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CAR DEPARTMENT WORK ORDER
by Rick Henn
SENATOR MAZIARZ SECURES
$15,000 GRANT FOR CARS
) In the beginning of the summer 2006, Jim Dickinson of the Medina Railroad Museum set out to contact Senator Geroge Maziarz in the hopes of getting some of the New York State Transportation Bond Act money availible for transportation enhancement. After numerous bouts of playing "phone tag" with his office, a meeting was set up at his office. The Senator has seen our equipment in Medina and was impressed with what we have done so far and listened to our proposed future plans. After "laying our cards on the table," Mr. Maziarz said, "I'll see what I can do"In late September, I received the good news. Senator Maziarz was able to meet almost all of our proposals and we were granted $15,000 for a complete make-over of Coach #2932 along with air conditioning work on this and another coach and window glazing on our newly aquired Coach #2933. The Society cannot thank the Senator enough for his hard work in obtaining these funds which will go a long way in making our fleet look even better than before. |
) Now that we were in the position
to make the cars look nicer and be more comfortable for the passengers, our Car Department set out to do some overdue projects. The biggest single job will be the reupholstering of the seats in #2932 along with the redecorating of its lounge and bathroom. Coach #2915 had the lounge and bathroom repainted and over the course of a couple of weekends the walls and ceiling in the end aisles were also repainted giving the car a fresh and clean appearance. |
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During the summer, several members of the car department set out to do some catch up work on the coaches. Most of the heavy mechanical work had been completed and it was time to get at other projects before they became major problems. While Al O. and George S. started installing new and easier to see marker lights on the B (brake) end of coach #2915, Dave F. and I set about replacing a damaged window in the lounge of Coach #2932. |
) Replacing a window can be a daunting task all by itself but this one went fairly well. Unfortunately, while doing that job I discovered a problem with the floor. My foot went through a rotted spot in the plywood
sub floor. So replacing one window, which was completed, has left the car department with the task of tearing out all of the existing floor covering in the lounge and bathroom to assess the condition of the sub floor and then replacing the rotted wood and installing new flooring. See what you're missing by staying at home instead of coming out to play with trains. Dave and I returned to #2932 and started to tear out the rotted plywood. It was a dirty, sweaty and generally disgusting job. Bet you wish you were there, right? By the time we finished for the day we had removed all of the old floor covering and about one third of the plywood floor in the lounge. We also, with the help of Al and George, removed the toilet so we could get at the floor under it, which had also rotted in places. Al and George continued their job of replacing the markers, which included installing some new wiring. Dave and I completed the tear out and the car is ready to have a new floor installed.Mike Dorofy and Bill Glodzik undertook the job of installing insulation between the ribs of the floor on a hot and sticky day. That was enough work inside so we moved outside to make more adjustments to the brake rigging. |
| This is just the beginning of a number of cosmetic improvements that are planned for the coaches. The lounge and bathroom project has turned the corner from demolition to restoration. The ceiling has a fresh coat of paint and, by the end of next weekend the new floor will be installed. Thanks to Dave F., Art T. and Mike D. for working in the cramped quarters of the lounge and bathroom. Thanks also to my wife Judy, an interior decorator by profession, who spent a lot of time coming up with colors for the new floor, the walls and the ceiling. The new colors will blend with and bring out the current color scheme of the car. |
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