Not before you take the headlining down and pull the insulation out. That horse hair really stinks when it burns, and burn it will. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks.

Dennis -

And there certainly IS horse hair insulation present in EL 3328. Mark was able to pull a little out through one of the holes.

Les

Les - Which product in the Geocel Proflex line was Mark using?

Permanent rust sealer's use the same resin as gorilla glue. An easy way to patch a hole in sheet metal is to paint both sides of the hole take a piece of sheet metal paint the backside and lay it over the hole. After it dries tap It down and put one or two more coats over it and and then your color. This patch will last for many years.

Eric -

"Will try to remember to check the can on Saturday."

Trust me on this, if you do enough sheet metal patches, it gets easier.... what I will say is that after the ones I did had been painted, you could tell the cars had been patched, even though it was done neatly.

I won't mention anybody's name, but one of our Colorado tourist lines has been running an engine for "a long time" with a cancer hole in the water tank patched with BONDO. It was originally done just for pictures, but they had to start using the engine before they had time to fix everything right, so they just filled it with water and crossed their fingers. My friend has intended to fix it all this time, but why bother if it holds water. Of course I razz him whenever I get a chance....

A decent finish keeps the weather off, and prevents further decay regardless of what's underneath. Hats off to Mark K, VIVA HVRM.

Eric -

Photos of the two cans of Geocel Proflex that Mark has been using. These are apparently the same product, just two different labels. Hope this answers your question.

There was some switching done at the museum today (11/2) and thought I'd include this shot of Mark in the cab of our Purdue University crane as he prepares to couple to EL 3328. That's conductor Doug Kosloske on the ground as the Orton product slowly moves back.

Les

Thanks, Les. I’ve added that to my potential bag of tricks .

We left this report on EL #3328 last November, and a lot has happened since then. First of all, the weather shut down outside work on the car, then an election change in the make up of the museum Board, then the Covid shutdown, then missing seat backs installed and an eventual move of the car inside Hoosier Valley's Shop building. The car has certainly not been forgotten. Here's a photo of Mark doing a little window frame painting in an area of the car he couldn't reach last year with our lift, due to where the car was sitting outside. Also, it was decided to do a number of other things to the car during this upcoming fall and winter, as can be seen by the list in chalk on the end of the car.

Les