Ofcourse I saw it, thats where I got the idea! My Merc is my daily commuter. Luckily my commute includes 8 miles of dirt in the afternoons. I just got a nice sturmey 3 speed rear drum brake hub for the Schwinn. I am currently building an Elgin with a skip tooth morrow on polished arayas.
Yours is certainly the most modernized of all the Clunkers. I have often thought to take a pre-war frame even further than you did with a Rohloff internal, modern fork and hydro front disk.
People think I am crazy when I show up for group rides on my 48 pounder. It used to be 51 before I got the tange fork.