Caboose Stripping

WP668 is getting stripped of its old paint. We hired Avi Lenchner (whose daughter
and my daughter were in school together and who has painted two houses for us)
of Avi Decorative Painting (Menlo Park, CA)
to strip and paint our caboose. We decided to get the paint done while WP668
is on asphalt before she moves on to the rail line in our backyard.

Avi has been trying out different ways of getting the ancient paint off. At the
moment, the paint is coming cleanly off the wood (probably Douglas Fir) but the steel
bracing is more of a challenge. Avi tried chemical strippers but tapping the steel
with a hammer to shatter the paint seems to work best.

On one of the vertical steel framing pieces Avi found some decorative welding. The
steel script signature says “Illinois” on the part we can see. It was probably
added in 1916 when WP668 was first created as a box car by the
Pullman company.
It will be interesting to see what other mysteries lie under all of that old paint
and dirt.