Work Session Status Week Ending 01/04/2014

January 6, 2014

Saturday was our first work session of 2014 and the only one last week since New Year’s day fell on Wednesday.

The day began moving the locomotive positioning the number one set of drivers over the pit to remove the last two compensator buffers for cleaning and inspection. One was discovered to have a broken retainer bolt. The bottom half was removed, however, to remove the top half the large frame pedestal binder will need to be removed. Efforts thus far have been unsuccessful.

As with most sessions more flexible staybolt sleeve welding was done along with removing old wasted sleeves. Salvageable sleeves on the bottom of the boiler were cleaned and their threads were chased.

Finish fitting and grinding of the two large wedges for the Franklin radial buffer is ongoing. These are two of the items stolen from our site back in 2012.

More copper lube lines were researched, located and installed to check proper fit.

More electrical conduit was being cleaned and prepared for paint. Various areas of the chassis were also cleaned for future paint.

A few reminders are in order. This Friday evening at 6:00 pm is our winter get together dinner. Anyone who wishes to attend and has not yet notified Gail please do so ASAP. The final count will be turned in this Wednesday. It will be held at Bob D.’s commercial property at 216 Menaul NE, just east of the RR tracks on the south side of Menaul. Look for the business sign Source One office furniture. We will let everyone know tomorrow what the final cost will be and I will accept EXACT money at the door or a check made out to Gail Kirby as I will go ahead and pay ahead of time for the food.

The very next day is the first of two Safety Refresher classes along with the monthly General membership meeting beginning at 8:30 am. You must attend one or the other of these two Safety classes in order to work on site. The other will be February 15th. If you do not attend one of these you will be required to attend a New Member orientation class. If you have attended a New Member class in Oct., Nov. or Dec. you do not need to attend these new classes, but you may do so if you want. New topics may be presented. For those of you that are out of town provisions are available to satisfy this requirement. Please contact Jon S. for instructions. His email is kc5ntw@sdc.org.

Parking for both events will be a bit crowded, so if possible carpool with someone. There’s a hotel at University and Menaul that could be used to meet and go over together if you like. I cannot remember the name of it, but we don’t want the parking lot full of cars so that no one cannot get out, especially in case of an emergency. So please, be smart and try to meet up and make arrangements ahead of time. You might have to park somewhere you don’t want to park and walk. Towing could be an issue too if it’s not a good place to park.

Last but no less important is the issue regarding membership renewals. Many have not yet mailed in their yearly contribution so please do so ASAP or you will not receive emails and you’ll be placed on the “lapsed list”. We need everyone’s support and help with the project. These funds go a long way to help finance the restoration. Please be as generous as you can. You may use PayPal for payment, but they do take a small percentage from the funds. Every bit helps us tremendously and we are thanking you in advance for your support each year. If you send a check please send to Gail’s attention so we can get you confirmed on the membership list. If you paid in the last quarter of 2013 you are good for all of 2014. If you paid before that, you still owe the entire amount to remain a member.

Hope to see you all this week. Lots going on at the site and off site. And as always . . .

Keep on Steamin’,
Rick Kirby, CMO
NMSL&RHS