Today's first project was to process the wood for the next third-rail beam -- jointing, ripping, and gluing -- and clamping it up for the glue to set. Buzz later helped me move the two finished beams out into the barn to provide a lot more bench space for other projects. It's our "Good Neighbor" policy.
Most of the rest of the day I spent working on the sign boxes for the 451. Joel ordered the right machine screws (1/4" fine thread) for the job. Most of the holes at both ends needed to be retapped, and that took a while. But all of them should be OK. That's a relief, because otherwise I would probably have to remove the glass from the wooden frames and then put it back in.
This is the west (#2) end; you can see all of the screws in the holes. Same thing at the east end.
Here Bill Wulfert is Kroiling the gears to free them up.
At the east end most of the mechanism is missing. But we may have spare parts -- stay tuned.
Sorry -- we're not done with CA&E third rail beams yet. Joel proudly showed me the plastic mold for the cast iron plates at each end that allow the third rail beam to be accurately adjusted up and down. So he is planning to get quotes on how much these will cost.
As usual, lots of other things were going on. The only thing I got a picture of was Buzz's work on doors for the Ely.
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