Weekend work

We worked on the getting the floor up in the cab over this past Saturday. We removed about 4sq ft of very wet, rotten boards. I did place the weather screens up temporarily to see them in position. I have not seen them on the engine before, but had seen then in pictures of the engine while it was up in Canada. Besides the front and back pieces there was a bit of a canopy over them to provide a protected area for the engineer to work in bad weather.

Next weekend is the annual meeting for the Connecticut Trolley Museum. I will be there for the day working and then it is off to the meeting....

This weekend -

This weekend, I will be down at CTM working in #18. I hope to start around 9am. The weather is going to cooperate and no rain is in sight.

I hope to get the wooden floor removed from the cab, start working on the windows, sealing the 2 leaks in the roof and general cleaning. I would like to take her for a spin also. It is always good to keep what you are working toward in plain sight.

As always, all volunteers are welcome! Those who do not volunteer, will be drafted.

Ted.

Last Weekend

Made it down to the Museum this past weekend to work on 18's floor and continue cleaning out the interior. Unfortunately, the rain did not stop as it was supposed to and the whole afternoon was a washout on 18. Fortunately, I did help out on the rebuilding and testing of a second motor for the museum's Type 5 Boston Street car #5645. We now have two motors running after complete rebuilds.

Welcome!

This is the first of hopefully many posts on the restoration and operation of Oshawa Railways# 18.

#18 is a 53Ton Baldwin-Westinghouse, Class B, electric locomotive. Originally delivered to the Auburn and Syracuse in 1918, she has had 8 owners and finally come to rest in East Windsor, CT at the Connecticut Trolley Museum (CTM) in 1962. Since then she as been a jack of all trades: shop switcher, display piece, and more recently the head of the freight train pulling cinder cars and the museum's recently cosmetically restored Reading caboose.

This restoration is going to be a more than cosmetic. Some of the issues that are going to be addressed are: New cab flooring, new windows, rebuilding her second compressor, extensive rust abatement, and a new look, one worthy of her longevity and charm.

This video shows #18 as she passes the camera on Track 2 at North Road Station on the CTM campus in 2005.