Electric Car Department

Wainscotting

Work continues.  Perhaps the most visible and exciting thing to happen was delivery of new fabricated panels for the interior of the car.  Eric Lorenz went to work quickly to start installing them.  These are the panels which go below the windows and are pre-painted the correct interior color.  Why now?  Well, the puzzle of the car construction as designed by the builder requires these to be installed, to allow window post caps to be installed in the interior, to then allow installation of the window tracks, and ultimately the windows.

Finished Windows

Alex Randow began the day stripping masking from many of the sash which have by now been cleaned and clear coated.

Back to Cleaning

Alex pitched in on a few other tasks then went back to never ending job of cleaning the aluminum frames on still more sash.

Truck Work

Gerry Dettloff works on fabricating new rods for the rebuilding of the truck on TM 972, and my camera tagged this image as number 972!  Work continues on a regular basis for this truck.  Most of the dismantling is done and now the hard part is to fabricate pieces to reassemble it.

Pins

New ground for us is to fabricate and heat treat the hardened pins needed to replace time worn pins in the truck assembly.  Gerry is set up to cut some new rod, and Rod Turner has a new small furnace for doing the required heat treating in stages.  Very impressive for our restoration specialists!

Making Tracks

Not exactly making them, but trying to make them new again.  Lorne Tweed and Eric Lorenz are going over a pile of them, trying to set aside the hopeless ones.  I think there are seven different varieties of these parts for ONE WINDOW, making the scope of this something north of 200 pieces.

Let There be Light

On the carbody out in the barn, Eric Lorenz continues to install trim and more parts.  The headlight is now complete visually, although a new reflector bowl inside and the bulb and wiring remain.

A Step Up

The last of the two fold up steps to the roof have come back form the painter and are now installed just to the rear of the mid car exit doors.  Eric checks the last screws to be sure they are secure.

Windows

What would any of these posts be without the ubiquitous window work?  Keith Letsche returned to the shop and is working on reducing the large pile of sash that remain to be cleaned, and coated with clear finish.

Work continues on this exciting project, with the hope of having TM 972 back on its trucks and operating at IRM this season.

Truck Work

Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady are working on one of the trucks from beneath this car while the wheel and axle sets are out at a shop.  This is a golden opportunity to do what amounts to a substantial rebuild of the truck, while the wheels and motors are out for work.  The frame is inside our shop, so winter weather is not an issue.

Unlike a model railroad truck consisting of three molded pieces, there are literally over one hundred parts and pieces.  Over time, some of those become worn.  They may still work for a while yet, but the clock is ticking with every additional service mile logged.  So the prudent decision is to the repair or replacement of items showing substantial wear and which are badly out of spec.

Current efforts involve still more dismantling of the many pieces, but right now we are focusing on "pins and bushings".  The brake rigging in particular involves several levers, rods, and assemblies which must pivot and move when the brakes are applied.  Each of those joints usually is held together by a hardened steel pin which rides inside a hardened steel bushing.  The bushing is a press fit into the respective casting it resides in.

All of that work is well along the way.  Remember this an active project, and as with any project, unforeseen work may become apparent along the way.  In this case we have made the decision to replace many of the pins and bushings, assuring decades of relatively trouble free operation.  But that also means purchasing many of those parts, those we do not have as spares in inventory.  And this is the first truck, the other awaits the same treatment.  So we are not at the final cost and donations are still appreciated.  The restricted fund is  RTMS  and your generous donation and support guarantees you are PARTICIPATING in this progress.

A lot got done on Saturday, things which have seen a lot of prep work and give great results.

Window Work

Alex Randow is cleaning the aluminum frames of side windows for the car, assisted by Nancy Ring.  This work is tedious but gives a great sense of accomplishment when viewing the transformation.  After cleaning, Alex applied some clear coat finish to help prolong their clean appearance over time.

Wiring

Eric Lorenz worked on cleaning and rewiring the three bulb housings for the dash lights, to be mounted on the front of the car.

Headlight Headaches

Alex Randow worked in front of the car, positioning and adjusting the headlight.  And at this same time - - -

Headlight Headaches

Eric Lorenz was inside the car lodged under the front dash, reaching in yet another convenient spot.  He is then locking the light in the position which Alex is holding from the outside.  I guess labor was cheap since many seemingly simple tasks require at least four hands to accomplish.

Dashed

And by days end here is one of the completed dash light assemblies mounted on the car.  This is one of those small items that really improves the look.  Before Thanksgiving we had thirty or so items for painting which we hoped to install on the car over the winter.  These intrepid volunteers have less than a handful remaining to be done.

Dashed

Lorne Tweed did some work on the window tracks for the many side windows, but also worked on the dash lights for the front end of the car.  It is not simple a matter of screwing them on, and some parts were missing, so Lorne fabricated new ones!

The Frame Up

Meanwhile, Simon Harrison got 'framed' into cleaning more of the aluminum extrusions for the side windows.  Remember, there are two sash in the openings, and here he is at work on the smaller of the two.