Freight Car Department

A very productive weekend on several projects, within the Freight Department and others around the property!  So here are the pics of work done on the URTX 26640 'bunkerless refrigerator' insulated boxcar.

Door Lettering

Yes, still more instructions applied working toward completing the lettering on the plug door.  Can you spot the two lines added Saturday?

Right Side

Here is the right side almost complete, needing three more lines of lettering on the plug door, and that is it.

Plug Door

By the end of the day Saturday half of the left side plug door had been cleaned and primed.

Plug Door

And by early Sunday Victor Humphreys worked to clean off remaining paint, rust, and scale from the door.

Primed!

Later in the day, the finishing touches of primer are being applied.

Trimming Siding

Kirk Warner trimmed the tails of all the new siding boards on the left side of the car.

B End

John Baletto was doing more needle chipping on the B end.

B End

And later Kirk Warner took a turn on the pneumatic chipper, high on the scaffold.

B End

Most of the B end has been chipped and over 60% in primer.  A few more days of good weather and it should all be cleaned and primed, ready for some finish black.

Trucks

Not to be outdone, Ray Pollice worked Saturday cleaning the left side trucks (a dirty job) and here, John Balletto starts prime painting after some more cleaning and touch up.

Lots of pictures to show you for this installment, all taken as usual by Kirk Warner.  Thanks Kirk!

Lettering Layout Work

I was going to say the first step is to lay out the position of the lettering on the car side.  But of course, first comes the research into what is correct for the car and era, then drafting the artwork, and handcutting a pattern to be used for transfer to the car side.

Painting

While much of the larger graphics on a railcar are 'hand' painted, the smaller stenciled information needs to be applied to look as though it WERE stenciled.  In this case what seems to work is a durable mylar stencil, cut with the same font, size of letters, and bars holding the stencil together.  Then a small pad of closed cell foam is use to apply the paint.

Touch Up

And of course, a rail car side or door has relief or texture to it.  In this case there are seams and laps in the metal skin, and rivet heads.  So, out comes the small brush and a hopefully steady hand to complete the work.

So Far

It sure seems like a LOT of work for a simple plug door, but WAIT, more is coming!  I know this may seem slow to you but put yourself in my position, doing the prep work and dodging sometimes 'iffy' weather to apply the paint.

B End

Meanwhile Victor Humphreys was wire brushing and cleaning down to bare metal on the B end of the car.

Priming

And by the end of the day a large area has been primed.

Hardware

Kirk Warner was re-installing the door stops, grab iron, and finsihing up siding.

Near the Roof

With the help of Dick Cubbage, Kirk installed the fascia or boards running under the roof eave.  These are all new as the existing was pretty much crumbled.