Ballast has been added to track #8 at the south end of the shop to make a level surface to walk across. In the background, the museum's backhoe has seen its preventative maintenance completed.
On the east side of track #8, the large work bench has been moved back into the shop on to the new concrete floor, and is ready for projects from around the shop.
Inside ex-New York Central coach #2567, the car's baggage racks are being sanded and prepped for painting. As built in 1941, the racks were not painted. They were plated metal. For our work, we are going to keep them painted for now since they would need to be removed from the car to be properly stripped and replated. That is a lot of work although sanding them is no small job given all of the racks in the car.
Close-ups of the racks as they are being prepped. In the image on the left, you can see the wear from years of bags being put up on to the rack. Even the plating is worn in some spots where you can see the copper under the nickel-like finish.
More progress on the restoration of the southeast cove lighting was also accomplished with the aluminum trim strips getting cleaned and polished.
Across the shop, volunteer, Rob Burz, chisels away the edge of a concrete electrical box to prepare for some additional electrical improvements to the shop prior to the installation of the concrete floor in this area later in 2011.
