John is out in the backyard starting to shape the wood of the new back
platform for WP668, our caboose. Our neighbor Joel is a
plumber and races his dirt track car on weekends. Joel has
several welding sets to put his car back together after the
race. Joel is teaching John how to weld so that he can work
on the steel parts of WP668.
The first kind of welding John tried was oxyacetylene gas; however,
the heavy steel of the caboose made this slow going.
Then, he started learning
MIG (metal inert gas) welding which is working much better.
John has learned to wear long sleeves and button them to avoid
metal drips and to wear a t-shirt under his long sleeve shirt
to avoid a sunburn from the MIG welder. He puts up a tarp so
that we can’t get our eyes burned looking at the welding from
the house.
We need to extend and strengthen the back caboose platform (more
of a landing or small porch, really) so that it can be connected
to the new stairs. The original metal was in poor shape under the
wood because of water thrown up by the wheels over many decades.
It crumbled when poked. Very little of what John has been
working on will show when the wood is replaced but it will be exceptionally sturdy.
We have hired someone to draw the plans for the steps to the Building
Department’s requirements. The same contractor has a stucco worker who
can put the skin on the cabana (the hot tub changing room and storage shed)
plus a window guy who can produce a custom window for the cabana and consult
on replacement caboose windows. We found it hard to get
contractors for a little jobs like just the cabana or just the caboose
but with both projects together, we can get bids.
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