Weather? we don't need no stinking weather!

Actually, we don't care about the weather (to a degree).
Last Saturday wash a washout, so what to do?
Have a volunteer jam session on Sunday!!
It's been a long time since that happened and although I missed out at my local Historical Society day, , it proved to be a boon for OBRM.
We had quite a few hardy souls arrive to continue working on the cab of #35 which has seen tremendous strides over the course of 2 weeks. I'm writing this on Monday January 14th 2019 so this is right after this past Saturdays session where we had about 10 volunteers up and ready to move the cab project and the Ping Pong Project forward.
Back to the Cab's progress.
When we began this project , Steve Nappy was working out the steel reinforcements for the frame while John Petsche was going like gangbusters on #398, our GE 25 ton diesel locomotive.
Steve got very sick and needed time off to recuperate which I am very happy to say, he is. It was a long haul, but seeing him this past Saturday was great.
after #398's heavy work was completed, John P took over the cab work and fell in love with the planning and execution for this project. He took the BULL by the horns and ran with it even to the point of busman's holidays at the RR Museum of Pa to gather photographic proof of how the cab was erected.
with these and blueprints , he embarked on the cab restoration.
He planned his work and is working his plan using the talents of Fred Rubin who is our master fabricator and welder. Fred worked for the Staten Island Ferry and is using his many years of experience to create the parts needed to make our repairs.
as of right now, the lower frame for the ca has been created from 3+1/2 in steel angles to which were welded 1+1/2 x 3+1/2 in steel angles to create a 5 inch channel with 3+1/2 inch flanges. Both sides and the rear have been completed and  n extra 5 inch channel was fabricated and welded across the cab from side to side effectively boxing out a portion for the installation of the floor material.
Our volunteers began to needle scale the interior surfaces to remove the many ears of crappy insulation and coal dust/tar. this will allow safer and cleaner welding.
John's plan is now going to focus on the front sheet which goes over the boiler, then I believe the roof will be next..
Both lower walls on the engineers and fireman's sides have been completed with all new steel and the lowere rear wall sections have been drawn out to be fabricated this coming weekend. Assuming that we do not get the predicted 14 or so inches of snow, this is very doable!.
Until next time folks!
Gary

Baby, it's cold outside

But not up in Oyster Bay!
You heard me right.
After a few really freakin' cold days, we had a "warm" one.
Since our weekly "call to arms" didn't go out on time, only 3 hardy souls were able to show up.
I had a plan to install ALL of the cross pieces that our master fabricator/welder, Fred Rubin previously fabricated.
Since Fred texted to tell me he wouldn't be able to come over, we took it upon ourselves to "work my plan", so to speak.
We brought out a loaner 120 volt MIG welder (thanks you John Petsche for leaving this for me) and welded tabs to the tops of the cross pieces, so we could drop them all in place.
Since I am, in no way, a welder, this was a good opportunity for me to practice.
We laid out every piece on the South half of the car and began to grind the metal and tabs clean to ensure good penetration of the welds. These were only tack welds but still needed to hold a lot of weight. This side went well but slow, so after a slight break, we tackled the North side.

Same sequence of events, however, I had more confidence and I predicted a finish time of 1:30.
The last piece of steel dropped into place at 1:33.

After we finished, we cleaned up, locked up and went over to the visitors center in order to remove the display of Railroad Advertising that we had for the year.

We then moved the model steam locomotive (damn heavy!) and dropped the doors off at the Historic Presidential RR Station for storage.

 We finished off before 3 and on my way home I dropped off some raffle prizes to Dodds and Eder to be packaged for the Holiday Express Weekend that we are holding Saturday and Sunday December 8&9 at the visitors Center. We have held this event for many years and look forward to it.

********Saturday we have noted LIRR author/Station Restoration Chairman and all around great guy, Dave Morrison signing his latest Arcadia book, Main Line East.

Sunday we have Santa and on both days, our horse drawn carriage rides.

CHEERS!

Gary

everyone knows it's windy!

HI folks,
today, George, Bernard, Ronnie and I helped Fred  to install the angle braces under the bathroom floor which allowed us to fit up the  toilet  flange. The flange plate sits on top of these anglse which Fred welded to the perimeter frame and center sill of the Ping Pong Coach.
It never ceases to amaze me about Fred's expertise. He makes it look so easy.
I even had Bernard take a couple of photos of me testing the toilet to make sure it would hold weight!
And yes, I have no shame!
Enjoy the pictures below.
Gary

do we need service?

we did, but know we don't!
As of this past Saturday, we have PROPER 120 and 240 volt service right where we are working.

So, we took advantage of this and Fred, George, Paul and I installed the first new piece into the Ping Pong Coach.  To us it was HUGE!
To most people, they would look at a 3ft by 9 inch sheet of metal and go, hmmmm.
this part was fabricated by Fred and welded into the south west corner under the bathroom floor and will allow us to add the steel angles that were previously fabricated under what will be an installed toilet flange.
Next week! those angle braces.
Gary

In the trenches

Literally!
when you last read about our work, You were able to see a couple of photos of the torn up yard. As of today, Tuesday 9/25/18, except for a very small area by the Ping Pong coach/Tender-the yard looks like it did before all of the digging.
All that is left to do is to run the conductors through the conduit and hook up the circuit breakers and outlets. We will have to fabricate 2 different sized 240 volt/50 amp extension cords to allow us to move the welder inside or under the far side of the Ping Pong Coach/Tender to allow us to weld.
I missed the Volunteer session this past Saturday for a personal issue but can't wait to see what the yard looks like now. In my absence, Steve and Leon had the crew complete many small tasks to update the grounds and for safety sake.
Keep  the faith folks!
Gary

It's Electric-Boogie Woogie

 The photo above shows the newly installed 1 inch line that we have installed for future power to the front gate area.

 The photo above shows where the 3 new conduits are diverging.The biggest one that just stops is a 2+1/2 inch conduit that will provide for 100 amp service to the north east corner where the proposed engine house will be placed

This photo above shows the termination point for the 1 inch line and the 1+1/2 inch conduit that will feed the new 120/240 outlets near the tender and ping pong coach.

Finally, this shot above shows the newly installed 1+1/2 inch line to power the welder and power tools needed to complete the tender and ping pong coach restorations.

George and I will meet our electrician Wednesday morning to install the rest of the 2+1/2 inch line and complete the "rack" for the 120/240 volt outlet installations at the "station" building corner that you see above.

wow, it's been a while

Hi Folks,
It's been about 4 months since I last wrote on my blog, so let me bring you up to date.
Our contractor has been working diligently to complete the west wall of the Historic Presidential Railroad Station and just last week, using the reclaimed lumber we procured, added all new/old window frames to the exterior.
After all of the window frames were completed, They added all six windows. The top 3 are smaller and actually have the interior hardware that allows them to be  opened up for air-flow. The bottom 3 have been sealed up since about 1942!
So, in effect, as it stands today, this side of the station looks exactly like it did back in 1942. Over the last  75 years, these bottom 3 windows have not been seen by the public from the exterior. It sure lets a lot of light into the station.

When that work was completed, they tackled the creation and addition of the missing Tudor trim that was attached over the stucco in many of the panels above the brick.

First shot-before re-installation of  recreated door and windows
Second photo after the new door and windows are installed
Third photo shows the brick after priming
Fourth photo shows the brick after painting. And YES! this is how the brick looked when the station opened up in 1902.
Bottom photo shows the Tudor trim re-installed as well as all 6 windows.
You can easily see that the stucco with the shells embedded in it has NOT been painted over. Again, this is how it was done in 1902.

Yes, that's my shadow.

And Just so everyone knows, we now have Electricity on site.
We had our inspections and PSE&G came in and hooked us up to the grid.
I have posted those photos on our OBRM Facebook page.

Question for all of you--
I am thinking of not writing this blog anymore due to the fact that I am now on Facebook (a decision that was made for me, not by me) and both Steve and I are administrators.
I would think that if you are reading this, you may also be reading our Facebook page.
Please leave me a comment whether you would like me to continue this blog or are you reading this info on our Facebook page.
I'm sure that I can always have our "OBRM BLOG" be changed to a direct link to "OBRM FACEBOOK" Page.
Thank you
Gary