More March Madness

The Museum was really hopping today, in spite of the inclement weather! It was difficult to find a place to park in many places. There's a lot going on, so I won't even try to mention everything.

First of all, I noticed that Charlie Strong has made a test application of the Aurora Gray on the 319. These photos don't reproduce the actual appearance of the color at all well, but then we don't think it looks much like it will in natural light. In any case, it's pretty exciting!

Teamwork made a big difference today. I started sanding down the window sills and other parts on the north side of the 319, then Chris Buck took over and finished this job. I also started painting some more of the roof, until Dan Buck arrived and continued until we ran out of paint.

I spent some time in a Car Dept. meeting discussing our plans for the 36. More about that later. And Tom Hunter gave me some more photos from Art Peterson, so I'll be adding those tomorrow.

Al Reinschmidt (L) spent much of the day sanding down all of the rest of the window sills in the 319. And Jim West (R) installed a temporary lighting system that will be very useful. This is really a big improvement.

One of the steps on the 319 got bent out of shape during the move. We bent it back, but it really will never be the same. We'll want to replace it with one from the 321, so Dan and Chris carried the best of the lot over to Barn 4, and scraped off all the loose paint and crud. It needs to be wire-wheeled and then painted.

While Al was sanding down the window sills, I oiled up the rest of the seat backs and worked on miscellaneous parts such as window shades.

Finally, I asked the Buck brothers to clean up these grab irons for the roof of the 319. These parts were missing, but they're essential for safely climbing onto the roof. These are the ones from the 321, so they removed all the old paint, tar, and rusted-out bolts. Thanks a million to everyone who helped out today!