Indian Summer comes to a screeching halt at HVRM 11-13-10

Greetings!   Temps in the 60's all week!  I managed to get the roof on 899 mostly wire bushed and scraped and then primed on Monday, except for two small sections.  Would this wonderful Indian Summer weather hold and allow me to finish it on 11/13?  Forecasts during the week called for a change with colder temps and some rain for Friday.  Then pushed back to late Friday night/early Saturday.  Finally, the cold front was supposed to come in late Saturday morning.  A chance!   Arrived a bit after 9 and grabbed the key for the lift and finally got the cantankerous machine fired up.  Took it down to the 899 and started to work.  A rain drop...or three.  But it held off!  And after an hours work, the deed was done!     Moved the lift back over to Grasselli Tower where Steve had arrived to work on the final section of railing for the upper floor landing.  He was on a tight schedule too, as he had to leave early to take one of his pets in to the vet for examination.   Joe Kingsbury was taking measurements and working out an estimate for converting one of the other flat cars at the museum into an open car.   Doug Kosloske and Bill Dauber took a diesel and went down to push the last 6 storage tank cars unto the interchange where they could be picked up later by a crew from the Chesapeake & Indiana.  After the old motor car was removed from the west end of the track in the West Annex of the shop, the train crew then pushed LIRR coach 2937 to the end of that track.  Fred Boyer then continued his work on the windows of the car.   Tom Travis was wire brushing rust off of the REA trailer and then priming those cleaned areas.  He and I broke for lunch at the Nickel and when we came out, found out that it had rained hard.  The temp had started its drop too.   Went past the tower, and saw that Steve had managed to get the railing finished on the upper landing before he had to leave.   Cory Bennett stopped by the West Annex and stated that the rain had stopped their trackwork.  He, John LaOrange and Mark Knebel had managed to spike and tamp 28 ties on the Erie Division before the rain hit.   Tom and I, with some help and encouragement from Randall Downs and Fred, managed to finally get the one side door of the REA trailer off.  The hinges on the two side doors had been rusted solid.  With the one door off, we managed to open the door about half way.  Eventually, these two doors will have to be rebuilt.   Temp was down to 44 degrees as I drove out of North Judson.  Even with the wind and rain and cold, a good day!   Les  Couple of items to add, on weekends the signals will be lighted and go off on Monday mornings. The trainorder board will turn on at 4pm every night.   Many thanks to Les for helping today on the REA door hinges. The hinge bolts may be bent is the reason the doors will not open easily, but soaking in WD-40 may prove me wrong. With the doors off, I will take them home to measure and rebuild, taking off the hardware. It will be easier to remount the doors and put the hardware back on.   My new scaffolding is working out very well, easy to assemble, easy to move and easy on the feet to stand on. It is certainly nicer to work inside the shop rather than out in the wind and rain.   Tom