Last Days at St Laurent.

It has been very, very busy over the last few months, the reason is not because we are making huge progress on 696's restoration. The reason for the extra work and lack of significant progress is because we have to  move to another location in the OC Transpo empire.  When I will finish this entry, the story of 696's progress will bring us to a point of time in mid-December. The next entry will be about the move and set-up at the new location; hopefully we will be back to the restoration process by mid-April.

The announcement of the move for me was just a matter of bad timing.   Now I had to finish placing all the major components on the new car body. This would help me greatly to get back into the flow after the move to the new site. Luckily, I was able to put in enough hours on a couple of Sundays before December 15th, to complete my installation of these components. Now the sad part of the story, I have to undo all my work in order for the car to be transported the new location, sigh!

I'm trying not to include too many photos of me in this blog, but I will make an exception here because it includes one of my favourite helpers. Vincent was a joy to work with, he helped me better my French and hopefully he learnt a few tips from me. This little project involved rebuilding the base plate of the line switch, Vincent measured, center-punched the base plate and drilled about 16 holes of different diameters. Later when I reassembled the line switch, the fit was perfect! Good job, Vincent.

Vincent and I fabricating a new base plate for the line switch. Photo: Bruce Dudley

Pneumatic switch from line switch assembly.

Another job I wanted to get done before the move was the honing of the brake cylinder. Rust had pitted the walls of the cylinder and these pits would have to be removed before the cylinder is reassembled. Mike Mueller made the fabulous machine from plywood, a steel shaft and bits of nylon. It worked like a charm. 

Mike Mueller's Marvellous Honing Machine

The sliding rotor with the honing stones in the pockets.

I was able to get the brake cylinder honed, all the hangers of the components positioned and the air cooling rad completed in time for the move.

The air compressor and cooling rad installed.

The last item installed by me at St Laurent garage,was the line switch. It hung there for five minuits before I took it down in preparation for the move of OER 696 to Merivale garage.  Photo: Rhéaume Laplante.

The last job I finished on 696 at St Laurent garage was hanging the line switch. Now it was time to get ready and undo all that I had done over the last year or so. I know the new location will be a better facility overall but I'm still saddened by the interruption just at the time things were rolling along.

The nice thing is the blog now is pretty much up to date, I will add a chapter on the move...2012 should be a very interesting year for the 696 group.