Electric Car Department

I will try to post something here this morning although it will be necessarily short as I am about to get back on site at Union to work with a contractor today.  I noticed Randy Hicks gave us a plug for the woodworkers convention.  We had the biggest attendance ever and this time cracked the international barrier with two attending form Belgium.  That would be the Belgium in Europe, not the Belgium two hundred miles north in Wisconsin.

A Bundle of Canvas

Jeff Brady and Bill Peterson have managed to extract the canvas from storage and with great effort have it hoisted up on the roof of the car.  This is just the start of the process as the next step is to unroll all of that.

The Big Rag

This is a big rag, probably over 1100 square feet of canvas.  I do not think IRM has had to recanvas a roof on a car this long to this moment in time.  So, as with everything, there is some new learning along the way.  There is a trim allowance on all the dimensions but it only makes sense to try to slide and push it around to center it on the roof.  Easier said than done.

The Clamps

We made ( I do not include me in that) a dozen new clamps of our own design to clamp to the edges of the canvas, and they were mounted, starting at the ends of the car; shown here as Jeff and Bill demonstrate.

Rolled out

The large white thing stretching into the distance is the canvas all rolled out.  If it seems a long way away, it is, and more so if you consider the work left, which includes setting about 1500 tacks.  For now we have stretched and pulled the canvas to begin the process of removing all the wrinkles and get it to lay down flat on the roof.

I think I will split the Wednesday work into two reports this time, since we had a large and productive crew working almost exclusively on the Cleveland PCC.

Rear Interior Trim

Simon Harrison was taking no chances as he is geared up to removing old paint from a piece of sheet metal to go on the left rear interior of the PCC.

Preparation

There are a lot of old broken off screw stubs inside the PCC.  Dave Diaz took a turn at removing them, Simon did more in the afternoon.  We are doing that now as it will soon be time to mount more of the interior panels.

Out in the Barn

Out in the Barn on a workbench, Jim Leonard processed several of the curved ad card panels, removing dirt, rust, and paint from the back side of these.

Priming

As fast as they were cleaned, Jonathan Soucek was priming them, along with a sign box, and some of the other trim panels.

A Straight Shot

Many of these ad card panels suffered through years of storage and had some bent corners or other dings in them.  Dave Diaz did a very good job of taking all those out.

Wow

By the end of the day all these seven were primed, and three more, two other miscellaneous panels, and the sign box.

We will start with some views of the new work going on in the Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.  In the old reports we explained how there are many layers of parts for the interior and windows which must go in a specific order.  The critical delay was to have new window post caps made, after it was determined the old ones could not be salvaged and repaired to look and perform well.  They have arrived and the team has wasted no time in installing.

Right Side

Lorne Tweed is working on the right side of the car, forward of the center door.  It is easy to see the finished look and large improvement.  If only it was not so cold and damp in the barn I bet you would see more speed.

Right Side Rear

Eric Lorenz was just as busy working on the post caps on the right side, to the rear of the center door.

Left Side

Then Eric moved to the left side and began working his way forward.  Six in a row installed in this image.  At the very front and rear of the car and alongside the center door, these sheet metal caps are 'special' requiring more fitting and fussing.