Ross, First I would have loved to put in to be part of the work party but will be away on a cruise which is nonrefundable but I do not believe shrink wrap is in your best interest, I know a buddy who had his car shrink wrapped in the blazing summer and it peeled the paint. Also I am suspect to any water getting trapped underneath and causing further issues in the futute as well

Don Fenstermacher Jr.

Dear Ross:
At the Valley Railroad we have had nothing but good experiences with shrink wrapping locomotives. We started shrink wrapping after we bought the riverboat "Becky Thatcher", which was always shrink wrapped over the winter months. The shrink wrap has been on our No. 40 for a couple of years now (hopefully we'll finish it someday and unwrap it). The catalog says it is good for up to 5 years (there are different grades). Our boat crew did the job for us. They got a lot of carpet reminents from a carpet store and placed them over anything sharp (even the stack). A 2X4 was placed between the domes as a "bridge". It too was covered with old carpet. Then the shrink wrap material was draped over the locomotive and peices added (sort of glued on) where necessary to lengthen it. Then the bottom edge is folded around nylon rope and "glued" onto itself to trap the rope. The rope is then cinched up to "bag" the locomotive. Then you use a big heat gun to actually shink the material. Ropes are then thrown over the top of the whole thing and tied so the tarp won't billow. Since little of the tarp actually touchs the locomotive (except at the running boards) there is plenty of air space for circulation. We haven't had any major bird problems (there are cats in the neighborhood).
It took three guys a day to do the job start to finish. After the first year there were a couple of places where the material was too thin and tore which had to be patched.
After shrink wrapping once, I'd never go back to tarps, except for very short term protection. Yes, a building would be best, but the shrink wrap is soooo much cheaper (no permits either).
Good luck!
J.David

Ventilation is the key. Keeping the birds out is the secondary key. Some means must be available for vertical air circulation through each cavity created by the cocoon or shrink wrap. If you tarp or wrap the engine, put spacers, preferably oriented vertically, to allow vertical air flow. If there is a place where still air can be trapped, condensation will occur, followed by deterioration.

I see companies that shrink wrap boats that make house calls. Maybe the yellow pages would yield positive results. We put an N6B chassis under tarps and after having to re cover it weekly, I took the them off. They of course were the cheap ones and the problem aside from wearing through is the rope (string) they use around the edges under the grommets. It just wasn't strong enough and broke in several places when the grommets pulled out. The advantage to a tarp is that it does allow for ventilation if hung off of the ground. I just looked at a 1971 Cyclone GT that had a tarp over it and tight to the ground for many years. The car was so rusty that when they took the tarp off, the windshield fell out!

Have all of the sensors and modifications for the ACE program been removed?

Later!
Mr. Ed