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From: MDelvec952 mdelvec952 AT aol DOT com
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:54:23 -0400
Subject: DL&W F3 Volunteer -- 6/21/2010 -- A touch of gray
"DLW_621_8-1955.jpg" - image/jpeg, 1061x553 (24bit)




Well, gang, we're several steps closer to a finished F3. Today was clear and bright with a little wind, while Rich Wisneski joined Tom Kelcec, Tony Traglia and I as five gallons of gray Centari landed smoothly and evenly on our 1948 EMD. It looks stunning. Removing the masking has a certain mystery and anticipation to it. And today it was joyous to see the masking and the paint and the steel all work as intended. The nose medallion is beautiful.

Our next work session is Wednesday -- the weather appears to be clear enough for what remains for the Convention. There is still more painting to do on the roof and the interior angles on the chicken wire. We ran out of time today to remove the mask over the lettering and cab numerals, and we'll do that Wednesday. In addition we'll add the number box and headlight glass.

So many other items are coming together. Justin Kershner has finished rebuilding our horns and he's bringing them to Scranton Wednesday just in time for painting and re-mounting. The bell will be in Scranton Wednesday as well. Tonight on the way home from Scranton, we stopped by Dave Rush's house to pick up the number boards.

Our Convention involvement will begin Wednesday as the F3s will be part of the night photo session. If the 663 looks finished, it'll be in the session. We'll make sure it looks finished.

We're at the stage in the project were we no longer need 12-person work sessions, but more like four to six. If you can spare the time, the project can use it. Even if the skills aren't paint-related, running out for supplies or bringing lunch is a huge help to keep the project rolling.

In other news, the first printed copies of Railfan & Railroad with the F3 project on the cover arrived today. Looks sharp, and the four-page story is a great boost to the project, Steamtown and the NRHS. Editor Steve Barry was in Scranton today waiving his copy around -- he's as excited about the Lackawanna units as anyone. That there will be a Gray Ghost in town has raised that excitement even further.

Meanwhile, some pictures, ....Mike Del Vecchio



Below, Rich Wisneski is putting the first bits of masking under the batten strip to protect the black areas from the gray paint. The white letters on the maroon paint are vinyl. After the carbody is entirely painted gray, the vinyl is removed leaving a maroon letter in its place.





It was a thrill and a challenge to removing the masking for the nose medallion. But it worked well - note the detail. The white is a high-quality, long-lasting auto paint. Rich Jahn created digital files from the original EMD drawings in the Tri-State collection, and a sign shop made up the stencils and masks. Believe it or not, this process was also done in the steam days. A company in Michigan called Demp-Nock produced a three-piece paper and cardboard system of lettering just like today's vinyl.. Demp-Nock was still in business when we painted our baggage car in 1994, and we bought lettering sets from them that were cut from the same dies used for DL&W orders way back when.




Tony Traglia is quite skilled with an air gun, all of us were noticing as we were moving the scaffolds and ladders on his rapid commands. Mike Bast loaned us the 2-gallon paint pot which has greatly reduced the amount of time needed to apply paint.







Below, As we were cleaning up and the sun was getting sweet, Tom Kelcec was taking a picture of the finished gray ghost nose. As a play on the cover of Railfan & Railroad that's out and about right now, I took a photo of him taking the picture from the other side. No, that herald isn't too high. That thin maroon line above it is the correct border. When we paint the yellow nose, that same half-inch border will surround the medallion causing the edges of the door to be painted yellow.





Here is the fruits of our labors for the past three months. The vinyl lettering and numerals are under that gray paint, and they'll be removed on Wednesday while the paint is still young. Note the new lines for the black -- this is exactly how the gray ghosts handled the back to minimize masking. The freight scheme will feature the black up and over the side to a point seven inches above the side batten, which extends it above the anti-climber over the nose. At this point it wouldn't be too much trouble to leave the anti-climber gray. Units in the freight scheme had both gray or black anit-climbers, with little rhyme or reason for which. ARHS has black anti-climbers -- we're considering leaving ours gray since both could be easily represented. The photo at the bottom has gray, and that builder's photo in previous e-mails has black. The gray were more numerous.





On the shores of Lake Lackawanna, formed from a burrow pit created by the construction of the Lackawanna's New Jersey Cut-off, my cousin Dave Rush completed the number boards for DL&W 663. He's a retired sign-maker, and earlier in life worked for the man who painted station signs and steam tenders for the DL&W. This was a labor of love for him, and he'll help us lay out the nose. These were picked up today on the way home from Scranton, and they'll be installed on Wednesday in time for the night photo session. These numerals were painted from original EMD drawings in the Tri-State collection, as were those in ARHS's 664. Photo by Tom Kelcec.




Our goal remains to see Lackawanna F3s in the colors below
--9c154a76-bf68-40ed-a3f6-b820a72a690b

DLW_621_8-1955.jpg

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