April 30, 2019 To begin with, this coming Wednesday is May 1st which brings on the summer work hours for those of you that are regular workers. Sessions will begin at 7:30 AM. Last week we removed the injector control valve along with two of it’s male counter parts. They were taken to an expert […]

April 15, 2019 This week was a battle with the elements. Wednesday we started out with a breezy morning and performed an air test on the boiler to check on repairs from last week. We’re still having problems sealing the line from the turret to the injector valve union joints. The rest of the leaks […]

April 8, 2019 Not a whole lot new to report this week as much of the work sessions were fixing leaks found with our last hydro. We did have more electrical conduit and routing completed. The engineer’s seat was removed so the holes for the ATS box could be drilled in the cab floor. Looking […]

April 2, 2019 The root valve was the most difficult task as rethreading dies were manufactured along with a new valve stem retaining nut. We have also been working on the second dynamo to seal a lubricant leak. A high pressure air test revealed small leaks at the sight glass boiler connections. New brass adapters […]

March 11, 2019 This week we enjoyed better working conditions as to the weather. More electrical conduit was installed on both sides of the engine. The forward dynamo was installed and the necessary piping connected. The aft dynamo is not yet ready to be installed. The fuel line from the tender was shortened a bit […]

March 4, 2019 We performed an air test Wednesday and found a few more minor leakers, then tagged each one to be addressed this past Saturday. New brass adapters will need to be fabricated for the new sight glasses. The electricians have pretty much decided as to where the conduits need to be installed. New […]

February 25, 2019 Over the last several work sessions the weather has been such that our work sessions have been, to say the least, not conducive for working outside. One day we heated the engine house and performed minor jobs inside. Other workers stayed in the Reefer Office and participated in the newly compiled engine […]

February 13, 2019 Madam Secretary, Gail, and I are back from the RPCA Convention in Ohio. The past couple of weeks we have been catching up. Currently we have been trouble-shooting a finicky A-9 ABV valve pipe bracket gasket. We have ordered two repair kits both of which had defective gaskets, another is on its […]

January 30, 2019 Since we decided to install modern sight glass valves a new bracket had to be fabricated and installed. Now that the tender has been reunited with the engine a new emergency fuel shut-off cable was measured and installed. The jump seat, behind the engineer, has been fitted with a foot rest. It […]

January 7, 2019 Late December and so far in January has brought us driving rain, snow and bitter cold temperatures. We have been forced to suspend work sessions and work periodically inside the engine house. Our 400,000 BTU torpedo heater came in handy for that. On the more tolerable days much needed infrastructure work was […]