What about us?

Since the weather called for a shitty day, many hands remained at home.
I don;t blame them. Heck, If I could have, I would have too!
I'd like nothing more than to stay in bed all day.
Oh well.
BUT!!!
3 folks did make it up to the bay.
George worked in the ping to get it ready for a Pre-Wash to be performed by our local Atlantic Steamer volunteer Fire fighters.
OK, I can hear you. Dog!? what the hell are you talking about?? A pre-wash? Really??
YES, REALLY!
Look at it from my point of view. IF, the sandblaster, who is using a water based blasting media, has to cut through all of the dirt and dust and whatever, it takes more time. AND, more time=more money that we have to spend.
This Pre-Wash (free, btw) will get rid of the crud and most of the excess grease, leaving less to be blasted off by our contractor.

While George was working in the Ping, Bernard and I were busy restoring windows inside the Historic Train Station building.

Yes, I know its sideways. Use your imagination or turn your screen.

Bernard has just laid out the window and caulked the edges before adding the weatherstripping.

Here is where we began, by taking apart the window frame to ready it for paint stripping and removal of the the weather stripping and operation mechanisms, which are the latches that are on the bottom of the frames. Your left side of the photo.

Here is what the exterior of the windows looked like before stripping.

The 2 vertical pieces are wrapped in a felt material that gets stripped off as well and the piece then gets polished as it seems to be stainless steel.

This is the weather stripping that went around these 2 windows which had come apart. Thankfully, these two are made of safety glass and are lighter than most of the other windows which are not made of safety glass.

At the end of the day, even spending almost 1+1/2 hours each on the 2 broken frames, we still managed to repair 5 windows. My goal is to finish up at least 6 windows per operating session. That would be awesome.

Here is the actual operating mechanism, broken down.

On the right is the piece which you would squeeze to get the window open or closed.

On the bottom is the actuating spring and the shiny bar like piece is a brass casting that is the actuating  or throw rod. This piece, as you can see, is not straight and will need to be heated and straightened out before re-assembly.

Keeping it real since 1962!

I am, yours truly--

Gary T Farkash

The more the merrier

HI Folks,
It's a beautifully snowy day today (Monday 4/2/18) and here is where we stand from this past Saturdays's session.
Fred, John P worked on creating the template for the tender tank extension. Unfortunately, it didn't work as well as they hoped and they will take a different tack next Saturday. The front extension has a compound curve and a straight center section and this area is where there was a small compartment for storage. It was cut off many years before I joined up and has been this way until now. Our steel supplier can roll up to 1/4 Inch thick steel sheets, so we need to provide him with a full size template for him to complete the part.

Meanwhile,
George, Joe, the two Danny's and I moved all of the seats from the vestibules of the Ping and stored them inside one of our 40 foot trailers.

Then, I left George to finish up a few things inside the Coach while Joe Hicksville Danny, Lynbrook Danny and I headed over to the Historic Train Station to set up an assembly line so we could begin to work on the Ping's windows. 

Two of the windows had already come apart, so that made it a tad easier to figure out just how these windows were put together. We removed the glass from both and began to methodically take apart the frames and mechanisms. We cleaned the mechanisms which are simple springs and throws. These throws retract into the window frame and when the latches are released, allow these parts to move into locks in the cars window frames to keep them up or down.

We found that we will need all new rubber replacement parts for the bottom sweep (which I know a company) and the top sweep which I have absolutely NO IDEA where I'm going to get these fabric parts. 

When work on the two were completed and we had formulated a plan of action with parts and material needed, we broke for lunch. After lunch we packed up and the guys left for the day while I went back to the shop to work on the bathroom door window frames and lock assembly.

The above photo shows the complexity of the bathroom door lock assembly. You can also see all of the paint thickness. Believe it or not, this piece is solid brass!

After removing the parts and cleaning every drop of grease/grime off them, I reassembled everything and tested it for ease of movement. Everything worked fine. I then disassembled it again to begin the paint stripping and when completed, it was a shiny brass masterpiece. Then once again, I reassembled it for the final test. Voila! DONE. I then took the 4 window frame pieces and removed all of the (nasty) crusty paint from almost 100 years of service. These parts are now a nice and shiny chrome finish. When we get the car sandblasted, the door will be blasted at the same time and I can then perform the reassembly.

While I was doing this Fred and Steve were taking care of some minor trailer repairs. We finished up around 4:30 and headed home.

Another Great Day IN Oyster Bay!

Damn I love when a plan comes together!!

Gary