319 Report

The Zephyr happens to be parked outside, and was posed next to the safety island at Barn 9 North. Nobody else has anything quite like this!

Otherwise, there wasn't a lot to take pictures of today. Mostly, I'm trying to get ready to repaint the #1 vestibule. So there was sanding, scraping, and other surface prep. I stripped the paint from the heater bracket and the brass brake handle, as seen here. It's too bad I then had to paint it again.

Most of the vestibule is now ready for finish red, but the last 10% always seems to take 90% of the effort.

And then there was more cleanup, since the cars have been rearranged. The front end of the 233 is now adjacent to the 319, so it can be pulled out for pictures. Looking in the front window, we can see it has a C6 controller, the same as the CA&E cars. But it has no MU connections of any sort, so there's no way to take advantage of that coincidence.

An old wooden grain elevator in Huntley is being dismantled, and as a result some very large pieces of lumber are available, much bigger than anything we can get new. Frank lives in Huntley and got in contact with the demolition contractor; he visited IRM today and Tim gave him a Cook's tour, focusing on the wooden cars. Tim was also busy taking measurements of things we might need new lumber for, such as the double-truck open car. And incidentally, you can even watch the building being demolished at this link. Ain't technology wonderful?