Cosmo's repair at Jackson Center

[SmokelessJoe]

Here’s a shot of THE SPOT, ‘though I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding it right in the center of town. I stopped there a couple of years ago to ask directions to Jackson Center and stayed to eat. Good, reliable down-home food.



The Sullivan designed bank across the street:




The Town Square:



As a Canadian, I love these small All American towns.

Sergei

[tlavergne]

Sergei,
Stop it...your making me homesick!! Another cool thing is driving south on Ohio Street (the street on one of the corners by The Spot). At the edge of town you will go under the Big 4 Railroad bridge. It is a huge cement structure that spans the valley. It is rumored that while being built a donkey, a cart of cement it was towing, and a worker guiding the donkey fell into the wet cement and were never seen again. In that span you will see huge arches built into it. In high school (Sidney High School, Class of '74) we would go up into the arches in the middle of the night and pee off of the bridge. My brother-in-law used to throw a home made, human sized ghost with a noose around its neck off of the bridge on Halloween night.

[mikelevitt]

Hi,

I saw you and your dog camping on in the lobby at JC on Tuesday. I was picking up our 23' after having a solar panel installed and some minor things taken care of.

Let us know if you find anything else interesting to do around there. I think it is possible that many of us might end up having a few days to kill around JC....

Mike

[dufferin]

Been there when I were in JC and the pie is really good.

But one advice... don't eat anything else a slice with cream will fill you for few days... Good

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

Here’s a shot of THE SPOT, ‘though I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding it right in the center of town. I stopped there a couple of years ago to ask directions to Jackson Center and stayed to eat. Good, reliable down-home food.

Attachment 61197

The Sullivan designed bank across the street:

Attachment 61198


The Town Square:

Attachment 61199

As a Canadian, I love these small All American towns.

Sergei

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by tlavergne

At the edge of town you will go under the Big 4 Railroad bridge. It is a huge cement structure that spans the valley. It is rumored that while being built a donkey, a cart of cement it was towing, and a worker guiding the donkey fell into the wet cement and were never seen again.

I have heard similar rumors about nearly every large bridge in the country. It is seldom, if ever, true, if for nothing else the morbid fact the decomposing bodies would cause a gap, and weak spot, in the structure.
For those of you that like trains, The Big 4 Railroad was the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway.

[tlavergne]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I have heard similar rumors about nearly every large bridge in the country. It is seldom, if ever, true...

Terry,
You are probably correct on the myth. The other rumor was there was a cross made in the cement where the "horrible accident" took place. After years of looking we were never able to find the marker. That is one cool bridge though.
I should sit down and think of things to do in the area for folks that are spending a few days there.
Tom

[Bambi_Bandit]

Windows are out...

Bottom segments are overlayed, panels for wrap arounds are overlayed and marked for cutting...(by hand - no Jigs here in service, only in manufacturing line)

This is true hand work in progress...

[Bambi_Bandit]

all except the patform bed - too may wires from David Tidmore's handy work mounted to the bed underside...

[Bambi_Bandit]

Exterior skin coming off now... anyone getting queezy yet?

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Bambi_Bandit

Exterior skin coming off now... anyone getting queezy yet?

I'm having flashbacks to the last time I fileted a fish...

[Bambi_Bandit]

What would Christopher C. Deam say if he saw this?

[Bambi_Bandit]

Does this belong here? (sorry - bad pic)

[Bambi_Bandit]

Since we're in the shop for repairs, I had them install the LED clearance lights I had just ordered just weeks earlier before the hail damage....

[Bambi_Bandit]

Interesting... I was under the impression the whole repair was gonna be Buck Riveted, but it turns out, they can't to that to the lower front curved segments (the ones that are protected by the wrap around stone guards) because of clearance issues - normally done before mounting on the chassis..

The new skin is laid over the old skin (which is still buck riveted) and the new skin is riveted to that...

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by Bambi_Bandit

Exterior skin coming off now... anyone getting queezy yet?

I am...thank goodness they know what they are doing. Most of us like hamburgers, but few of us watch the butcher work.

[monocoque]

Originally Posted by Bambi_Bandit

Interesting... I was under the impression the whole repair was gonna be Buck Riveted, but it turns out, they can't to that to the lower front curved segments (the ones that are protected by the wrap around stone guards) because of clearance issues - normally done before mounting on the chassis..

The new skin is laid over the old skin (which is still buck riveted) and the new skin is riveted to that...

Interesting, this could be an explanation why those same panels are doubles and are also blind riveted in my trailer? Did he say what the clearance issue is exactly? I assume the inside lower panels corresponding to the outside panels have also been removed in your case. If not maybe that's the clearance issue he's referring too?

[cooperhawk]

I was talking to an old-timer friend of mine yesterday and he explained to me how he and a friend had rebuilt an Airstream Trailer year ago. Not sure just how many, but many.

They couldn't get between the skins to "buck" the rivets, so they had used "explosive rivets". He thought they were made by 3M during WWII to rivet drop tanks for fighter planes. Since you couldn't get inside the tank to Buck the rivets, these were designed just for that purpose. They contained a small explosive and were set off with a soldering iron which caused to tip inside the tanks to explode, expand and seal.

Now I surely don't doubt the veracity of my friend. He is just as honest as the day is long. I was at one time an aircraft mechanic myself though, and as such had never heard of such a thing.

Sounds interesting. Anybody got any?????

[Alumatube]

Explosive rivets are cool!

Here's a YouTube link.

And some info from Brittanica.com:

Blind rivets are needed when space limitations make conventional rivets impractical. One type of these is explosive; it has a hollow space in the shank containing a small charge of heat-sensitive chemicals. When a suitable amount of heat is applied to the head, an explosion takes place and expands the rivet shank tightly into the hole. The shank is normally open but can be sealed to eliminate noise and the ejection of metal fragments. Most explosive rivets are aluminum, but they can be obtained in stainless steel and certain other metals. Their use is mainly in aircraft.

Susan

[Alumatube]

Kevin, thanks so much for the pictorial guide to Cosmo's repair! It's really neat to see the Mother Ship and what goes on inside. Brad and I hope to visit there one day, but have not yet.

Good luck with the repairs and have a safe trip home!

Susan

[cooperhawk]

Originally Posted by Alumatube

Explosive rivets are cool!

From "Independance Day". I gotta get me some of those!!!!!