In addition to work that was done at the shop on Saturday (see previous post), I spent another 4 hours out there today. My goal for today was to set up and get operating, a set of crossing signals.? This set does have to be semi portable, so I went with a PVC pipe? instead of the standard railway grade pole (that will be for the permanent set inside the shop!).
The display crossing lights, about 60% complete.
The bracket the lights are mounted to has a hole to allow for wires to be run down the inside the pole and into the ground to relays and such.? So, one must first cut a small oval in the pole, which a hole saw works nicely for. After that, I filed it down, made sure it was smooth, and mounted the lights.? They fit quite well, so that part is done.? I managed to stand the whole thing up, which is a pain, as it is quite heavy.? The pole was secured to the railing so I could work on it upright.? With a 12v battery ready, I managed to scrounge some wire from around the shop.? The lights I was using have been sitting outside for
almost 15yrs, so I didn’t know if they’d even work.? Well, I figured out what wires and terminals were for what lights, and to my amazement, all 4 lights lit up.? Before starting all of this, the shields and hoods were cleaned and painted.? So, 2 of the lights got thier shields and hoods back, the other 2 will be next weekend.? The post, which was white, was painted silver to look like an actual post.? Right now all 4 lights are wired on, as I hope to have the actual flasher relay this week.? When complete, this post will be displayed at certain events throughout the year.? The first one will be the Steam Era show in Milton on the Labour Day Weekend, September 2-5.
Despite a very heavy downpour of rain, which created a waterfall in the heavy repair bay, it was a good working day inside the shop.? Once the sun came out and started to dry things off, I managed to get a bit of? primer on the bare metal that was cleaned off on Saturday.? Not likely to get a coat of paint on it by the September 10/11 open house, but at least something has been done.
HEPC E-7 gets a bit of primer
Still lots of work to be done out there.? If you’re interested in helping out the NRM, please email us or give us a call.