Helping Others Helps

 ... or something like that.  Larry Stone came out today to help on the 36, so a lot got done.  There were several loose parts removed from the smoker that I could have him work on in the wood shop, and so Buzz and some of the others could provide help and advice when needed. 

Here he is wire-wheeling the metal frame from the smoker. I always like to show people, including myself, using the appropriate safety gear.

So we have the car card frame, the window over the wrecking tool box, some window shade tracks, and panic cord parts to work on.  Every little bit helps.

And later, he gets to paint the newly-cleaned parts with white primer.

Meanwhile, I continued to work inside the car, sanding down window posts and other parts of the wall, which were later primed.

And by the end of the day, the other side of the lower ceiling had a first finish coat.

In order to pay for the new ventilators for the 36, I needed to help Andy Sunderland remove usable parts from the Shafer car which is being scrapped.  As you can see here, it's beyond hope. 

It's unfortunate, but we have two other THI&E carbodies in better shape being preserved, as we saw earlier.  They're now shrink-wrapped.

Andy has the tools and the truck needed for this work.

The Signal Dept. guys were working on the crossing gates which will be installed at the pedestrian crossing near the entrance.  This will help when we're using 50th Avenue, for instance.

And finally, we have exclusive videos of the CTA control group tester in operation, courtesy of Rich Schauer and Eric Lorenz, the gurus of this technology.  Of course, it's even more fun to watch it in person.  They're hoping to be able to put it in one of the barns, with appropriate protection, for visitors to use.   As Rich says, the possibilities are endless.