Record Project Day

Today we set a new record for number of vehicles worked on: 7! Crew members worked separately or with those they arrived at the museum with to comply with social distancing requirements.

We're delighted to welcome new volunteer Tad Adams to the shop. He worked on removing paint from the underside of 169's east end roof (this is the one project I never made it back to get photos of. Sorry, Tad!).

Progress is zipping along on car 1. Galen and Kelly have installed roof cleats and three roof boards are attached. Lou rebuilt the second arc shoot set for the car. He also applied fresh insulating varnish to the interiors of both controllers.

Roof cleats on 1

1's new roof boards

Lou works on applying insulating varnish in 1's controller

Mike added another coat of red and yellow paint to S193, which is looking much better for all the attention.

Mike at work on S193

S193's new paint (Mike Luzzi photos)

During the week, Larry added a coat of polyurethane to 4's seats and today Wil and Jayden added another coat. The seats are looking better. 

4's seats after the second coat of poly

Once they were finished with 4, Wil and Jayden moved on to 5645 and painted half of the seats. This is a major and long overdue improvement for the car.

Wil and Jayden at work

5645's newly painted seats

Adam worked on locomotive 18, prepping the roof for paint.

Adam at work on 18's roof

Close up views of the prep work on 18 (Adam Krause photos)

John has sandblasted, primed, and mostly painted 3001's truck.

John at work painting

Truck progress so far (John ran out of paint and needs to get more!)

Jeremy was in during the week. He disassembled and cleaned 16's air governor so it no longer leaks. He and Kelly also finished repairs to the wiring harness and performed a minor repair to the brake rigging.

The air governor received fresh paint on the cover as part of its refurbishment (Jeremy Stager photo)

The armature and field coils for the spare air compressor received a coat of insulating varnish.

Fresh varnish on the compressor armature

We're Back - 2 Cars Repaired and Many Projects A-go

The shop is back to work with limited crew to comply to social distancing and other CT requirements. We're excited to see our crew and have lots of good news to share with you.

First and most exciting, both 836 and 16 have been repaired. Galen undercut 836's compressor armature, solving the arching problem. Kelly repaired 16's wiring harness where a connector had been shorting out to the brake beam. The harness was opened, the connector re-taped and moved to the top, and the harness re-wrapped. The harness will be snugged up to keep it further away from the brakes. The car also got its west end brake stand cleaned.

Char marks on the brake beam show 16's problem

Using the time we've been given where no cars are running, we set about building something we've not had the luxury of having, a spare DH-16 compressor. Two high quality candidates were removed from the remains of Conn Co 2022, which was scrapped several years ago. Galen and Kelly disassembled one unit and cleaned the internals. The unit is now mostly reassembled and is awaiting its field coils and an armature from another unit to bake. Assembly will be completed once the electrical components are ready.

Compressor set removed from 2022

Inside a DH-16 compressor

DH-16 piston after cleaning, ready to go back in the compressor

Thanks to Lou, Line Car 1 is sporting a freshly refurbished arc shoot set in its west end. He began the work of repairing the east end set today. Adam prepped and primed a pole hook and helped Kelly with cleaning up components for a catcher that will be used for the car. Catcher reassembly is complete and it is ready to go on the car.

Parts for 1 dry on the outside workbench

Refurbished arc shoot set in place in 1's west end

Galen began applying some much needed polyurethane to 4's seats. The coating will also have the benefit of protecting the seats when they are disinfected once the museum opens. Car 4 will be one of the first cars to return to operation.

4's seats are starting to look better, they have many coats of polyurethane to go

John has completed the majority of the part work for 3001's trucks. He also straightened the first truck's frame. He plans to begin sandblasting work on the car next week.

Brake shoe holder on the mill

Parts ready to go for 3001, notice how the ones at the front have nice round holes while the older pieces at the rear have been worn out to an egg shape