April 18, 2016 The locomotive is in the last stages of the major portions of the restoration. In the last several weeks we have been repairing washout plugs and their copper seals. Other volunteers have been making steady progress on the air brake system. Support brackets have been fabricated and installed along with their respective […]

April 4, 2016 Much of the work this past week is similar to the last. Our air brake crew is still fabricating brackets and either bolting or welding them in place. Air tank supports were fabricated this week. Volunteers began grinding the welded driver brake shoe backing supports. More are being restored this coming week. […]

March 28, 2016 The brake shoe forging company has sent us a sample brake shoe which this time fits our 80″ drivers. We are now pad welding the driver shoe backings as their wear is not consistent. When complete we will grind the backing to the proper circumference. Flexible staybolt plug tightening continues which has […]

March 15, 2016 Much time was spent preparing the east end of our site for the demo contractors scheduled for this Wednesday. Several extremely heavy pieces of old rail had to be moved mostly by hand, pry bars and pipe rollers. Several pieces of railroad ties were securely fastened to the track ties creating a […]

March 9, 2016 This week was much like last week, insulating pipes, fabricating and painting air brake component brackets, fabricating and installing lubrication and control lines. The large 8″ x 6″ x 6″ steam exhaust tee was reinstalled this week. Clean-up of the continuous blow-down device revealed some rusted and wasted through areas. Metal pieces […]

February 23, 2016 Over the last several work sessions we have had abnormally higher temperatures for February. Good for our volunteers working outside. The never ending job of pipe insulating continued. It’s obvious there are many “never ending jobs” on a steam locomotive. Progress was made fabricating and installing the various air brake component brackets […]

February 10, 2016 Two more cold morning starts and mild afternoons this week. Work continues on designing and fabricating air brake control components. Careful considerations are being applied regarding ease of access and maintenance. Various parts and control rods are being sandblasted and painted. Gauges and instruments in the cab are being located for ease […]

February 3, 2016 Two more cold morning starts and mild afternoons this week. Workers fabricated a replica of the handle which operates the injector steam valve. All the related parts were located and installed. Another bracket was fabricated for the PZA air brake component. It was welded to the main bracket fabricated previous sessions. Holes […]

January 26, 2016 Over the past several work sessions many peripheral components have been researched and installed. Workers retrieved valves and piping associated with the water injector then test-fit them in place. All the air brake piping leaks have been repaired and a successful air test was performed. The cab bracket which various gauges are […]

January 13, 2016 Wednesday’s work session greeted us with a slow drizzling rain. By 2:00 pm the temps dropped like a rock and the heavy rain was falling sideways with snow mixed in with it. We managed to get a few projects done. A cab drain pipe had been cut off at the floor during […]