standee straps in the 1808, Richard was working more on his display of historic rail, David F was working on organizing the shop, and Greg and Good Nick were working over in the substation on DC Line Department stuff. And I didn't spot it while I was there, but during the week the newly built air tank for the 451 arrived from the manufacturer. Greg snapped the below photo. One of the car's two main reservoir tanks is fine, and this will replace the other one that had a bad leak. This gets the car one step closer to being usable for service. Next up: repairing the air compressor!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish to Thank You, Frank for posting information on Frank Sirinek obituary. I was attempting to reach him last Dec/ Jan. And talked to him just prior to Christmas. Thank You for providing us and others in regards to Frank’s situation. I do thank You for posting pictures of Frank on the cars I will miss him for sure. I do miss many of our other members who have also pass on.