Freight Car Department

B and O Boxcar

Victor Humphreys and Simon Harrison are setting up the tools and extension cords to do more work cleaning up the B&O boxcar.  It was an unusually clear day and not too hot - in fact by one report the first time our area has had three clear days in a row in OVER ONE YEAR!  So the crew was out in force and besides the above two stalwarts, Lorne Tweed and myself did a lot of scrubbing of rust and old paint by day's end when Victor started applying the new protective primer to areas that had been cleaned.

Ready to Pave

Depot Street is ready to pave, subgrade in and compacted.  Weather permitting, that might get done yet this week, along with paving of the new trolley bus loop at the same time.

Spaulding Tower

Spaulding Tower

Here are two images of Spaulding Tower, slated for repainting by our tireless B&G Department.  Also noted was new roofing going on Barn 9 as one of their contracted projects.

CSL 3142

CSL 3142

CSL 3142

And here are three more shots of details of the cast iron brake shoes which are badly needed to keep CSL 3142 running.  Detailed measurements are taken in the steps to prepare complete mechanical drawings.

Ed. Comment:  The Zephyr trainset has been turned for continuing the cleaning and polishing - a VERY LABOR intensive process.  The cars now sitting outside are BRILLIANT!  Kudos to the workers and the Internal Combustion Department for organizing and ACCOMPLISHING this project!

Wagon Top

We have mentioned that the next Freight Car Project is to be our B&O wagon top boxcar.  Here is a cloudy day image of the car from the "B" end.

A End

It is hard to see with most of the car color closely resembling rust and dirt.  But here on the A end, Lorne Tweed and Victor Humphreys have been cleaning off the old crud, and some of it is really stubborn.  Look closely and you with spy some new primer on those areas.

Q Caboose

Our CB&Q steel caboose has passed its annual inspection, but not without a lot of re-piping and repair of the train line and branch piping.  This car has been previously restored, but years outside in the weather have taken a toll.  We need to thank John McKelvey for providing a leadership role and the labor to re-paint the red banding on the sides, and on one end.  John has the new paint in hand, and Kirk Warner was visiting from Florida when he got 'drafted' into the project.

Masking and Some Red Paint

The caboose was moved inside Barn 4 due to uncertain weather and the ability not to have to work on this in the sun and blistering heat - nearly 100 F.  John is at the far end, the first coat of new red is going on.

Done

Saving the best to last, the new red lettering bands are complete and the caboose is leaving the Barn pulled by U S Army 8537.  Other areas of the paint need attention but this is a big improvement and shows what can be done in a group effort.

EDIT:  More Photos ADDED.

In the Freight Car Department we took advantage of the clear weather to work outdoors.

Car Cleaning

Henry Vincent stopped by to check on work by John Faulhaber.  As reported elsewhere we are working in earnest to restore our B&O wagon top boxcar, 374065. The work now is real GRUNT work, wire brushing and cleaning old paint and rust off of the entire exterior, and priming as areas are completed.  A good two hours were put in before the sun and heat became brutal.

Buzz Morisette Photo

Buzz snuck up behind me while I was stripping rust high on one side of the boxcar.

Trucks

Victor Humphreys completed repainting the trucks on this now nearly complete, restored caboose.  It fairly glistens in the bright sun.

Buzz Morisette Photo

Here is good image of the car completely restored, waiting for its inspection.  WOW!

Inspections

The majority of effort and hours were spent on our annual inspections and maintenance for operating cars.  In this case five cabooses were moved to track 41.  Here, in order, are RI 19135, CB&Q 13572, UP 3786, CGW 601, and MILW 01984.  Not a RED CABOOSE among them!

It is hard to understand how this happens with limited operating miles logged, but defects were noted on every car, pointing out the importance of attending to items, large and small.  Rod Turner and his Electric Car Department folks showed great co-operation in pitching in with switching the cars to this location, and in helping identify and repair defects.

By the end of the day, MILW 01984 and UP 3786 had passed the inspection process and were released to the operating department.  The remaining three cars were being swarmed over by a number of workers, and will be released for running as they are completed.