Grey Day

Frank writes...

It's getting repetitive to say the weather was unseasonably warm; at a certain point, I suppose it's no longer unseasonable. But regardless, it was warm and sunny on Sunday - ideal for a grey day!

That's right, it was time to paint the roof of the 63 grey. I spent a while completing the job of cleaning off the edges of the roof - anywhere I can reach from atop a ladder, basically - and then spent a couple of hours putting a first coat of grey paint on the roof. The 1970s livery we're applying used a darker grey than the earlier yellow livery but a lighter shade than the end-of-service white livery, for what it's worth. The car definitely looks better without those splotches of white primer along the roof line. Next, of course, will be a second coat, plus grey paint along the center of the roof that will be applied from up top. I'm waiting for a slightly cooler day to do that job.

After dinner, I touched up some spots where the orange paint was a bit thin, in particular the rear bumper. I also had a bit of extra time to help out by sorting parts in the shop. But what else was happening?

The big project for the weekend was Charles City Western 300, shown here next to the pit. The locomotive's GE CP30 air compressor flashed over a couple of years ago, so we sent the armature out for rebuilding. It recently came back from the motor shop and was installed in the compressor on Saturday.

The above photo was submitted by our intrepid freelance photographer Jeron Glander, who snapped it on Saturday during the armature installation operation. That's Matt on the right.

And here's a picture I took on Sunday of the armature in the compressor. The work wasn't completed because the key got misplaced, but the guys found it on Sunday so it should be quick to finish the job. With luck, the 300 will be back in revenue service for next year.

As always, there were other things going on. Jimmy and Doodlebug Dan got the long-disassembled golf cart running again; Joel was working on clearing space in the new shop extension; and Good Nick was working on the batteries in the CTA 2200s.

But wait, what's that pallet Richard is loading into the stake-bed truck? Could those be railroad-width resilient PCC wheels? What could possibly be going on? Don't touch that dial - stay tuned for the answers to these questions and more!

STOP THE PRESSES: You know what you need? More stuff! Specifically, railroad stuff - or, at least, stuff that has been in close proximity to a railroad. And have we got the solution for you: IRM is having another auction. Check it out here. Bid early and bid often!