Wood Shop

It looks like this will be another long entry but it should get us current with shop and restoration work.

I am Seeing a Pattern

We have repainted our large Great Northern tank car, it is the largest tank car in our collection at 20,000 gallons.  Now, on to the lettering the car.  I traced what remained of the old lettering before it disappeared in the painting.  Then I re-drew and cleaned up those tracings.  Step three was to cut out the letters, and some might think this is to be used as a stencil.  But no, I use it mounted and aligned on the car and trace the outlines onto the car using the mylar sheet as a TRANSFER PATTERN.

Painting

Then it is off to the slow task of painting to the above outlines.  Here is the result showing the Great Northern name PROUDLY.

The Number Is Up

I then moved on to add the number and identify the car.  Great Northern X-1390.

Main Ceiling

Eric Lorenz is finishing up some of the hardware for hanging the four large ceiling panels in our Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.  The view and effect is quite a transformation and a testimonial to the hard work of the crew.

Rear Seals

Rich Witt is applying epoxy sealer to some new rear seals for a freight car truck.  We have had quite a tutorial on freight car trucks as we work to remediate and make repairs to our DODX tank car following  filming of the Chicago Fire episode.  These seals are no longer available so we are making our own.

New Saw

Is this a new saw?  Or better described as a 90 year old saw that is new to operation in the wood shop?  Either way, Tim Peters makes use of it as he continues wood work for restoration efforts on Chicago Rapid Transit 1024.

SCOOP

I have finally manged to scoop the Hicks Car Works website with this photo of Randy Hicks cutting new roof moldings for the Chicago Aurora & Elgin 319.

Painting

And while all the other work goes on, the crew on our Chicago Great Western X 38 snowplow quietly goes on about their work.  New lumber for the interior lining was recovered from storage, and Victor Humphreys is prime painting it before cutting and fitting for the new ceiling.  A good deal of the exterior black paint was applied to the right side during infrequent breaks in the bad weather.