November 2003
- As the diner came into Gilbertsville. The cribbing that was needed
to set the diner on, was late in arriving. Due to this, I did not
have a chain saw to cut the cribbing into the proper lengths. Fortunately,
a friend came through in the last minute, out of PURE LUCK and came over
with a chain saw to cut the 6x8x8` in half. All during this day,
it was raining/drizzling. Finally, as the diner was set into place,
on the cribbing, a tarp was placed over the diner.
Unfortunately, a few days later, a big wind
storm came through that blew the tarp off of the diner. To add insult
to injury, we had 2 inches of snow that layed on top of the now unprotected
diner. I did my best to get the snow off the roof before too
much water leaked into the inside of the diner and securely tie the tarp
on. A few days later though, a big rain storm came through,
and water was collecting on top of the tarp between the lower roof and
the front wall. (The front wall is higher than the front of the diner
because it was a front wall added to accommodate the newer aluminum roof.)
More leakage of water occured, unfortunately. Right now, my Thanksgiving
week plans include cutting the front wall at the same level as the diner
and also cutting up the newer layers of flooring that were added over the
years, to make it easier to pry up the floors. It does seem that
the water damage is minimal, and only occcuring parts that need to be replaced/removed,
like the current flooring and the front wall.
December - On 3 seperate occasions, I have put in a total of 4 hours of work on taking out the extra layers of flooring. Unfortunately, on the right end of the diner, the flooring is screwed in, not only on the outside edges of each piece, but in rows all across. On the left end, where the counter was taken out I also begun to take out the extra layers of floor, unfortunately, under part of this, the original floor has rotted away completely, and the main beam of wood has got a decent amount of rottage on the top. This is prompting me to take out the entire counter to check underneith it, along its entire length.
March-May -
About 10-20 more hours have been put into the job. Most of the old
floor is out, except for where the wall to the old dining room is supporting
the roof, and the other end of the back of the diner, where another temporary
support system will need to be put in place, to continue the work.
I also have taken off the front of the counter. The top boards are
also all off of the counter. All that is left, is the end, a few
boards that sectionalize the lower part of the counter, and the base of
the counter.
A couple of sections of wainscoting have
been removed: The end of the diner where the counter is, and the
front wall, where the booths were. This latter area has shown that
the wheel area was curved on the front end of the diner.
In June, I am hoping to get to the back
side where the dining room used to be. I would like to get 2x6s in
place where they are supposed to be. This will allow me to get closer
to removing the floor, as there will be one less obstacle in the way.
Unfortunately, I had to move over an hour from the diner in the summer of 2004. The weather was too hot in the summer of 2004, and the weather again did not cooperate on the weekends in 2005. Too much rain. Everything together made for tough sledding. In the summer of 2006, I moved 2 hours away from the diner. I attempted to get the diner moved up to Troy, NY. No luck, always something prohibited the move. The diner is being given to Gordon Tindall., who has finally got the diner moved to Towanda, after 4-5 months of a multitude of problems.
Thusly, this page will no longer be updated in 2007