Yesterday was another banner day in the life of us volunteers. I mean, who's better than us, right?
It feels good to pat ourselves on the back once in a while and why not!
We accomplished a huge museum goal, the reinstallation of the turntables motor frame assembly back onto the turntables bridge. We also were able to install and attach the turntables motor and resistor bank onto the frame. After that we re-attached the beautifully fabricated platform deck back onto the top of the frame and tied a tarp over the the entire structure to keep out the weather.
We could NOT have accomplished this great undertaking without the very generous donation of time & machine by Bob & his son Chris Hotine of CD Crane in Oyster Bay.
Bob has been a friend of OBRM for some time and has always offerred his assistance. He was a quick phone call away last week and graciously stepped up to assist us. A big thank you go to you two men !
The above photos were taken of the days work session.
All of this was accomplished in a little over 1/2 hour!!This photo below shows just how close the clearances are from the motor to the deck.
Try and remember that last week Mike, Leon & Doug built the deck without having the motor in place to give them an idea where to place the floor joists, so BRAVO GUYS!
When all of this was done, we received a portable highway air compressor from Baldwin Tool Rental.
They backed down the entire site and left it for us behind the frame of #35. They removed our old broken compressor and have generously offered to take a free look at it to see if it can be repaired for a reasonable sum or if it is junk. We have used their equipment before & I rent stuff from them all the time when I need to do certain jobs around my home. They always take good care of us and we appreciate their assistance.
Having this BIG unit on site will allow us to really move ahead on the needlescaling of #35's frame, tender trucks (2) and the 3 sets of drive wheels which need to have the scale, rust and paint removed so they can be primed and ready to ship out for restoration.
We had a full crew out (Me, Leon, Wayne, Mike E, Ronnie, Rich, George, Doug, Ricky, Ronnie & Paul) and put 3 men to needlescaling while 2 men worked on the drivers and we finished up a couple of things on the turntable.
This photo shows where the turntables motor frame assembly once stood for the last couple of years while it was undergoing its restoration. Now it will be utilized to give us an unobstructed area to lay out the new ties for the turntable deck. We need 70 feet of open and straight land. This job will be interesting as we will have to bring the handrails out from behind the walkways which are stacked up in front of #35's boiler as you can see in the above photo. The reason is that when we lay out the ties, there are regular length and very long bridge ties which give a base to bolt the safety railings, collector arch and the walkways onto. after all of the ties are laid out properly, they will be bolted together into 2 parts (easier for installation) then they will be lifted onto the bridge top and bolted down and together!
After this, the walkways will be bolted on and then the collector arch will be attached. We have still not received the most important piece back from the rebuilder and that is the actual control stand. This unit will also be bolted on top of the walkway right next to the newly installed platform so the operator can safely and easily operate the controls AND the brakes at the same time.
We finished up around 5pm and left until the next work session on Saturday October 23rd.
The reason we are skipping a day is because next weekend is the 26th annual Oyster Bay Oyster Festival and we will be opn at the yard and the visitors center for visitors. As always, we will will be selling some of the best food at the food court in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Parks food court.
Come on up for the weekend, eat till you burst, visit us at our visitors center on Audrey Ave.
While you are at our center stop by our new neighbor across the street to see many classic & custom motorcycles at "20th Century Cycles" across the street from us. Believe me, I have taken more than a few peeks inside the front window and I am sure that they had to clean the windows many times.
I am not a motorcycle rider, but I do enjoy the mechanical and historical aspect of these machines.
Welcome to Oyster Bay neighbor!
ALSO this invitation for the re-dedication of the NY Pennsylvania sttaion eagle came in from OBRM FRIEND and LIRR Historitan David Morrison: Thursday October 28 @ 11am at the Hicksville LIRR parking lot.
GARY
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